Bar Exam — MBE (Multistate Bar Exam) flashcards

Guarantees a criminal defendant the right to an attorney in all criminal prosecutions, attaching at critical stages of the proceedings.

• Applies to felony cases and misdemeanor cases involving actual or suspended incarceration.
• Includes the right to appointed counsel for indigent defendants (Gideon v. Wainwright).
• Attaches at critical stages, such as post-indictment interrogations, preliminary hearings, arraignments, and trials.

Memory trick: COUNSEL and SPEEDY TRIAL for the ACCUSED.

Protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government.

• Requires warrants to be based on probable cause.
• Warrants must describe the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.
• Evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment is generally inadmissible (Exclusionary Rule).

Memory trick: AMENDMENTS Protect the ACCUSED.

Strict liability crimes are offenses where the prosecution does not need to prove a specific mental state (mens rea) regarding one or more elements of the crime. For statutory rape, the defendant's knowledge or belief about the victim's age is typically irrelevant; a mistake of fact as to age is not a defense.

• No mens rea required for certain elements (e.g., victim's age in statutory rape).
• Mistake of fact, even if reasonable, is generally not a defense.
• Often involves public welfare offenses or crimes protecting vulnerable groups.

Memory trick: Intent's a must, unless the law says 'trust no age, it's just'.

A crime involving conduct that creates a substantial risk of serious physical injury to another person, often without specific intent to injure.

• Requires a conscious disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk.
• The risk must be of serious physical injury.
• Does not require actual injury to be completed in some jurisdictions, only the creation of the risk.

Memory trick: MENTAL states determine GUILT levels.

The mental state required for murder, generally encompassing intent to kill, intent to cause serious bodily harm, depraved heart (reckless indifference to human life), or felony murder.

• Can be express (intent to kill) or implied (intent to cause serious bodily harm, depraved heart).
• Distinguishes murder from manslaughter.
• Does not necessarily require premeditation or deliberation in all jurisdictions for all degrees of murder.

Memory trick: KNOW the Different Intentions for Killing.

For accomplice liability, the defendant must have the specific intent that the crime be committed and the intent to aid or encourage the principal in its commission.

• Requires dual intent: intent to assist AND intent that the crime occur.
• Mere presence or knowledge is usually insufficient.
• Accomplices are generally held liable for the principal crime and any foreseeable crimes.

Memory trick: ROLES in CRIME determine LIABILITY.

A defense where a defendant's genuine (and sometimes reasonable) misunderstanding of a factual circumstance negates the specific intent required for the crime.

• For specific intent crimes, the mistake only needs to be genuine.
• For general intent crimes, the mistake must typically be both genuine and reasonable.
• Larceny is a specific intent crime (intent to permanently deprive).

Memory trick: Fact or Law: Know Your Mistake's Power.

Many jurisdictions, and the Model Penal Code, require an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy, in addition to the agreement and intent, for a conviction.

• Common law only required agreement and specific intent.
• The overt act can be minor and performed by any co-conspirator.
• The overt act demonstrates commitment to the illegal agreement.

Memory trick: AGREE, INTEND, and ACT for CONSPIRACY.

Under the Fourth Amendment, warrantless entry into a person's home is presumptively unreasonable and illegal, unless a specific exception to the warrant requirement applies (e.g., consent, exigency, hot pursuit).

• The home receives the highest level of Fourth Amendment protection.
• Exceptions to the warrant rule are narrowly construed.
• Probable cause is still generally required, even with some exceptions.

Memory trick: PACE-S: Plain view, Automobile, Consent, Exigent, Stop & frisk.

A legal defense arguing that a defendant should not be held criminally responsible for their actions due to a severe mental disease or defect preventing them from knowing the nature or wrongfulness of their act.

• Focuses on cognitive capacity at the time of the offense.
• Requires a severe mental disease or defect.
• Defendant must not know the nature or quality of the act, or that it was wrong.

Memory trick: Defend Your Rights: Insanity, Self, Mistake, Necessity.

Under common law, an attempt requires a specific intent to commit the target crime and an overt act that comes 'dangerously close' to completion, going beyond mere preparation.

• Focuses on how physically close the defendant came to completing the crime.
• Higher threshold for actus reus than the Model Penal Code's 'substantial step' test.
• Voluntary abandonment is generally not a defense once the act is committed.

Memory trick: Proximity (Common Law) vs. Substantial Step (MPC): How Close is Too Close?

A defense to attempt where the defendant's intended crime could not have been completed due to external circumstances unknown to the defendant, but it is generally *not* a valid defense.

