Civil Procedure

Fall 2026 

Class meeting time: Monday and Wednesday 1:00-2:50 pm

Office hours: Monday and Wednesday 3:00-4:00 pm; Tuesday 9:00 am - 12:00 p.m.

Required Materials 

(1) Joseph W. Glannon, Andrew M. Perlman, Peter Raven-Hansen, and Jennifer Reynolds, Civil Procedure: A Coursebook (5th ed. 2025) - students can use the print version and/or digital ebook version of the book

(2) other materials distributed to you via links on this website or USD's Canvas; and 

(3) provisions in the following laws that I assign as reading: U.S. Constitution; Title 28 of the U.S. Code (28 U.S.C. §§ 1-5001); Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Fed. R. Civ. P. 1-86); California Code of Civil Procedure (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §§ 1-2107); Rules and Laws for Civil Actions (open-access PDF with these laws)  

Reading Assignments

I. Introduction

8/17: Pages 3-40 of the Glannon coursebook (CB) and 

• U.S. Constitution: Article I, Section 8, Clause 9 (“To constitute tribunals...”) and Article III, Section 1 (Judicial Power Vested)

• Title 28 of the U.S. Code: 28 U.S.C. §§ 1, 41, 84, 2072

• Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) 1, 79, 81

• Optional materials: (1) Orin Kerr, How to Read a Legal Opinion, 11 Green Bag 2d 51 (2007); (2) Skim the Docket, Complaint, Answer, and Jury Verdict in Stone Brewing Co. v. Molson Coors Brewing Co., No. 3:18-cv-0331 (filed Feb. 2, 2018) and read this Reuters article about the case 

II. Subject Matter Jurisdiction

8/19: CB 43-76 of chapter 3 (subject matter jurisdiction – diversity jurisdiction) and

• U.S. Constitution Article III, Section 2 (Scope of Judicial Power)

• U.S. Constitution: Amendment XIV (Fourteenth), Section 1

• 28 U.S.C. § 1251

• 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)-(c), (e)

8/24: CB 76-109 of chapters 3 and 4 (diversity jurisdiction cont’d; federal question jurisdiction) and

• 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1338

• 15  U.S.C. § 1121

8/26: CB 93-145 of chapters 4 and 5 (federal question jurisdiction cont’d; removal) and

• 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a)-(c)

• 28 U.S.C. § 1446(a)-(d)

• 28 U.S.C. § 1447

III. Personal Jurisdiction

8/31: CB 149-152 and CB 163-180 of chapter 6 (intro to personal jurisdiction); Pages 2-3 of the July 2026 Supplement (Supp.) which you can download from the Files folder in Canvas (Coney Island); Pages 181-198 of chapter 7 (specific in personam jurisdiction) [skips Pennoyer and notes and questions after case] 

9/2: CB 198-243 of chapter 7 (specific in personam jurisdiction cont'd)

9/7 (Mon): Labor day holiday - no class

9/9: CB 243-254 of chapter 7 (specific in personam jurisdiction cont'd); CB 255-278 of chapter 8 (other constitutional bases for personal jurisdiction)

9/14: CB 278-297 of chapter 8 (other constitutional bases for personal jurisdiction cont'd); CB 299-316 of chapter 9 (long arm statutes); Supp. 4-5 (Fuld)

• Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(k)

• Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 410.10

9/16: CB 317-351 of chapter 10

• Fed. R. Civ. P.  4 (Summons)

• Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §§ 413.10-417.40 (California’s Service of Summons rules – focus on §§ 413.10, 413.30, 414.10, 415.10, 415.20, and 416.10, and skim the rest)

IV. Venue

V. Pleading

VI. Joinder and Supplemental Jurisdiction

VII. Discovery

VIII. Choice of Law

IX. Trial and Pretrial

X. After Final Judgment