Black-letter propositions
- 01
Demand a jury within 14 days after the last pleading directed to the issue; legal issues ordinarily go to the jury before overlapping equitable issues.
- 02
A final decision usually ends all claims for all parties; interlocutory review requires a recognized statutory, rule-based, collateral-order, or certified route.
- 03
Claim preclusion requires a valid final merits judgment, the same parties or privies, and the same transaction or claim.
- 04
Issue preclusion requires an identical issue actually litigated and determined, essential to judgment, and asserted against a party with a full and fair opportunity.
- 05
A default can support claim preclusion but usually not issue preclusion because issues were not actually litigated.
Use this attack sequence under time
Frame the issue
Classify relief as legal or equitable.
Resolve the next checkpoint
Find a final judgment or interlocutory-review exception.
Resolve the next checkpoint
For later litigation, choose claim or issue preclusion.
Finish the conclusion
Identify the precise transaction or issue and the party to be bound.
Common wrong turns
- The right to jury depends on the nature of the claim and remedy, not a party's preferred label.
- Different legal theories do not avoid transaction-based claim preclusion.
- Nonmutual issue preclusion has fairness and offensive-use limits.
Worked example
After losing a fully litigated collision negligence action, the plaintiff sues the same defendant for property damage from the same crash under a different theory.
Claim preclusion ordinarily bars the second action because a valid merits judgment resolved litigation between the same parties and the property claim arose from the same transaction and could have been joined.
Practice this topic
Jury right and judgment
The Seventh Amendment preserves the right of trial by jury in suits at common law where the value in controversy exceeds twenty dollars, and no fact tried by a jury may be reexamined other than according to the common law. Cornell notes it governs only federal civil courts. Rule 38(b) requires a written jury demand served no later than 14 days after the last pleading directed to the issue, and an unspecified demand covers all triable issues.
Rule 58(a) requires every judgment to be set out in a separate document, with listed exceptions for orders disposing of certain motions.
Appeals and preclusion
28 U.S.C. 1291 gives the courts of appeals jurisdiction over appeals from all final decisions of the district courts. Section 1292(a)(1) permits appeals from interlocutory orders granting, continuing, modifying, refusing or dissolving injunctions. Section 1292(b) allows certification of a controlling question of law where there is substantial ground for difference of opinion.
28 U.S.C. 1738 gives state judicial proceedings the same full faith and credit in every court in the United States as they have in the courts of the state that rendered them. Cornell describes claim preclusion as barring relitigation of a cause of action after a final judgment on the merits, and issue preclusion as preventing relitigation of an issue validly, finally and necessarily decided.
Frequently asked questions
What is the controlling rule for juries, judgments, appeals, and preclusion?+
A valid final judgment bars later transactional claims and actually litigated essential issues, subject to the distinct elements and fairness limits of claim and issue preclusion.
When must a jury demand be served?+
In writing no later than 14 days after the last pleading directed to the issue is served, under Rule 38(b).
Does the Seventh Amendment apply in state courts?+
No. Cornell's summary says it governs only federal civil courts and has no application to state courts hearing disputes of state law.
Which interlocutory orders are appealable under section 1292(a)(1)?+
Orders granting, continuing, modifying, refusing or dissolving injunctions, or refusing to dissolve or modify injunctions, with a limited exception.
What is the difference between claim preclusion and issue preclusion?+
Claim preclusion bars relitigating a cause of action after a final judgment on the merits, and issue preclusion bars relitigating an issue validly, finally and necessarily decided.