Sections from the 2nd Restatement of Judgments
§ 17 Effects of Former Adjudication—General Rules
A
valid and final personal judgment is conclusive between the parties,
except on appeal or other direct review, to the following extent:
(1)
If the judgment is in favor of the plaintiff, the claim is extinguished
and merged in the judgment and a new claim may arise on the judgment
(see § 18);
(2) If the judgment is in favor of the defendant,
the claim is extinguished and the judgment bars a subsequent action on
that claim (see § 19);
(3) A judgment in favor of either the
plaintiff or the defendant is conclusive, in a subsequent action
between them on the same or a different claim, with respect to any
issue actually litigated and determined if its determination was
essential to that judgment (see § 27).
§ 18 Judgment for Plaintiff—The General Rule of Merger
When a valid and final personal judgment is rendered in favor of the plaintiff:
(1)
The plaintiff cannot thereafter maintain an action on the original
claim or any part thereof, although he may be able to maintain an
action upon the judgment; and
(2) In an action upon the
judgment, the defendant cannot avail himself of defenses he might have
interposed, or did interpose, in the first action.
§ 19 Judgment for Defendant—The General Rule of Bar
A valid and final personal judgment rendered in favor of the defendant bars another action by the plaintiff on the same claim.
§ 20 Judgment for Defendant—Exceptions to the General Rule of Bar
(1)
A personal judgment for the defendant, although valid and final, does
not bar another action by the plaintiff on the same claim:
(a)
When the judgment is one of dismissal for lack of jurisdiction, for
improper venue, or for nonjoinder or misjoinder of parties; or
(b)
When the plaintiff agrees to or elects a nonsuit (or voluntary
dismissal) without prejudice or the court directs that the plaintiff be
nonsuited (or that the action be otherwise dismissed) without
prejudice; or
(c) When by statute or rule of court the judgment
does not operate as a bar to another action on the same claim, or does
not so operate unless the court specifies, and no such specification is
made.
(2) A valid and final personal judgment for the
defendant, which rests on the prematurity of the action or on the
plaintiff's failure to satisfy a precondition to suit, does not bar
another action by the plaintiff instituted after the claim has matured,
or the precondition has been satisfied, unless a second action is
precluded by operation of the substantive law.
§ 24 Dimensions of “Claim” for Purposes of Merger or Bar—General Rule Concerning “Splitting”
(1)
When a valid and final judgment rendered in an action extinguishes the
plaintiff's claim pursuant to the rules of merger or bar (see §§ 18,
19), the claim extinguished includes all rights of the plaintiff to
remedies against the defendant with respect to all or any part of the
transaction, or series of connected transactions, out of which the
action arose.
(2) What factual grouping constitutes a
“transaction”, and what groupings constitute a “series”, are to be
determined pragmatically, giving weight to such considerations as
whether the facts are related in time, space, origin, or motivation,
whether they form a convenient trial unit, and whether their treatment
as a unit conforms to the parties' expectations or business
understanding or usage.
§ 25 Exemplifications of General Rule Concerning Splitting
The
rule of § 24 applies to extinguish a claim by the plaintiff against the
defendant even though the plaintiff is prepared in the second action
(1) To present evidence or grounds or theories of the case not presented in the first action, or
(2) To seek remedies or forms of relief not demanded in the first action.