This webinar provides an overview of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. It discusses how a civil case is initiated through filing a complaint and serving the defendant. It also covers motions to dismiss, discovery procedures, summary judgment, and other pre-trial and trial processes governed by the Federal Rules. The panelists are experienced litigators who provide context and real-world perspectives on the Rules. The webinar is part of a series aimed at refreshing attorneys on civil litigation fundamentals.

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5. Disclaimer
The material in this webinar is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered
legal, financial or other professional advice. You should consult with an attorney or other
appropriate professional to determine what may be best for your individual needs. While
Financial Poise™ takes reasonable steps to ensure that information it publishes is accurate,
Financial Poise™ makes no guaranty in this regard.
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6. Meet the Faculty
MODERATOR:
Adam Hirsch - Roetzel & Andress
PANELISTS:
Max Stein - Boodell & Domanskis, LLC
Gerald Meyer - MoloLamken LLP
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7. About This Webinar – The Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure
This webinar provides an overview of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, with emphasis on
recent changes and developments. By the end of the hour, the attendee will have a clear
understanding of how a case is initiated, how defendants and issues are brought into the
case, and the required pre-trial steps. We also touch on settlement procedure and trial
practice. Join us to hear one of the cornerstone law school classes condensed into a brisk
and engaging hour long discussion.
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8. About This Series – Newbie Litigator School – Fall
2020 Edition
Has it been a couple of (or more) years since you took Civil Procedure in law school? Or perhaps you a
business owner who has been sued repeatedly and you want to learn a bit about how the sausage is
made. This series is one of several series (together with the “Newbie Litigator School” Parts 2 and 3) that
Financial Poise designed specifically for attorneys who could use a broad-brush yet pithy refresher about
civil litigation fundamentals, with some real world color added in. The purpose is to introduce different
components and phases of litigation, from the basic rules of civil procedure and evidence, to dispositive
motions, through trial, and on to appeal and post-judgment collection work.
Each Financial Poise Webinar is delivered in Plain English, understandable to investors, business owners, and
executives without much background in these areas, yet is of primary value to attorneys, accountants, and other
seasoned professionals. Each episode brings you into engaging, sometimes humorous, conversations designed to
entertain as it teaches. Each episode in the series is designed to be viewed independently of the other episodes so that
participants will enhance their knowledge of this area whether they attend one, some, or all episodes.
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9. Episodes in this Series
#1: The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
Premiere date:10/8/20
#2: Discovery Practice
Premiere date: 10/28/20
#3: Dispositive Motions
Premiere date: 11/18/20
#4: Working With Experts
Premiere date: 12/16/20
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10. Episode #1
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
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11. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Refresher
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure will be 82 years old this September. They were
instituted in 1938 by act of Congress. Their purpose is to provide the structure and rules for
every lawsuit filed in federal court in the United States.
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12. Rule Number One:
These rules govern the procedure in all civil actions and proceedings in the United States
district courts, except as stated in Rule 81. They should be construed, administered, and
employed by the court and the parties to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive
determination of every action and proceeding.
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13. Fed. R. Civ. P. 2:
There is one form of action — the civil action.
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14. How to Sue Someone
File a complaint (Rule 3), and have it properly served on the defendant(s) (Rule 4).
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15. Waiver of Service of Process
• “Service of process” means providing initial notice of the lawsuit and the plaintiff’s
complaint to the defendant. Before you could email stuff around the world in an instant,
service of process used to be a bigger deal.
 Now, much of the traditional formality has been eliminated. The Federal Rules
encourage defendants to waive their right to be formally served with process. See Rule
4(d). Many defendants choose to do so, and are often “served” by email sent to them or
to their attorney.
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16. Complaint and Answer
• Complaint-
 A federal civil action starts with a complaint- a “short and plain statement of the claim
showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” See Rule 8(a)(2).
o This is the document that a plaintiff files to initiate a lawsuit. It must consist of
numbered paragraphs and have a request for the relief sought.
• Answer-
 Unless the defendant chooses to move to dismiss, he must answer the complaint. The
answer should “state in short and plain terms its defenses to each claim asserted against
it” and should “admit or deny the allegations asserted against it by an opposing party.”
Rule 8(b).
