Court Rules and Forms
Professor Deborah McGovern
Winter 2009
Goals:

Students will recognize court rules.
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Students will understand importance of
finding and updating court rules.
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Students will be able to locate text of rules
and interpretive materials for Federal and
Florida courts.
What are rules of procedure?

Rules of procedure govern how a case is
brought before a court and how it proceeds
from beginning to final outcome.
Compare:
 Substantive law governs the rights and duties
of people in the conduct of their personal and
business affairs.
Among other things…

Court rules determine:
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method of filing a complaint & responding;
assignment of cases among judges;
method of appealing a decision; and
method of filing motions before a court.
Examples of rules of procedure

Fed. R. Civ. P. R 23 Misjoinder and
Nonjoinder of Parties

Fed. R. Crim. P. R 32.1 Revoking or
Modifying Probation or Supervised Release

Fla. R. Civ. P. R 1.080 Service of Pleadings
and Papers
Why the ability to research court rules is
important

Failure to follow applicable procedural rules
may be grounds for dismissal of suit or
attorney or client sanctions.

In order to enforce a client’s rights, you must
know how to conduct the proceedings.
Court Rules

The authority of courts to promulgate their
own governing rules is:
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inherent within the court’s authority;
located within a constitution; or
located within a statute.
Federal System – State and Federal Rules
of Procedure

To determine which rules apply, ask:
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Federal court applies federal rules and state court
applies its state rules

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Will claim be brought in federal or state court?
Which district?
Federal procedure applies even if federal court is deciding
a claim based on substantive state law (diversity
jurisdiction)
Many state and federal rules are identical or similar
enough that cases interpreting federal rules may be
useful in interpreting their state counterparts – the
same is true of various districts/circuits
Rules of Procedure, Adapted from Christina Kunz, et. al. The Process of
Legal Research
Civil Cases
Criminal Cases
Pre-trial pleadings
discovery motions
Civil procedure
Criminal procedure
Trial
Evidence
Civil procedure
Evidence
Criminal
procedure
Post-trial
Civil procedure
Criminal procedure
Appeals
Appellate procedure
Appellate or criminal
appellate procedure

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Rules are generally arranged chronologically,
e.g., FRCP arranged in sequence in which
litigation proceeds
Each rule states what is permissible or
required in the litigation practice covered by
that rule
How to Research Rules of Procedure

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Formulate procedural issue
Locate applicable rule or rules
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Which court?
Read rule
Read a treatise discussion
Cases which interpret the rule
Advisory notes or comments
FEDERAL COURT RULES
Federal Courts

Federal court rules and procedures can be
categorized as follows:
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rules of general application that are national in
scope (Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Federal Rules
of Criminal Procedure, Federal Rules of Appellate
Procedure and Federal Rules of Evidence);
individual sets of rules for the various specialty federal
courts, i.e., Supreme Court, Bankruptcy Courts, and
Admiralty Court;
local federal court rules; and
statutory requirements located in Title 28 of the U.S.C.
(Judiciary and Judicial Procedure)
Where to Find the Text of Federal Court
Rules

United States Code:
Title 11 – Bankruptcy rules
 Title 18 – Federal rules of Criminal Procedure for the United States
District Courts (F.R. Crim. P.)
 Title 26 – Practice and procedure rules for the United States Tax Court
 Title 28

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for the United States District Courts
(F. R. Civ. P.)

Federal Rules of Evidence for the United States Courts and
Magistrates

Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure
specialty federal court rules are located within the title that governs their
subject matter (Title 11 is Bankruptcy, Title 17 is Copyright)
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Also available in annotated form in USCS and USCA
Federal Court Rules

specialty federal court rules such as Bankruptcy
are located in Title 11 of the U.S.C. while
Copyright is located in Title 17 of the U.S.C.

specialty federal court rules are located within the
title that governs their subject matter (Title 11 is
Bankruptcy, Title 17 is Copyright)
Federal Court Rules

Rule changes for unannotated sources are supplemented by the
following publications:
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Federal Procedure, Lawyers Edition (KF 8840 .F45)
Federal Rules Service
Westlaw
Lexis
Cyclopedia of Federal Procedure, 3rd ed. (KF 8810 .C93)
Federal Reporter & Federal Supplement
pamphlets
Federal Rules

Annotated publications of federal court rules
include:
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United States Code Annotated (USCA)
United States Code Service (USCS)
Digest of United States Supreme Court Reports,
Lawyers Edition
These have text of rules in addition to historical
notes, cross-references, and notes of decisions.
Advisory Committee Notes
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Very persuasive as to the drafters’ intent
Need to know about amendments so you
don’t rely on case interpretations that arose
under the old language of the rule
Example of Advisory Committee Notes
Commentary