• Relates to the specific facts of the case, not the legality of the act itself.
• The defendant's intent and substantial step are paramount.
• Contrast with legal impossibility, which *is* a defense.

Memory trick: Conspire, Attempt, Solicit: Incomplete but Criminal.

Under the Model Penal Code, voluntary and complete renunciation of criminal purpose is an affirmative defense to attempt, provided the abandonment is not motivated by external factors like increased risk of detection or temporary postponement.

• Must be voluntary (not due to external circumstances).
• Must be complete (not just a postponement).
• Affirmative defense, meaning the defendant bears the burden of proof.

Memory trick: Abandonment, Impossibility: Stops to the Attempt.

A culpable mental state where a person's conduct involves a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe in the situation, creating a substantial and unjustifiable risk of harm, without conscious disregard of that risk.

• Often associated with involuntary manslaughter.
• Higher culpability than civil negligence.
• Distinguished from recklessness by the lack of conscious awareness of the risk.

Memory trick: Purpose, Know, Reckless, Negligent: The Mind's Criminal Ladder.

Under the Model P. Code, an attempt occurs when a person, with the intent to commit a specific crime, takes a 'substantial step' toward the commission of that crime.

• Requires specific intent to commit the target crime.
• The 'substantial step' must strongly corroborate the actor's criminal purpose.
• Mere preparation is generally not enough, but acts beyond preparation that are unequivocally referable to the crime are sufficient.

Memory trick: INCOMPLETE crimes still have CONSEQUENCES.

At common law, the crime of conspiracy required only an agreement between two or more persons to commit an unlawful act, without any additional overt act in furtherance of the agreement.

• Agreement is the actus reus at common law.
• Mens rea is specific intent to enter agreement and achieve unlawful objective.
• Many modern statutes and the MPC add an overt act requirement.

Memory trick: Agree, Intent, Overt (sometimes): The Conspiracy Formula.

The Sixth Amendment right to counsel attaches once adversarial judicial proceedings have begun (e.g., indictment). It prohibits the government from deliberately eliciting incriminating statements from a defendant in the absence of their counsel, even through informants or other surreptitious means.

• Attaches upon formal charges (indictment, arraignment).
• Applies to 'deliberate elicitation' of statements, not just active interrogation.
• Offense-specific: applies only to the charged crime.

Memory trick: Miranda's about custody, Sixth's about the case, both protect the accused's space.

If a suspect's statement about wanting an attorney is ambiguous or equivocal, police are not required to stop questioning, but may continue or ask clarifying questions.

• Applies during custodial interrogation.
• Must be an unambiguous and unequivocal request to stop questioning.
• Ambiguous statements (e.g., 'Maybe I should get a lawyer') do not invoke the right.

Memory trick: Miranda's counsel is clear, not a maybe.

Offenses where the prosecution does not need to prove mens rea (guilty mind) regarding one or more elements of the crime; the mere commission of the act is sufficient for guilt.

• Commonly found in public welfare offenses (e.g., selling adulterated food).
• Statutory rape is a classic example at common law.
• Mistake of fact is generally not a defense to strict liability crimes.

Memory trick: Act, Mind, Cause, Harm: The Criminal Puzzle.

An accomplice is liable not only for the crime she intended to facilitate but also for any other crimes committed by the principal that were a natural and probable consequence of the criminal act she aided and abetted.

• Expands accomplice liability beyond the intended crime.
• Requires foreseeability of the additional crimes.
• Applies to crimes committed by the principal in furtherance of the original crime.

Memory trick: ACCOMPLICES are linked to FORESEEABLE crimes.

Once a suspect in custody unequivocally invokes their Fifth Amendment right to counsel, all police-initiated interrogation must cease, and cannot resume until counsel is present or the suspect re-initiates communication.

• Applies to all questioning, regardless of the crime.
• A 'bright-line' rule to protect the suspect's ability to consult with an attorney.
• Distinguish from the right to remain silent (Mosley rule).

Memory trick: Silence & Counsel: Your Custodial Shields.

A person is liable as an accomplice if they aid, abet, or encourage another person to commit a crime, and they do so with the intent that the crime be committed.

• Requires both an actus reus (aid, abet, encourage) and mens rea (intent crime be committed).
• Can be by mere presence if it provides encouragement and intent exists.
• Liable for the target crime and foreseeable crimes resulting from it.

Memory trick: Principals & Accomplices: Partners in Crime.

