Civil Procedure Simulations: Bridge to Practice

Michael Vitiello, University of Pacific School of Law

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Table of Contents

Teacher's Manual

The second edition creates a new narrative. Valentina Rossi is a brilliant young attorney who rose quickly in the Connecticut Attorney General’s Office, who has left after nasty rumors spread falsely claiming that her success was the result of an affair with her boss. A trolling reporter threatens to publish a story about her in which he claims to have evidence that she became pregnant and had an abortion. Ms. Rossi must act quickly to prevent publication of the story that will destroy her career.

Some aspects of the book follow the same scenario as did the first edition. For example, students learn that New York and Connecticut tort law differ and that she almost certainly cannot prevail if New York tort law applies. But important new developments in the Supreme Court’s personal jurisdiction case law motivated a significant change from the first edition. Instead of focusing on analysis of minimum contacts based on publication on the internet, the new simulation involves a bricks and mortar newspaper. After about a decade of decisions narrowing personal jurisdiction, in Ford Motor Co. v. Montana Eighth Judicial District, the Court finally held for a plaintiff seeking to assert jurisdiction in a convenient forum. As scholars have already written, the Court’s new decision has created more questions than answers. The new simulation invites students to explore some of those questions.

An entirely new chapter involves vertical choice of law. Ms. Rossi has moved to New York and is contemplating a run for political office. She has filed her suit against Ridge, the trolling reporter, and his employer in a New York federal district court. Ridge and the newspaper contend that the court must apply New York’s anti-SLAPP law, forcing a plaintiff to demonstrate aspects of her case more quickly than the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure otherwise provide. While most students’ eyes glaze over when they study the Erie-Hanna doctrine, this new chapter should hasten their pulse as they try to avoid application of New York’s anti-SLAPP law.

Learn more about this series.