US Civil Procedure

The class in Civil Procedure is part of the Certificate of United States’ Law program offered at the University of Cologne. Due to the prominent role the American common law legal system ascribes to its attorneys, who are the main actors in the adversarial legal proceedings, knowledge of the rules of civil procedure is seen as a fundamental part of American legal education.
The topics covered in class are: the sources and institutions of the Law of Civil Procedure in the US, questions of personal and subject-matter jurisdiction, choice of jurisdiction, the process of litigation, pleading, discovery, resolution without trial, the trier and the trial, and respect for judgment.

The class will be assessed by a written examination at the end of term.