Civil ProcedurePrevious: Trial

The Doctrines of Res Judicata and Collateral EstoppelThese two doctrines establish the rule that once a case has reached a finaljudgment, relitigation of the claims and issues generally is barred. Res Judicata (Claim Preclusion)

A. Rule: If judgment is rendered in favor of a plaintiff in a particular suit, theplaintiff is precluded from raising claims (in any future litigation) which wereraised in (or could have been raised) in that lawsuit.

B. Elements: Before a court will apply the doctrine of res judicata to a claim,three elements must be satisfied:

1. There must have been prior litigation in which identical claims were raised(or could have been raised). In general, claims are sufficiently identical ifthey are found to share a “common nucleus of operative fact.”

2. The parties in the second litigation must be identical in some manner tothe parties in the original litigation, or be in privity with the parties in the firstaction.Note: A party is considered to be in privity with a party in the originallitigation if:

A. The nonparty succeeded to the interest of a party;B. The nonparty, though it did not technically participate in the first suit,

controlled one party’s litigation in that suit;C. The nonparty shares a property interest with the party;D. The party and the nonparty have an agency relationship (agent/principal);

orE. The party otherwise adequately represented the interest of the nonparty in

the previous litigation.3. There must have been a final judgment on the merits in the original

litigation. Note: Not all final judgments are based on the merits of the case(i.e., cases dismissed on jurisdictional grounds, etc.).

C. Scope: Res judicata bars relitigation of claims that were previously litigatedas well as claims that could have been litigated in the first lawsuit.

D. Counterclaims:Res judicata is generally not applied to potentialcounterclaims by defendants, so defendants are not necessarily barredfrom raising a counterclaim in future litigation. However, remember that allcounterclaims must conform to FRCP Rule 13(a), and that somecounterclaims are compulsory (must be raised in original litigation or theyare waived).

Collateral Estoppel (Issue Preclusion)A. Rule: If an issue has been decided in a particular case, it is treated as

decided—without further proof—in any subsequent litigation that involvesthe issue. In other words, a person or party who seeks to relitigate anyalready decided issue is collaterally stopped from doing so.

B. Elements: Before a court will apply the doctrine of collateral estoppel, threeelements must be satisfied:

1. There must have been a prior litigation in which the identical issue wasbrought before the court.

2. The issue must have been actually litigated in the first judicial proceeding,and the party against whom collateral estoppel is being asserted must havehad a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issue in the first judicialproceeding.

3. The issue must necessarily have been decided and rendered as anecessary part of the court’s final judgment.

C. Scope: Unlike res judicata, collateral estoppel does not bar future litigationover issues not actually raised in the original judicial proceeding, even ifthe issues could have been raised.

D. Who may be bound: The old rule that only the actual parties (and those inprivity with the actual parties) to the first judicial proceeding may be boundby the court’s findings/decision on the issue has been virtually abolished.

Home > SparkCharts > Legal > Civil Procedure > The Doctrines of Res Judicata and Collateral Estoppel

Help Log in Sign Up for a Free Account

Contents Jurisdiction and Venue Challenging Forum andJurisdiction Notice and Service ofProcess Pleadings The Erie Doctrine MultiParty, MultiClaimLitigation Discovery Pretrial Adjudication Trial The Doctrines of Res

Judicata and CollateralEstoppel

Res Judicata (ClaimPreclusion)

Collateral Estoppel (IssuePreclusion)

Previous: Trial

Increasingly, courts have been willing to allow strangers (persons notinvolved in the first litigation) to use collateral estoppel in various situationsto prevent another party from relitigating an issue.

Help | Feedback | Make a request | Report an error

When your books and teachers don’t make sense, we do.

Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions | About | Sitemap | Advertise Fiction Books | Textbooks | eTextbooks | Classic Books | Used Books | Teen Books | nook | eReader

©2011 SparkNotes LLC, All Rights Reserved