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17. Motions to Dismiss
If a defendant believes that the plaintiff’s complaint is facially invalid or that he can’t be sued
in the court where the plaintiff chose to file, the defendant can make a motion to dismiss
instead of answering.
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18. Motions to Dismiss
• Motions to dismiss are governed by Rule 12(b), which lists 7 grounds to move to dismiss:
 Lack of subject-matter jurisdiction
 Lack of personal jurisdiction
 Improper Venue
 Insufficient Process
 Insufficient Service of Process
 Failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted
 Failure to join a party under Rule 19
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19. Motions to Dismiss
If a defendant thinks that the plaintiff cannot win as a matter of law, the defendant files a
motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6). A Rule 12(b)(6) motion assumes that all of the facts in
the complaint are true, and argues that the defendant nevertheless deserves to win because
the plaintiff cannot state a legal claim for relief.
• If your defense depends on challenging the facts alleged in the complaint, it is not properly
brought as a motion to dismiss.
• If the Court can assume that the entirety of the complaint is true, but the defendant still can
win, then the defendant has grounds for a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim.
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20. What if there is More than One Plaintiff or Defendant?
• The federal rules contemplate that litigation may be more complicated than one plaintiff
suing one defendant. Rule 13 sets guidelines for a defendant’s counterclaims or cross-claims.
Rule 14 allows defendants to bring third parties into the case in certain circumstances.
• Other rules spell out when additional parties must be made a part of the litigation (Rule
19) or may be made part of the litigation (Rule 20).
• Rule 23 governs class actions: cases where representative plaintiffs pursue claim on
behalf of hundreds or thousands of others with similar claims.
• Rule 24 governs “intervention”: when someone not named in the original lawsuit can add
themselves to the case as a plaintiff or defendant.
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21. Who Should I sue?/Who can sue?
• Sometimes it is not clear who the plaintiff should name as a defendant. This is particularly
true if the plaintiff wants to sue a corporation and is unsure which entity within a corporate
family is responsible.
• Sometimes a person or entity who was not harmed wants to bring suit on behalf of the
party who was harmed. In most instances, this will not be allowed.
• Rule 17 says that a lawsuit must be brought “in the name of the real party in interest.”
• If the real party in interest is not named initially, Rule 17 says that the court must give the
parties a reasonable time to add or join them to the lawsuit before dismissing.
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22. Discovery
• What is Discovery?
 Discovery is the stage of the case where parties take steps to learn information from
the other side. Discovery is governed by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Nos. 26-
37.
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23. Discovery
• Scope of Discovery
 Rule 26(b)(1) provides:
o Parties may obtain discovery regarding any nonprivileged matter that is relevant to
any party's claim or defense and proportional to the needs of the case, considering
the importance of the issues at stake in the action, the amount in controversy, the
parties’ relative access to relevant information, the parties’ resources, the
importance of the discovery in resolving the issues, and whether the burden or
expense of the proposed discovery outweighs its likely benefit.
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24. Discovery
• Methods of Discovery
 Discovery occurs in both written (paper) and oral forms. Written discovery includes
requests for the production of documents (Rule 34), written questions that must be
answered under oath, called “interrogatories” (Rule 33), and requests for admission (Rule
36). Discovery of information held by non-litigants, by way of a subpoena, is governed by
Rule 45.
• Oral discovery means depositions (Rule 30). A deposition is an examination of a witness
under oath by a lawyer. These examinations do not take place in court, but the witness’
testimony is given under penalties of perjury. Under the Federal Rules, depositions can last
up to seven hours.
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25. Discovery
• Discovery of Electronically-Stored Information
 The Federal Rules have been amended in recent years to account for the
proliferation of electronic information in our everyday lives. The Federal Rules governing
discovery have provisions that speak directly to parties’ obligations to retain and produce
electronically-stored information (ESI). See Rule 26(b)(2)(B), Rule 26(f)(3)(C), Rule
34(b)(2)(E), and Rule 34(b)(2)(F).
• Expert Discovery
 Rule 26(a)(2) governs discovery of expert witnesses. An expert witness is one who
testifies as to her opinion, as opposed to a witness who testifies only about facts. There
are well-established standards for the discovery of expert opinion testimony.