The Sixth Amendment right to counsel attaches once adversarial judicial proceedings have begun (e.g., formal charge, indictment) and prohibits the government from deliberately eliciting incriminating statements from a defendant in the absence of counsel.

• Applies post-attachment of adversarial proceedings.
• Prohibits 'deliberate elicitation' by government agents, including informants.
• Offense-specific: applies only to the crime for which the defendant has been charged.

Memory trick: Miranda (5th) is Pre-Charge Silence; Sixth is Post-Charge Lawyer.

A common law doctrine that imputes malice aforethought to a killing that occurs during the commission or attempted commission of an inherently dangerous felony, making it murder.

• No separate intent to kill is required.
• Applies to 'BARRK' felonies: Burglary, Arson, Rape, Robbery, Kidnapping.
• Death must be caused during the felony and not too remote.

Memory trick: Murder, Manslaughter: Degrees of Deadly Intent.

A 'Terry stop' is a brief detention of a person by police on reasonable suspicion of involvement in criminal activity but short of probable cause to arrest. During such a stop, an officer may conduct a pat-down search for weapons if there is reasonable suspicion that the person is armed and dangerous.

• Requires reasonable, articulable suspicion of criminal activity.
• Limited in scope and duration; not a full arrest.
• Allows for a pat-down (frisk) for weapons if there's reasonable suspicion the person is armed and dangerous.

Memory trick: Terry's reasonable stop, not a full arrest, for a quick look top.

In contracts for the sale of real estate, 'time is of the essence' is generally not presumed. A reasonable delay in performance (e.g., closing) is usually considered a minor breach and does not justify termination of the contract unless explicitly stated or circumstances demand strict adherence to time.

• Applies to real estate contracts under common law.
• A reasonable delay does not typically constitute a material breach.
• To make time 'of the essence,' it must be expressly stated or clearly implied by the circumstances.
• If time is not of the essence, the non-breaching party must allow a reasonable time for performance.

Memory trick: Material breaches Make contracts Melt, Minor ones Make Monetary remedies.

Under UCC 2-612, in an installment contract, a buyer may reject an installment if the non-conformity substantially impairs its value. However, cancellation of the entire contract is only justified if the non-conformity 'substantially impairs the value of the whole contract.'

• Applies to contracts for the sale of goods delivered in separate lots.
• Buyer can reject an installment if non-conformity substantially impairs that installment's value.
• Cancellation of the entire contract requires substantial impairment of the 'whole contract'.
• Buyer must give notice of cancellation and opportunity to cure if possible.

Memory trick: Installment Impairment: Single part needs Substance, Whole needs Severe.

When a party has performed most of its contractual obligations, but there is a minor, non-material breach. The non-breaching party is not excused from performance but may sue for damages for the minor breach.

• Applies to common law contracts (services, construction).
• Prevents forfeiture when performance is nearly complete.
• Breaching party gets contract price minus damages for the defect.
• If the breach is material, substantial performance does not apply, and the non-breaching party can treat the contract as discharged.

Memory trick: Performance counts, but perfection's not always required!

Promissory estoppel can enforce an oral modification to a common law contract, even if it lacks consideration or violates a 'no oral modification' clause, where one party reasonably and foreseeably relies on the other's promise to their detriment, and injustice can only be avoided by enforcement.

• Applies in common law jurisdictions.
• Requires a clear and unambiguous promise.
• Promisee must reasonably and foreseeably rely on the promise.
• Reliance must result in detriment to the promisee.

Memory trick: Oral changes can Overcome Written clauses, if Reliance is Right and Real.

Under common law, a promise to perform a pre-existing legal duty is not valid consideration for a new promise. However, exceptions exist, such as when new or different duties are undertaken or when there are unforeseen difficulties.

• Applies to common law contracts, not UCC.
• Performance of existing duty is not new consideration.
• Exceptions: new/different duties, unforeseen difficulties, rescission followed by new contract.

Memory trick: Modify a contract, but make sure you're getting something NEW in return!

A separate contract created when an offeror promises to keep an offer open for a stated period, supported by consideration (or in some cases, a signed writing under common law, or a firm offer under UCC).

• Makes the underlying offer irrevocable during the option period.
• Requires consideration to be binding under common law, unless a specific exception applies.
• UCC 'firm offer' rule allows for irrevocable offers by merchants without consideration if in writing and signed.

Memory trick: Can't take it back if it's got 'Options' or 'Firms' it!

Reliance damages aim to compensate the non-breaching party for losses suffered by reasonably relying on the contract. They seek to restore the injured party to the position they were in before the contract was made.

