A pedestrian sued a delivery company in federal court for negligence after one of the company's vans struck her in a crosswalk. After discovery, the company moved for summary judgment and submitted an affidavit from the driver stating that the traffic signal was green for the van. The pedestrian submitted deposition testimony from an eyewitness who stated that the signal was red and that the driver was looking at a phone. Both witnesses had a clear view of the intersection, and the governing negligence law is undisputed. The company argues that its driver gave a more detailed account and has a stronger memory than the eyewitness. Is the court likely to grant the motion?

No, because the conflicting firsthand accounts create a genuine dispute that a factfinder must resolve.

Yes, because a court may credit the more detailed testimony when both witnesses claim firsthand knowledge.

Yes, because testimony from a party's employee is entitled to greater weight than testimony from an uninvolved observer.

No, because summary judgment is unavailable whenever a negligence claim turns partly on witness testimony.

A customer sued a grocery store in federal court after slipping and falling on a wet floor near the produce section. The customer testified at her deposition that no warning sign was posted and that a nearby employee was texting on his phone instead of watching the area. The employee submitted a declaration stating that a warning sign was in place, that the customer was jogging through the aisle, and that he was not using his phone. The store's security video shows the fall but does not clearly show whether a sign was present or what the employee was doing with his hands. After discovery closed, the store moved for summary judgment and argued that the employee's detailed declaration was more reliable than the customer's testimony. Neither side objected to the admissibility of the cited evidence. Is the court likely to grant the motion?

Deny summary judgment because the conflicting testimony creates a genuine dispute of material fact for the jury.

Grant summary judgment because the employee's sworn testimony is more credible than the customer's deposition testimony.

Grant summary judgment because the customer bears the burden of proving negligence at trial.

Deny summary judgment only if the customer submits evidence conclusively proving that no warning sign was posted.

Pretrial procedure and jury trial — Bar Exam Lessons

Pleading the Dispute into Shape: The Working Floor

Pretrial procedure and jury trial builds a civil action from allegations into a managed evidentiary dispute and then determines whether fact-finders decide the legal issues. Apply the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Title 28. Subject-matter authority, personal jurisdiction, and forum selection are threshold questions, not pleading or discovery steps.

A complaint needs a short and plain statement showing entitlement to relief and a demand for the relief sought. It may plead alternative or inconsistent theories. The answer admits, denies, or states insufficient knowledge about allegations, and it raises affirmative defenses. A counterclaim asserts a claim against an opposing party; a crossclaim asserts a claim against a coparty arising from the same transaction or occurrence. A reply to an answer is required only when ordered.

The amendment checklist is:

Ask whether amendment is allowed as a matter of course. The time generally runs from service of the pleading or, when a responsive pleading is required, from the responsive pleading or specified motion, whichever comes first.
If that period has passed, obtain the opponent’s written consent or leave of court. Leave is ordinarily freely given when justice requires, but undue delay, bad faith, repeated failure to cure, unfair prejudice, or futility can justify denial.
Identify whether the amendment adds facts, a claim, a defense, or a party. A new claim must be tested for relation back if limitations has run.
If the amendment changes the party or the party’s name, also test timely notice, lack of prejudice, and knowledge that the action would have named the new party but for a mistake about identity.
If relation back fails, the new claim or party is ordinarily vulnerable to a limitations defense. Relation back does not itself establish that the amended claim is legally sufficient or that joinder is proper.

A claim amendment relates back when it arises from the conduct, transaction, or occurrence described in the original pleading. A party amendment must satisfy that same connection and the additional notice-and-mistake requirements. A plaintiff’s deliberate decision not to sue a known defendant is generally not a mistake about identity; misidentifying the proper defendant can be.

