The 6th Edition of Civil Procedure: A Contemporary Approach is designed to provide a clear and actively engaging presentation of civil procedure in a manner that enables both students and professors to assess learning success throughout the course.

The Sixth Edition fully incorporates all amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure through December 1, 2020, as well as a few case law developments since the 2018 publication date of the Fifth Edition.

Particularly noteworthy new cases that are included in this edition are the Supreme Court'srecent decisions pertaining to arbitration: Lamps Plus, Inc v. Varela, 139 S. Ct. 1407 (2019) (courts may not infer from an ambiguous agreement that parties have consented to class arbitration); New Prime, Inc. v. Oliveira, 139 S. Ct. 532 (2019) (applicability of FAA'soverage exclusion to be determined by court not arbitrator); Henry Schein, Inc. v. Archer and White Sales, Inc., 139 S. Ct. 524 (2019) (courts may not determine arbitrability if that decision has been delegated to the arbitrator under the agreement); and Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, 138 S. Ct. 1612 (2018) (FAA savings clause does not permit invocation of arbitration-specific defenses; NLRA does not provide basis for outlawing class action waivers in the labor dispute context).

Developments in the class action area are included as well, including coverage of the 2018 amendments to Rule 23 as well as Supreme Court decisions in Nutraceutical Corp. v. Lambert, 139 S. Ct. 710 (2019) (Rule 23(f)'s14-day deadline for appeal is not jurisdictional and is not subject to equitable tolling), and China Agritech v. Resh, 138 S. Ct. 1800 (2018) (no tolling of statute of limitations periods for putative class representatives who wait until the expiration of the limitations period to file class claims).

Finally, this edition discusses recent developments with respect to personal jurisdiction jurisprudence, covering the emerging issue of personal jurisdiction over the claims of absent class members who lack any connection with the forum state, and the appropriate standard courts should use for determining whether a claim arises out of or relates to contacts with the forum state for purposes of specific jurisdiction. Full coverage of the Supreme Court'srecent decision in Ford Motor Co. v. Montana Eighth Judicial District Court—which addresses the latter issue—is included in this volume.

This edition, like the one that preceded it, integrates references to online assessment tools in the CasebookPlus™ platform. These consist of a bank of 300 multiple-choice questions that provide comprehensive assessment of the topics covered in this book, with detailed feedback consisting of explanations for both correct and incorrect responses. This feature provides an unparalleled opportunity to engage with the material actively as the course progresses and permits students and professors to determine the extent to which the material is being learned. The bank of questions also serve as excellent preparation for the civil procedure component of the Multistate Bar Exam.


Imprint: West Academic Publishing
Series: Interactive Casebook Series
Publication Date: 06/29/2021
Related Subject(s): Professional Identity Formation

A. Benjamin Spencer, William and Mary Law School

CasebookPlus™

This title is available in our CasebookPlus format. CasebookPlus provides support beyond your classroom lectures and materials by offering additional digital resources to you and your students. Anchored by faculty-authored formative self-assessments keyed to our most popular casebooks, CasebookPlus allows students to test their understanding of core concepts as they are learning them in class – on their own, outside of the classroom, with no extra work on your part. CasebookPlus combines three important elements:

  • A new print or digital casebook
  • Access to a downloadable eBook with the ability to highlight and add notes
  • 12-month access to a digital Learning Library complete with:
Multiple-choice self-assessment questions, including:
  • Chapter questions keyed to the casebook
  • Black Letter Law questions (available in select subjects)
  • Subject area review questions for end of semester use
Essay and short answer questions with sample answers and expert commentary, in 1L and select upper-level subjects

Leading digital study aids, an outline starter, and audio lectures in select subjects

Students can still utilize CasebookPlus digital resources if they’ve purchased a used book or are renting their text by purchasing the Learning Library at westacademic.com.

With CasebookPlus, you can customize your students’ learning experience and monitor their performance. The quiz editor allows you to create your own custom quiz set, suppress specific quiz questions or quiz sets, and time-release quiz questions. Additionally, the flexible, customized reporting capability helps you evaluate your students’ understanding of the material and can also help your school demonstrate compliance with the new ABA Assessment and Learning Outcomes standards.

The Sixth Edition fully incorporates the 2018 and 2020 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, as well as a few case law developments since the 2018 publication date of the Revised Fourth Edition. Particularly noteworthy new cases that are included in this edition the Supreme Court’s recent decisions pertaining to arbitration: Lamps Plus, Inc v. Varela, 139 S. Ct. 1407 (2019) (courts may not infer from an ambiguous agreement that parties have consented to class arbitration); New Prime, Inc. v. Oliveira, 139 S. Ct. 532 (2019) (applicability of FAA’s overage exclusion to be determined by court not arbitrator); Henry Schein, Inc. v. Archer and White Sales, Inc., 139 S. Ct. 524 (2019) (courts may not determine arbitrability if that decision has been delegated to the arbitrator under the agreement); and Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, 138 S. Ct. 1612 (2018) (FAA savings clause does not permit invocation of arbitration-specific defenses; NLRA does not provide basis for outlawing class action waivers in the labor dispute context). Developments in the class action area are included as well, including coverage of the 2018 amendments to Rule 23 as well as Supreme Court decisions in Nutraceutical Corp. v. Lambert, 139 S. Ct. 710 (2019) (Rule 23(f)’s 14-day deadline for appeal is not jurisdictional and is not subject to equitable tolling), and China Agritech v. Resh, 138 S. Ct. 1800 (2018) (no tolling of statute of limitations periods for putative class representatives who wait until the expiration of the limitations period to file class claims).

Learn more about this series.