• Awarded when expectation damages are too speculative or difficult to prove.
• Cover expenses incurred in preparation for or performance of the contract.
• Cannot exceed the contract price.

Memory trick: Every Rightful Remedy Restores.

Anticipatory repudiation occurs when a party unequivocally communicates that they will not perform their contractual duties before performance is due. The non-repudiating party can treat it as a present breach. Repudiation can be retracted unless the non-repudiating party has materially changed their position in reliance on the repudiation.

• Must be a clear and unequivocal statement of non-performance.
• Non-repudiating party can sue immediately, await performance, or suspend performance.
• Repudiation can be retracted before the non-repudiating party materially changes position.
• Material change in position makes the repudiation final.

Memory trick: Early NO means GO, unless they retract before you show!

A doctrine that excuses a party's performance when an unforeseen event, occurring after contract formation and without the party's fault, makes performance either objectively impossible or commercially impracticable (extremely burdensome or costly).

• Must be an unforeseen event, not merely increased difficulty or expense.
• Performance must be objectively impossible or commercially impracticable (not just subjectively difficult for the promisor).
• Destruction of subject matter, death/incapacity of unique person, or new law are common examples.
• Temporarily excuses performance; permanent impossibility discharges the contract.

Memory trick: Law's hand can discharge when fate takes charge!

An equitable remedy that compels the breaching party to perform the specific acts promised in the contract, rather than paying monetary damages.

• Available only when monetary damages are inadequate.
• Commonly used for unique goods (e.g., antiques, art) and real estate.
• Not typically available for personal service contracts.
• Requires the contract terms to be sufficiently definite.

Memory trick: Equity's hand helps when money can't mend!

A promise to perform a duty that one is already legally obligated to perform is not considered valid consideration for a new promise.

• Applies to common law contracts (services, real estate).
• Without new consideration, a modification is unenforceable.
• Exceptions exist, such as unforeseen circumstances or mutual modification.

Memory trick: Modifying a deal? Check the 'C' for Consideration!

A contract term making one party's performance contingent upon the other party's personal satisfaction. For matters of personal taste (e.g., art, custom clothing), subjective, honest dissatisfaction is sufficient to excuse performance.

• Applies where aesthetic judgment or personal preference is involved.
• Requires genuine, good-faith dissatisfaction, not merely feigned.
• Distinguished from clauses for mechanical utility, which use an objective 'reasonable person' standard.

Memory trick: Satisfaction's a feeling, not always a fact!

Under the UCC, for contracts for the sale of goods, the Perfect Tender Rule allows a buyer to reject goods if they fail in any respect to conform to the contract. The buyer may reject the whole, accept the whole, or accept any commercial unit(s) and reject the rest.

• Applies to contracts for the sale of goods (UCC Article 2).
• Buyer can reject for any non-conformity, no matter how slight.
• Distinguish from common law's substantial performance rule.
• Exceptions include installment contracts and seller's right to cure.

Memory trick: Perfect Tender means Picky Buyers Prevail.

An agreement (accord) to accept a lesser or different performance in satisfaction of an existing contractual duty, followed by the performance (satisfaction). It typically requires a disputed or unliquidated debt to be effective.

• Requires a genuine dispute over the amount or existence of the debt (unliquidated).
• If the debt is liquidated and undisputed, partial payment does not discharge the full amount.
• Acceptance of the lesser sum must be intended as full satisfaction.
• UCC 3-311 provides specific rules for 'full satisfaction' checks for negotiable instruments.

Memory trick: Accord and Satisfy: Disputed sums, new deal, done!

Under the UCC, a buyer can reject goods if they fail in any respect to conform to the contract. The 'time is of the essence' clause emphasizes the materiality of timely delivery.

• Applies to contracts for the sale of goods.
• Buyer can reject goods if they are not 'perfect'.
• Seller has a right to cure within the contract time.
• Exceptions exist for installment contracts and good faith.

Memory trick: Perfect Tender, or no deal, says the UCC!

Governs contract formation when an acceptance or confirmation contains terms additional to or different from those in the offer. Between merchants, additional terms become part of the contract unless they materially alter the offer, the offer limits acceptance to its terms, or objection is made.

• Applies to contracts for the sale of goods.
• Acceptance with additional/different terms can still form a contract.
• Between merchants, additional terms are included unless material alteration, objection, or offer limits acceptance.
• Material alteration substantially changes the terms (e.g., arbitration clauses, disclaimers of warranty).

