Nonmutual Collateral Estoppel
We began this journey at the beginning (see p. 3), and we should end at the end . . . but nothing is quite that simple in civil procedure. A lawsuit “ends” when a final judgment is entered or an appeal of the trial court judgment is decided. But the suit may send out waves that break on very distant shores. Under collateral estoppel doctrine, issues decided in one lawsuit may have effects in another suit between the parties at a later time or in a different court. And, beyond this fairly well-mapped terrain lies the more obscure kingdom of nonmutual collateral estoppel.