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26. Summary Judgment
• Prior to trial, a party may make a motion asking the court to enter summary judgment in
its favor. As Rule 56 states:
 The court shall grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine
dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
 A defendant has good grounds for summary judgment if the evidence collected in
discovery by the plaintiff does not allow the plaintiff to state a claim.
Put differently, if the relevant facts are not in dispute at the close of discovery, and if
those facts show that the plaintiff cannot win, then summary judgment for the defendant
is proper.
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27. Trial
While a handful of the Federal Rules address trial practice, evidence submitted at trial is done
so subject to the Federal Rules of Evidence, which are separate from the Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure.
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28. Judgment
Rules 54 and 58 govern the judgments of federal courts. While these rules may seem overly
formalistic, the entry of a final judgment is an act best governed by precise rules, as final
judgments are the enforceable end product of litigation.
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29. Post Judgment / Appeals
The Federal Rules allow parties to ask for corrections or relief from final judgments (Rules 59
and 60). Motions made under these rules are rarely granted. Following post-trial motions, a
party may appeal the federal court’s ruling. Appeals are governed by the Federal Rules of
Appellate Procedure.
The post-judgment rules have been recently amended to clean up some differing and
inconsistent due dates. Even in their current form, though, the deadlines in these rules are
strict. Once a judgment is reached, courts do not want cases to linger on.
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30. About the Faculty
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31. About The Faculty
Adam Hirsch - AHirsch@ralaw.com
Mr. Hirsch focuses his practice on commercial and business litigation, representing a wide
variety of clients ranging from individuals to small business owners to large corporations. He
has a particular focus on investment disputes and business fraud claims, and has
represented investors and investment companies as plaintiffs and defendants in lawsuits
around the country. Mr. Hirsch regularly writes and presents on current issues relating to
business fraud. He also has extensive experience litigating contract disputes, and has argued
and tried multi-million dollar contract issues before judges and juries nationwide. Mr. Hirsch
also has experience in advising clients in employment disputes relating to matters such as
separation, severance, non-solicitation, and non-compete agreements.
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32. About The Faculty
Max Stein - mstein@boodlaw.com
Max Stein, a member of Boodell & Domanskis, LLC, is a business litigator focused on
meeting clients’ business objectives, helping them resolve disputes at the most opportune
times. Max represents clients as both plaintiffs and defendants in a wide variety of forums.
Additionally, Max notes that one advantage of practicing at a smaller firm, is that he is able to
offer his clients high-quality, nimble representation at reasonable rates. To aid his clients in
achieving their business objectives, Max approaches cases as though they will go to trial,
utilizing his extensive trial experience. Max also counsels his clients, helping to identify and
navigate legal risks to achieve their business goals and protect their competitive interests
while managing and, where possible, avoiding the expense and uncertainty of litigation.
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33. About The Faculty
Gerald Meyer - gmeyer@mololamken.com
Gerald Meyer’s practice focuses on complex business litigation, white collar criminal matters and
investigations, and appellate litigation. He has represented businesses, senior corporate officials,
and individuals in a broad array of subject matters, including securities litigation, class actions,
antitrust law, and constitutional law. He has tried cases to verdict and drafted and argued
dispositive, discovery, and evidentiary motions in trial courts across the country. He has argued
appeals before the Seventh Circuit, and has briefed appeals in the Supreme Court of the United
States and numerous courts of appeals. Before joining MoloLamken, Mr. Meyer was an associate
with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Chicago. He has represented companies and
individuals in a wide range of tax planning matters, including mergers and acquisitions,
restructurings, securities offerings, and issues involving tax-exempt organizations. Mr. Meyer also
served as a law clerk to Judge Robert R. Beezer of the United States Court of Appeals for the
Ninth Circuit and to Judge G. Steven Agee of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth
Circuit.
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34. Questions or Comments?
If you have any questions about this webinar that you did not get to ask during the live
premiere, or if you are watching this webinar On Demand, please do not hesitate to email us
at info@financialpoise.com with any questions or comments you may have. Please include
the name of the webinar in your email and we will do our best to provide a timely response.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The material in this presentation is for general educational purposes
only. It has been prepared primarily for attorneys and accountants for use in the pursuit of
their continuing legal education and continuing professional education.
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35. About Financial Poise
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