Memory trick: 2-207: Terms clash, who wins the contract hash?

Mutual rescission is an agreement between both parties to an existing contract to terminate their contractual duties. It is effective if the contract is still executory on both sides.

• Requires mutual agreement to cancel the contract.
• Original contract must still have unperformed duties on both sides (executory).
• Can be oral, even if the original contract was in writing, unless subject to Statute of Frauds for the new agreement.
• Distinguish from Novation (replacing a party) and Accord and Satisfaction (disputed debt resolution).

Memory trick: Agreements Alter, Annul, or Allow Alternatives.

Contractual clauses in construction subcontracts that attempt to make a general contractor's payment to a subcontractor contingent upon the general contractor's receipt of payment from the owner. Courts often interpret these as 'pay-if-paid' (true condition) or 'pay-when-paid' (timing mechanism) depending on the explicit language.

• Courts generally disfavor interpreting them as true conditions precedent (pay-if-paid).
• Unless language is extremely clear ('only if and when'), they are often interpreted as setting a reasonable time for payment ('pay-when-paid').
• The risk of owner non-payment typically remains with the general contractor under a 'pay-when-paid' interpretation.
• Some states have statutes or public policy that limit the enforceability of 'pay-if-paid' clauses.

Memory trick: Conditions stop, Covenants just compel!

A contract clause that restricts a party's ability to assign their rights or delegate their duties under the contract to a third party. Such clauses are generally enforceable, but their interpretation (e.g., whether they prohibit only assignment of rights or also delegation of duties) can vary.

• A general prohibition against 'assignment of the contract' is usually interpreted to bar both assignment of rights and delegation of duties.
• Such clauses generally make the assignment/delegation ineffective as against the other party, but do not necessarily prevent the assignor/delegator from being liable for breach.
• Exceptions exist, such as assignment of a right to receive money or assignment of a negotiable instrument.
• A true prohibition requires clear and explicit language.

Memory trick: Pass it on, unless the contract says 'NO'!

Damages awarded to a non-breaching party to compensate for losses incurred in reliance on the contract, putting them in the position they would have been in had the contract never been made. In cases of partial performance and breach, a breaching party may recover payments made, offset by the non-breaching party's reliance damages.

• Compensates for expenses incurred due to reasonable reliance on the promise.
• Often sought when expectation damages are too speculative.
• Can be used as an offset against a breaching party's claim for restitution of payments.
• Non-breaching party has a duty to mitigate damages.

Memory trick: Damages: Expect profit, rely on costs, or just get back what's lost!

Contractual duties are generally delegable, but duties involving personal skill, reputation, or judgment of a specific individual are not delegable without the consent of the other contracting party.

• Applies to personal service contracts (e.g., artists, specific professionals).
• The identity of the performing party is a material element of the contract.
• Delegation without consent constitutes a breach of contract.
• Distinguish from assignment of rights, which is generally freer.

Memory trick: Duties Delegate, Unless the Doer is Distinctly Designated.

A rule of evidence that prevents parties to a written contract from introducing prior or contemporaneous oral or written agreements that contradict, vary, or add to the terms of a fully integrated written contract.

• Applies to fully integrated written contracts (often indicated by an integration clause).
• Excludes evidence of prior/contemporaneous agreements, not subsequent modifications.
• Does not bar evidence to explain ambiguous terms, prove fraud, or show conditions precedent.
• A 'partial integration' allows consistent additional terms but not contradictory ones.

Memory trick: Written words rule, unless they're ambiguous or fraud's the fuel!

Allows law enforcement to seize evidence without a warrant if an officer is lawfully present, the item is in plain view, and its incriminating character is immediately apparent.

• Officer must be lawfully in the viewing area.
• Item must be in plain sight (open to the public or visible during a lawful action).
• Incriminating nature of the item must be immediately apparent (probable cause).
• Does not require a 'search' to occur.

Memory trick: Plain View: 'See it, Seize it, Legally!'

A motion requesting that a pleading be made more specific because it is so vague or ambiguous that the moving party cannot reasonably prepare a response.

• Used before filing a responsive pleading.
• Only applies if the pleading is truly unintelligible, not just lacking detail.
• If granted, the court orders the pleader to amend their pleading.

Memory trick: Rule 12: Before you ANSWER, you can ASK for a lot of things.

Once a suspect invokes their Fifth Amendment right to counsel during custodial interrogation, all interrogation must cease, and police may not re-initiate questioning without counsel present, unless the suspect himself initiates further communication.

