| Contents Notes |
pt. 1. Review of district court decisions. The fundamentals: constitutional considerations; the four principal standards of review; and the fact/law paradigm -- Clearly erroneous review of judicial factfinding -- De novo review of conclusions of law: a sampling of substantive standards -- Review of findings and conclusions supporting Rule 52 judgments of civil bench trials: clearly erroneous review, de novo review, and the "mixed question" conundrum -- Decisions committed to a district judge's discretion: giving meaning to the variable abuse of discretion standard -- Preserving, forfeiting, and waiving error: how a party's actions before the trial court can affect or preclude appellate review -- The harmless error doctrine: limiting the remedial response to preserved factual, legal, and discretionary error -- Plain error review: assessing and remedying unpreserved error. pt. 2. Review of agency actions. What are administrative agencies? -- The principal framework for review of agency decisions -- Threshold jurisdictional and prudential limitations on judicial review -- The presumption of reviewability and its exceptions -- The deference due an agency's construction of its authorizing statute -- The deference due an agency's interpretation of its own regulations -- The requirement of reasoned decisionmaking: arbitrary and capricious review under the APA -- Factual determinations made in on-the-record proceedings: substantial evidence review -- Comparing and contrasting the principal standards of review. |