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The working floor is quick recognition of these terms and sequence: complaint, answer, affirmative defense, counterclaim, crossclaim, amendment, relation back, reasonable inquiry, joinder, required party, intervention, disclosure, proportionality, privilege, ESI, deposition, interrogatory, production request, admission request, protective order, motion to compel, TRO, preliminary injunction, jury demand, and waiver. The floor is the vocabulary, the decision order, and the factual trigger for reaching each provision, not exact element wording, exception lists, or numbered subsections. This topic is not starred: legal resources may be supplied when it is tested.

This topic is not starred: legal resources may be supplied when it is tested, and where they are not, you need only demonstrate recognition that the topic is at issue. You are not required to hold it cold - but the floor below has to be available fast.

Signing with Reasonable Inquiry: The Certification Behind Every Paper

By presenting a pleading, written motion, or other paper to the court, the attorney certifies after reasonable inquiry that it is not being used for an improper purpose, such as harassment, unnecessary delay, or needless cost. The legal contentions must be warranted by existing law or a nonfrivolous argument for changing it. Factual contentions must have evidentiary support or be identified as likely to gain support after reasonable discovery. Denials must be warranted by the evidence or a reasonable lack of information.

The certification is continuing: advocating a paper later requires the attorney to maintain a reasonable basis. The inquiry is objective and depends on the circumstances, including time available, investigation, complexity, and access to information.

A party seeking sanctions generally serves the motion on the opponent but does not immediately file it. The opponent has a 21-day safe-harbor period to withdraw or correct the challenged paper. A court may also raise the issue on its own through an order to show cause, without that party-initiated safe harbor. Sanctions are designed to deter repetition and may be nonmonetary, monetary penalties payable to the court, or reasonable expenses caused by the violation. The court considers who made the certification and what sanction will deter comparable conduct. Discovery misconduct is handled through the separate discovery-sanctions process, not by treating every unsuccessful discovery position as a Rule 11 violation.

Joining the Litigation: Claims, Parties, and Absentees

Start by identifying the relationship being asserted:

Decision	Trigger	Result
Claim joinder	One plaintiff has multiple claims against one opposing party	Claims may be joined even if unrelated
Permissive party joinder	Claims arise from the same transaction or occurrence and share a common question	Additional plaintiffs or defendants may be joined
Required party	Absentee has a protected interest, threatens inconsistent obligations, or is needed for complete relief	Court orders joinder if feasible and then considers whether the action can continue if joinder is impossible
Intervention	Nonparty claims an interest in the action or shares a defense or claim	Intervention may be as of right or permissive, subject to timely application and court control

Claim joinder is broad. Once a proper party is present, that party may assert multiple claims against an opposing party, whether related or unrelated.

Permissive party joinder requires both a common transaction or occurrence and at least one common question of law or fact. The claim against each joined party need not be identical. The court can separate trials or claims when joinder would create confusion or prejudice.

Required-party analysis is different. Ask whether the absentee’s absence prevents complete relief among existing parties, impairs the absentee’s ability to protect an interest, or exposes an existing party to multiple or inconsistent obligations. If the absentee can be joined, the court orders joinder. If not, the court weighs whether the action should proceed or be dismissed, considering the practical consequences of proceeding without that person.

Intervention begins with a nonparty’s application. Intervention as of right generally requires a timely application, a significant interest in the property or transaction, possible impairment of that interest, and inadequate protection by existing parties. Permissive intervention is available when the application is timely and the intervenor’s claim or defense shares a common question with the action. The court may impose conditions and prevent intervention from disrupting the proceeding.

The order matters: identify the claim relationship, test permissive joinder, ask whether an absentee is required, and only then consider a nonparty’s request to enter voluntarily.

Planning Proportionate Discovery: Information, Privilege, and Preservation

Discovery reaches nonprivileged information relevant to a party’s claim or defense and proportional to the needs of the case. Proportionality considers the importance of the issues, the amount in controversy, the parties’ access to information, their resources, the importance of the discovery, and whether its burden or expense outweighs its likely benefit. Relevance is broader than admissibility, but discovery is not unlimited.