• Applies once counsel is unequivocally requested.
• Police cannot re-initiate interrogation.
• Suspect must initiate further communication for interrogation to resume.
• Any subsequent waiver of rights is presumed invalid if police re-initiated.

Memory trick: Edwards: 'Counsel requested? Questioning rested!'

For purposes of diversity jurisdiction, a corporation is deemed to be a citizen of both its state of incorporation AND the state where it has its principal place of business.

• Dual citizenship rule for corporations.
• Principal place of business is typically the 'nerve center' (where high-level officers direct, control, and coordinate activities).
• Complete diversity still required: no plaintiff can share citizenship with any defendant, considering both aspects of corporate citizenship.

Memory trick: A corporation's home is where it's BORN and where its BRAIN is.

A set of rights that must be read to a suspect before custodial interrogation to ensure their Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination is protected.

• Right to remain silent.
• Anything said can be used against them in court.
• Right to an attorney.
• If they cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided.

Memory trick: Miranda: 'Custody + Interrogation = Warnings!'

A defense that justifies an otherwise criminal act when it is committed to prevent a greater harm, provided there are no reasonable legal alternatives.

• Defendant faced with a choice of two evils.
• Harm avoided must be greater than harm caused.
• Defendant must reasonably believe the action was necessary.
• No reasonable legal alternatives available.

Memory trick: Necessity: 'No choice but to choose the lesser evil.'

Under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), a federal district court may transfer any civil action to any other district or division where it might have been brought or to any district or division to which all parties have consented, for the convenience of parties and witnesses, and in the interest of justice.

• Original venue must be proper.
• Transfer is to another federal district court.
• Factors considered include convenience of parties/witnesses and interests of justice.

Memory trick: Venue moving: If it's RIGHT but ROUGH, use 1404. If it's WRONG, use 1406.

Federal courts may exercise supplemental jurisdiction over state law claims that are so related to claims in the action within the court's original jurisdiction that they form part of the same case or controversy.

• Applies when federal court has original jurisdiction over at least one claim.
• State claim must share a 'common nucleus of operative fact' with federal claim.
• Codified in 28 U.S.C. § 1367.

Memory trick: Federal courts can 'supplement' their cases with related state claims if they're part of the 'same story'.

Evidence is admissible to show that a witness's sensory or mental capacity was impaired at the time of the events or at the time of testifying, affecting their ability to perceive, recall, or narrate.

• Always relevant to credibility.
• Can be shown through cross-examination or extrinsic evidence.
• Not considered a 'collateral matter' as it goes to the core of testimonial reliability.
• Examples include poor eyesight, hearing, mental illness, intoxication.

Memory trick: Perception Problems Prove Perilous.

To file a renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law (RJML) after a jury verdict, the moving party must have first filed a motion for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) at some point before the case was submitted to the jury.

• Known as a Rule 50(b) motion.
• Must have made a Rule 50(a) motion earlier.
• Allows the court to reconsider the sufficiency of evidence after the verdict.

Memory trick: To renew your challenge to the jury, you must have started the 'movie' before the 'credits' rolled.

Under the collateral order doctrine, a non-party may immediately appeal a discovery order if it conclusively determines a disputed question, resolves an important issue completely separate from the merits of the action, and is effectively unreviewable on appeal from a final judgment.

• Exception to the final judgment rule for appeals.
• Applies to non-parties challenging discovery orders.
• Order must be separate from the merits and unreviewable later.

Memory trick: Some decisions are so 'collateral' and 'final' for a non-party, they get an early ticket upstairs.

A motion filed by a defendant arguing that, even if all factual allegations in the plaintiff's complaint are true, the plaintiff has not alleged a legally cognizable claim for which relief can be granted.

• Challenges the legal sufficiency of the complaint.
• Assumes all well-pleaded facts are true for the purpose of the motion.
• Must show plaintiff has no legal right to relief under any set of facts consistent with the allegations.

Memory trick: Before answering, defendants check for fatal flaws in the plaintiff's story.

Damages awarded to put the non-breaching party in the position they would have been in had the contract been fully performed, including direct and foreseeable consequential damages.

• Aims to give the benefit of the bargain.
• Calculated as the loss in value + other loss - cost avoided - loss avoided.
• Includes direct damages (e.g., cost of cover) and foreseeable consequential damages.
• Consequential damages must be foreseeable at the time of contracting.

Memory trick: Damages? 'E' for Expectation, 'R' for Reliance, 'R' for Restitution, 'L' for Liquidated.