Federal Practice and Procedure by Wright
and Miller
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Westlaw
Moore’s Federal Practice
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Lexis
Federal Rules

When the application of federal court rules are
litigated, decisions about these rules can be
found in the following publications:

Federal Rules Decisions (FRD), part of the National
Reporter System, contains cases of federal district
courts from 1939 and 1946 onwards that construe the
meaning of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and
the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. These
decisions are not published in the Federal
Supplement.
Federal Rules Decisions, Con’t
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This series also includes articles about federal courts
and procedures as well as cases.
A cumulative index is published in every 10th volume.
A cumulative index is published for volumes 1-122 in
volume 122.
This series includes the West headnotes and key
number system.
Access cases within the series via the West Federal
Practice Digest series.
Federal Court Rules

Federal Rules Service publishes court
cases that construe the meaning of the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the
Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. This
series is divided into 3 sets:
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1st Series, 1939-1958
2nd Series, 1958-1985
3rd Series, 1985-Present
Federal Court Rules
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To access cases in the Federal Rules
Service Reporter, use the Federal Rules
Digest, 3d ed.
Federal Rules Digest is a multi-volume
series.
It digests all court cases from April 1954
onwards that appear in the FRS.
Federal Court Rules
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Federal Rules of Evidence Service
publishes decisions from federal courts that
interpret the Federal Rules of Evidence.
Access to this service is via the Federal
Rules of Evidence Digest.
Federal Court Rules

If you need more information than
provided by the text of the rules, the
Advisory Committee notes, judicial
interpretations, or secondary sources,
consult:

Records of the U.S. Judicial Conference:
Committees on Rules of Practice and
Procedure, 1935-1988.
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Drafting History of the Federal Rules of
Criminal Procedure
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The Federal Rules of Evidence: Legislative
Histories and Related Documents
Federal Citators
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Shepard’s Federal Rules Citations includes
citations to:
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Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure
Federal Rules of Evidence
Free Internet Sites
Westlaw

US-Rules: Federal Rules of general
application. Also includes Advisory
Committee Notes. Can limit search using the
citation field – if you only want rules from the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure you can put
ci(frcp) in your search
Westlaw
Searching within the rules
Results using field search ci(frcp /p [Rule
#]
Other Westlaw Federal Rules Databases
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Federal Rules Update Orders (USRULESUPDATES) - Federal court orders that
update federal court rules as displayed in the
Federal Rules database (US-RULES)
State Court Rules (RULES-ALL) – Local Federal
Court Rules for all states
Federal Criminal Justice Rules (FCJ-RULES)
Federal Bankruptcy Rules (FBKR-RULES) …most recent versions of the Bankruptcy Rules
and Official Forms …
Finding Federal Rules Database on Lexis
If you don’t know the number of your rule,
it’s best to browse the table of contents
Lexis Federal Rules Databases
Interpretive Assistance
Secondary Sources
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Treatises with useful commentary on federal
court rules include:
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Cyclopedia of Federal Procedure, 3d ed.
Federal Procedure, Lawyers Edition (KF 8840.
F45)
Federal Practice & Procedure, 3d ed. (Wright &
Miller/ KF 8840 .W47)
Moore’s Federal Practice, 3d ed. (KF 8716.
M663)
Secondary Sources
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Orfield’s Criminal Procedure under the
Federal Rules, 2d ed. (KF 9619 .072)
Weinstein’s Federal Evidence:
Commentary on Rules of Evidence for the
United States Courts, 2d ed. (KF 8935
.W452)
Form Books for Federal Courts
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Bender’s Federal Practice Forms
Nichols Cyclopedia of Federal Procedure
Forms
West’s Federal Forms
Federal Procedural Forms, Lawyers Edition
U.S. Supreme Court Rules
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Rules governing practice before the U.S.
Supreme Court can be found on the
Supreme Court’s Internet site at
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/
Robert Stern’s Supreme Court Practice
(8th ed. 2002) is the most widely used
treatise for practice before the U.S.
Supreme Court.
U.S. Courts of Appeal

Rules specific to the U.S. Courts of Appeal
can be found in the following sources:
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Federal Procedure, Lawyers Edition
Federal Local Court Rules
Rules volumes (Titles 18 and 28) of the U.S.C. &
U.S.C.A.
Rules volumes of the U.S.C.S
USCOURTS.GOV
USCOURTS.GOV
http://www.uscourts.gov/rules/index.html
USCOURTS.GOV con’t
At USCOURTS.GOV
11th Circuit, Linked from
USCOURTS.GOV
Link from USCOURTS.GOV
U.S. District Courts

Rules specific to U.S. District Courts can be
found in:
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
Federal Local Court Rules, 2d ed.
Fed. R. Civ. P. R 83 allows each District
Court to promulgate its own local rules, so
long as they do not conflict with the Federal
Rules of Civil Procedure