What is the exception to res judicata described?

• A. When a claim against a particular defendant has been brought to a final judgment on the merits
• B. Personal injury claims brought in a divorce proceeding
• C. Personal injury not raised in divorce proceeding
• D. A claim arising out of a transaction with another defendant

Answer: (C)

Res judicata bars a later action when there is a final judgment on the merits on the same claim between the same parties (or their privies). The exception described here is that if a personal injury claim was not raised in the divorce proceeding, the prior divorce judgment does not preclude pursuing that tort claim later. The divorce action didn't adjudicate that injury, and its scope doesn’t reach issues that weren’t raised there, so the later personal injury case remains available. The other scenarios either involve issues actually decided in the prior action, or involve a different defendant or transaction, which would not be the described exception.