Includes index.

Personal jurisdiction : the enigma of minimum contacts -- Statutory limits on personal jurisdiction : the reach and grasp of the long-arm -- Seeking the home field advantage : challenges to personal jurisdiction -- Federal questions and federal cases : jurisdiction over cases "arising under" federal law -- Diversity jurisdiction : when does multiplicity constitute diversity? -- Personal and subject matter jurisdiction compared : the first two rings -- Second-guessing the plaintiff's choice of forum : removal -- Proper venue in federal courts : a rough measure of convenience -- Choosing a proper court : the three rings reconsidered -- Easy Erie : the law of Rome and Athens -- Eerie Erie : the substance/substance distinction -- Erie and state choice of law : vertical uniformity and horizontal chaos -- Sculpting the lawsuit : the basic rules of joinder -- Into the labyrinth : joinder of parties under Rule 14 -- Essentials and interlopers : joinder of parties under Rules 19 and 24 -- Jurisdictional fellow travelers : supplemental jurisdiction -- Jurisdiction vs. joinder : the difference between power and permission -- The bearer of bad tidings : service of process in the federal courts -- Getting off easy : the motion to dismiss -- When justice so requires : amendments to pleadings under the Federal Rules -- The scope of discovery : the rules giveth, and the rules taketh away -- Tools of the trade : the basic methods of discovery -- Defective allegation or insufficient proof? Dismissal for failure to state a claim compared to summary judgment -- The judge and the jury, part one : judgment as a matter of law (directed verdict) -- The judge and the jury, part two : whose case is this, anyway? -- Res judicata (claim preclusion) : the limits of procedural liberality -- Res judicata and the rules of joinder : when does may mean must? -- Collateral estoppel (issue preclusion) : fine-tuning the preclusion doctrine -- The obscure kingdom : nonmutual collateral estoppel -- An introduction to the pretrial litigation process : setting the stage for the Schulansky case -- First moves : Schulansky goes to court -- A change of forum : Ronan removes to federal court -- The defendants' perspective : Ronan's answer and counterclaim -- Chain reaction : Ronan brings in Jones -- Preliminary objections : Jones seeks a way out.

"Study aid with examples-and-explanations pedagogy, focusing on the principles of civil procedure"-- Provided by publisher.