Initial disclosures ordinarily identify individuals likely to have discoverable information supporting a party’s claims or defenses, documents and ESI that support those positions, the computation of claimed damages, and applicable insurance agreements. They are exchanged after the parties’ discovery conference within the specified period unless an order or stipulation changes the timing or an exemption applies.

Privilege protects specified confidential communications, such as qualifying attorney-client communications. Work-product protection generally protects materials prepared because of litigation, with special treatment for attorney mental impressions. A party withholding otherwise discoverable material must describe it sufficiently to permit assessment of the claim without revealing the protected substance, commonly through a privilege log. Inadvertent production may trigger a prompt-return or clawback procedure.

Preservation begins when litigation is reasonably anticipated. The party must suspend ordinary deletion practices for relevant information, including ESI, and issue practical preservation directions. Failure to preserve can produce curative measures when relevant information is lost and prejudice results, with more serious consequences when the loss was intended to deprive another party of the information.

The discovery conference requires parties to discuss claims, defenses, initial disclosures, preservation, the subjects and timing of discovery, ESI forms, privilege issues, and limitations on discovery. Their report supplies the framework for a discovery plan and scheduling order. Discovery ordinarily cannot be sought before the parties confer unless an order, stipulation, or recognized exception permits it.

Demanding, Producing, and Compelling Proof: Tools for the Record

Choose the tool by the information needed:

Deposition: use sworn questioning to learn a witness’s testimony, preserve testimony, explore documents, or examine an opposing party representative. Objections are stated concisely, and the witness generally answers unless privilege, a court limitation, or another recognized ground applies.
Interrogatories: send written questions to a party for information about facts, witnesses, contentions, or computations. They are useful for organized narrative information but cannot directly compel answers from a nonparty.
Requests for production: seek documents, tangible things, or ESI from a party. A request should identify categories and time periods with reasonable particularity. The responding party must produce, permit inspection, or state a specific objection.
Requests for admission: ask a party to admit or deny the truth of facts, application of law to fact, or authenticity of documents. An unanswered request may be deemed admitted under the governing procedure, and an admission usually binds the case unless withdrawn or amended with permission.

ESI requires an early format decision. Native files may preserve searchable text, formulas, metadata, or revision history; image formats may be easier to review but less usable. The requesting party should seek a reasonably usable form, and the producing party should identify inaccessible sources and explain burden. A party need not routinely restore sources identified as not reasonably accessible because of undue burden or cost, but the court can order discovery for good cause and allocate expense.

A protective order is appropriate when discovery would cause annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, undue burden, or undue expense. The court may limit topics, timing, custodians, or dissemination; require confidential treatment; sequence discovery; or forbid a request. The moving party should show the concrete harm, not merely assert that the request is broad.

Before moving to compel, the requesting party ordinarily must confer in good faith and identify the specific unanswered request, the information sought, and why the objection fails. The court then applies relevance, proportionality, privilege, and burden. It may order production, require a better response, allocate costs, or deny the motion.

Discovery sanctions can address failure to disclose, evasive responses, destruction of information, failure to attend a deposition, or violation of a discovery order. Possible consequences include deeming facts established, prohibiting evidence, striking pleadings, staying proceedings, contempt, expenses, or-when the violation is severe and justified-case-ending relief. A party that learns an earlier disclosure was materially incomplete must supplement it in a timely manner.

Protecting the Case Before Trial: Emergency Restraint and Interim Relief

A temporary restraining order preserves the situation briefly while the court decides whether a preliminary injunction is warranted. A TRO ordinarily requires notice. Without notice, the applicant must present specific facts in a verified pleading or affidavit showing immediate and irreparable injury before the opposing party can be heard, and the attorney must certify efforts to give notice and why notice should not be required.

An ex parte TRO is temporary and tightly limited. It expires after the prescribed short period unless extended by consent or good cause, and the court must promptly address the preliminary-injunction hearing. Notice, an opportunity to respond, and a record supporting the requested restraint become central once the matter proceeds beyond the emergency order.

