Bar Exam — MBE (Multistate Bar Exam) flashcards

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.

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.

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.

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.