Some Jurisdictional Limitations on Federal Procedure

Abstract

MODERN reform in judicial procedure is characterized by extreme liberality in permitting parties to present in one action all the matters of legal controversy between them. Convenience for the parties, efficiency and economy in judicial administration are the objectives; and it is thought that they can best be attained by permitting great freedom of joinder to the parties and giving the court a large measure of discretion to order the trials in such a manner as to achieve efficiency and convenience consistent with just administration. The same objectives are, of course, sought also in the reform of federal practice. But the area within which they may be attained is not coincident with that of the state courts. For, federal procedure must contend with the limitations on federal jurisdiction derived, not from notions as to efficient judicial administration, but rather from the theories and necessities of our federal form of government. The e.·dent to which a federal court may permit various claims to be presented in an action is determined, therefore, not merely by considerations of convenience but also by notions as to the proper functions of the federal courts and their relation to the courts of the states.