For a preliminary injunction, ask:

Is the applicant likely to succeed on the merits?
Will the applicant suffer irreparable harm without relief?
Does the balance of hardships favor relief?
Does an injunction serve the public interest?

The court weighs these factors together rather than treating one as an automatic substitute for the others. The requested order must be tied to the threatened harm and cannot operate as a free-standing punishment. The court ordinarily requires security in an amount it considers proper to pay costs and damages suffered by a person later found to have been wrongfully restrained, though it may set no bond in an appropriate case.

Claiming the Jury: Legal Remedies, Demand, and Waiver

The Seventh Amendment preserves a jury for suits analogous to common-law actions when the value in controversy exceeds twenty dollars. The modern inquiry compares the claim to historical legal actions and examines the remedy sought. Legal damages ordinarily support a jury; equitable injunctions and specific equitable remedies ordinarily do not. When legal and equitable issues are joined, the legal issues generally receive jury treatment first so the factual findings are not displaced by an equitable decision.

The federal jury-demand checklist is:

Identify each issue for which a jury is available.
File and serve a written demand no later than 14 days after the last pleading directed to that issue.
Specify the issues rather than assuming every issue will be tried to a jury.
If no timely demand is made, recognize waiver, subject to the court’s limited discretion to order a jury.
Treat a valid demand as continuing for the demanded issues unless the parties stipulate otherwise or the court finds no jury right.

A demand by one party can protect the same issues for other parties when the issues overlap, but a party should not rely on that assumption when its own issues differ.

For this question, the supplied provisions state:

An amendment changing the party against whom a claim is asserted relates back when the amendment arises out of the conduct transaction or occurrence set out in the original pleading, the party received notice of the action within the period for serving the summons and complaint, and the party knew or should have known that the action would have been brought against it but for a mistake concerning the proper party’s identity.

Persons may be joined as defendants when a right to relief is asserted against them jointly severally or in the alternative with respect to the same transaction or occurrence and any question of law or fact common to all defendants will arise.

A party may not seek discovery from any source before the parties have conferred as required by the discovery rule unless a court order or other stated exception permits it.

On May 1, Priya sued Daniel for negligence arising from a collision with her car. The complaint alleged that Daniel was driving for Northstar Freight and was acting within the course of his work. Priya mistakenly believed Northstar employed Daniel; Daniel actually worked for Metro Freight. Metro’s insurer sent the complaint to Metro’s lawyer on May 10, before the period for serving the summons and complaint expired. The lawyer knew Daniel worked for Metro and understood that Priya likely intended to sue Daniel’s employer. The limitations period expired on June 1. On June 20, Priya sought to amend by adding Metro as a defendant and asserting negligent hiring based on the same collision. The parties had already held their discovery conference before the amendment.

Practice

Select two answers that are correct.

	(A) The negligent-hiring claim against Metro relates back to the original complaint.	(B) Relation back is unavailable because Priya added a new legal theory after limitations expired.	(C) Metro satisfies the supplied test for permissive joinder.	(D) Metro cannot be joined because the original complaint named only Daniel.	(E) Relation back is unavailable because Metro did not receive a summons before the limitations period expired.	(F) Priya may seek discovery from Metro immediately solely because the amendment relates back.
Your answers

A defendant threatens to destroy a unique machine tomorrow, and the plaintiff seeks a TRO without notice based only on a conclusory statement that harm is likely. The court should deny ex parte relief because specific facts must show immediate irreparable injury, and the applicant must address notice efforts.

High-Yield Points - ⚡ Biggest Takeaways

Relation back requires the original occurrence and added-party notice plus mistake. Permissive joinder requires the same occurrence and a common legal or factual question. Discovery must be relevant, nonprivileged, and proportional to the case’s needs. Ex parte TROs require specific facts showing immediate irreparable injury. Jury demands must be written and served within 14 days after the last pleading on the issue.