THE LANGUAGE OF

CIVIL PROCEEDINGS

Abdiel Eduardo Herrera Canul

1. The Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure
Civil law is divided into substantive and adjective law or
civil procedural law
 Demands filed before the courts must
follow the rules of civil procedural law.

The Federal Civil Procedural Rules are

the procedjural rules that govern the
claims filed before the Federal District
Courts in the United States.
The Federal Civil Procedural Rules contain 86
articles grouped into 11 titles that establish
the way to initiate the claim, the written
demand and answer to the claim, the written
requests to the courts, the rules followed in
the trials, among others.
 Procedural rules must be interpreted and
administered to ensure that the resolution of all
claims is done in a fair, fast, and economic
manner. The Appendix of procedural forms aims
to highlight that simplicity, clarity, and brevity are
the traits expected in all statements and
procedural acts.

The federal rules have served as a model

for the drafting of each state's procedural
rules in the United States.
2. The demand and
answer to the
demand in federal
civil courts
There are three phases to a lawsuit in federal
civil courts, which include

The pleading phase

The pretrial phase

The trial phase

In the pleading phase, the plaintiff
notifies the defendant of their
claims and the defendant can
respond to the lawsuit by
presenting defense arguments.


The complaint consists of several elements,

such as the caption, the allegations, the
prayer, and the signature.
The first allegation is the allegation of
jurisdiction.
The plaintiff must serve a copy of the
complaint on the defendant along with a
summons signed and stamped by the court
clerk.

The second most important document is the answer to

the complaint, followed by the counterclaim and the
reply.

The counterclaim is the claim that the defendant asserts

against the plaintiff when answering, and the reply is the
plaintiff's second document to challenge the answer and
counterclaim.
There are also requests that the parties can
make at any time to the court for the court to
issue some order or ruling.

 Lawsuits are usually filed by a private individual against another

individual or company. Lawsuits against the federal government are
filed by delivering a copy of the summons and complaint to the US
Attorney for the district where the lawsuit was filed. Sometimes, the
federal government files a lawsuit against a private individual.
3. The preparatory phase of the
trial. The presentation of
evidence and documents. The
procedural management. The
procedural conferences.
If the defendant does not admit the
claim, that is, if they do not agree
with the plaintiff's claims, the
existing litigation issues between
them will have to be resolved in a
trial for which both parties must
prepare.
 The preparatory phase of the trial is crucial to focus the object of

litigation, show the procedural weapons that will be used in the trial,

and evaluate the value of the positions and claims of both parties.

Extrajudicial solutions can be sought, alternative solutions can be

found, or the process can continue until the trial. Additionally, the

procedural moment in which each party presents the evidence that

they will use in the trial is called "exhibition" or "discovery."

 The preparatory phase of the trial in the legal

system of the United States. During this phase, a
judge specifically designated for this purpose has a
great deal of leeway to direct the procedural
management of the case, and it is expected that
the objective of achieving a fair, quick, and
economical resolution of the claim will be met.

 To this end, the judge convenes the

parties to a scheduling conference for the
procedure, and deadlines are set for the
modification of the initial allegations, the
submission of requests to the court, and
the completion of the procedural moment
called exhibition or discovery.
 In the pre-trial conference, preparatory issues such as the simplification of the
issues in dispute, the elimination of frivolous claims and responses, the reduction of
deadlines and procedures for the exhibition of evidence and documents, the
recognition of facts, and the identification of witnesses are addressed. Judges may
impose sanctions on attorneys who do not comply with calendar orders or pre-trial
conferences, as well as non-appearance, and may also order reasonable expenses
to be paid to the opposing party for non-compliance with this procedural rule.

 The parties must submit a report to the district

judge, called a Report of Parties' Planning
Meeting, in which the details of the exhibition, the
maximum number of evidence, depositions, and
experts hired, among other aspects, are agreed
upon. If the parties do not agree on any point,
they will record it for the judge to make a decision.
In summary, the objective of this pre-meeting is to plan
and schedule the procedure to ensure that the case is
developed efficiently and fairly for both parties.

4. The oral trial

 The oral trial is the culminating moment of the
whole process, where the disputed points on
facts or legal grounds between the parties to the
lawsuit, as well as their claims, are examined
and resolved.
 There are two kinds of civil trials: jury
trials and non-jury trials.

In jury trials, it is the jury's In non-jury trials, the

responsibility to decide on the
facts of the case, while the
judge determines the law to be
applied and monitors the
smooth functioning of the
process.
procedure followed is
practically the same as
when the trial is with a
jury, but it is up to the
judge to decide both on
the facts and the law.

 Parts of the civil trial

The four parts of a civil trial are mentioned:

The opening statement

The presentation of evidence

The closing argument

The judge's instructions to the jury

 OPENING STATEMENT

The plaintiff's attorney's intervention

in the opening statement is described,
and their objective of presenting their
theses and arguments, as well as
anticipating what they expect to prove
with the evidence they will present.
 PRESENTATION OF EVIDENCE

The process of presenting evidence is

explained, which includes material, testimonial,
and expert evidence, and how the testimonial
evidence is presented, including direct
examination, cross-examination, and re-direct
examination.

 CLOSING ARGUMENT

The intervention of both parties'

attorneys in the closing argument
is described, where they
summarize and steer the
evidence towards their most
favoral positions.
JUDGE'S INSTRUCTIONS TO THE
JURY The importance of the instructions to
the jury is explained, which includes
the rules and guidance given by the
judge on the legal doctrine
applicable in the current
proceedings. It is mentioned that
incorrect instructions given by the
judge to the jury on legal issues can
be sufficient grounds for appealing
to a higher court.

5. SENTENCES AND THEIR

ENFORCEMENT. APPEAL

 The most important procedures for enforcing

monetary judgments are:

Attachment of earnings, which has certain limitations or

safeguards aimed at avoiding unbearable and unnecessary
oppression to the losing party. Only a percentage of earned
income can be seized.
 levy of execution, also known as seizure, where the sheriff, according to the
court's authorization in a writ, seizes the losing party's assets to satisfy the
winning party. Once the assets are seized, they are sold at public auction, and
after deducting fees, the debt is paid to the creditor. Any excess is returned to
the debtor. Personal clothing, tools and implements used in earning a living,
household furniture, and personal items such as wedding rings, family pictures,
etc.
Subrogation of credits. Through a garnishee order, the court orders a garnishee,
a debtor of the losing party, who is not a party to the lawsuit, to apply the money
to the debt they owe to their creditor or by court order.

 The winning party in these types of lawsuits is

called a judgment creditor, and the losing party is
called a judgment debtor.
Appeal is a two-tier process: before intermediate
appellate courts and before the Supreme Court.
However, some first-instance judgments can also be
challenged by requesting a review of the judgment
from the court that issued it.

6. Class actions
suits
Due to their originality and the frequency
with which they are presented before
American courts, reference must be made
to Class Actions Suits, in which one or
several representatives of a large group or
class of people bring a suit seeking a
judicial remedy for themselves and those
in similar situadet.
The purpose of these Class Actions Suits is to protect consumers
from the negligence and malpractice of certain professionals, in
order to prevent those who caused harm from can get away with
wrong.

Three basic elements of Class Actions Suits

are:

Commonality

Numerosity

Adequacy
 Commonality: the "community, affinity, or coincidence of purposes,
circumstances, and interests" relating to facts or legal grounds in all
members of a class or group.
Numerosity: the "number or multitude of affected plaintiffs." This
element is determined by a judicial finding that, due to the large number
of affected plaintiffs, it would be impossible to name them all in the
complaint and have them actively participate in the litigation.
 Adequacy: the "suitability of representative plaintiffs" to defend the
interests of the entire group. This adequacy is ascertained by an adequacy
test performed by the judge to ensure that the representative plaintiffs will
defend the interests of the entire class and not just their own.

Finally, another key concept of these Class Actions Suits is "certification,"

which is a judicial resolution in which the judge determines the existence of
a Class Actions Suit when he or she finds the three aforementioned
elements. This is when the judge declares that a suit has become a Class
Actions Suit.

7. DOCUMENTS

Below are articles 60 and 79 of The

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
relating to the relief of judicial
errors and official court records.
 Rule 60. Relief from judgment or Order a) Clerical Mistakes.
Clerical mistakes in judgments, orders, or other parts of the record
and errors therein arising frorn oversight or omission may be
corrected by the court at any time of its own initiatives or on the
notion of any party and after such notice, if any, as the court orders.
During the pendency of an appeal or thereafter, such mistakes rnay
be so corrected by the trial cour1. Whenever necessary a transcript of
the record as corrected may be certified to the appellate court in
response to a writ of certiorari or like writ.
 Rule 79. Books and Records Kept by the Clerk and Entries Therein
a) Civil Docket. The clerk will keep a book known as «civil docket" of such
form and style as may be prescribed by the Director of the Administrative
Office of the United States, and shall enter therein each civil action to which
these rules are made applicable. Actions shall be assigned consecutive file
numbers. The file number of each action shall be noted on the folio of the
docket whereon the first entry of the action is made. ll papers filed with the
derk, all process issued and returns made thereon, all appearances, order,
verdict, and judgments shall be entered chronologically in the civil docket on
the folio assigned to the action and shall be marked with its file number.