Court Rules & Legal FormsProfessor Lisa Smith-ButlerAdvanced Legal ResearchFall 2014

Court Rules

•Court rules govern the procedures of the courts as well as the conduct of the litigants appearing before the courts.

•Court rules determine:▫method of filing a complaint & responding;▫assignment of cases among judges;▫method of appealing a decision; and▫method of filing motions before a court.

Court Rules

•The authority of courts to promulgate their own governing rules is:▫inherent within the court’s authority;▫located within a constitution; or▫located within a statute.

Federal Judiciary Act of 1789

•The power of U.S. federal courts to promulgate their own procedural rules was initially created in Section 17 of the Judiciary Act of 1789.

•The Act can be located:▫as a session law @ 1 Stat. 73 (1789.)▫as a law currently in force in a code @

28 U.S.C. §§1 -1470 (2012.)

1 Stat. 73 (1789.)

28 USC Section 1

Federal Court Rules• Federal court rules and procedures can be

categorized as follows:▫rules of general application that are national in scope;

▫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.

Federal Court Rules

•Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (promulgated 1938)

•Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure (promulgated 1946)

•Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure (promulgated 1968)

•Federal Rules of Evidence (promulgated 1975)

Federal Court Rules• Federal court rules are available in both annotated and unannotated

versions.• Unannotated versions include publication as follows:

▫ Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure is in the Appendix of Title 18 of the U.S.C.

▫ Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Appellate Courts, and Evidence are located in the Appendices of Title 28 of the U.S.C.; and 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.

• Rule changes for these unannotated sources are supplemented by the following publications:▫ Cyclopedia of Federal Procedure (available on WestlawNext)▫ Federal Reporter & Federal Supplement

Federal Rules Service Lexis Advance

Federal Court Rules

•Annotated publications of federal court rules include:▫Digest of United States Supreme Court

Reports, Lawyers Edition United States Code Annotated (USCA) United States Code Service (USCS)

Court Rules: USC at FDsys

Federal Court Rules

•Litigation about the application of federal court rules can be found in the following publications:▫Federal Rules Decisions, 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.

•This series also includes articles about federal courts and procedures as well as cases.

•A cumulative index is published in every 10th volume. This series includes the West head notes and key number system.

•Access to cases within the series can be via the West Federal Practice Digest series.

Federal Rules Service

•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:

•1st Series, 1939-1958•2nd Series, 1958-1985•3rd Series, 1985-Present

Federal Rules Service

•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 Rules of Evidence Service•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.

Judicial History• If a researcher needs more information than that

provided by the text of the rules, the Advisory Committee notes, judicial interpretations, or secondary sources, the researcher should consult:▫Records of the U.S. Judicial Conference:

Committees on Rules of Practice and Procedure, 1935-1988.

▫Drafting History of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure

▫The Federal Rules of Evidence: Legislative Histories and Related Documents

Secondary Sources• Treatises with useful commentary on federal

court rules include:▫Cyclopedia of Federal Procedure

(WestlawNext.)▫Federal Practice & Procedure, 3d ed. (Wright

& Miller/ WestlawNext)▫Moore’s Federal Practice, 3d ed. (KF

8820 .A13 M66 & Lexis Advance)▫Weinstein’s Federal Evidence: Commentary

on Rules of Evidence for the United States Courts, 2d ed. (KF 8943 .W35 & Lexis Advance)

United States Supreme Court Rules•Rules governing the 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 (9th ed. 2007) is the most widely used treatise for practice before the U.S. Supreme Court. It is co-authored with Eugene Gressman.

United States Courts of Appeal

•Rules specific to the U.S. Courts of Appeal can be found in the following sources:▫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

All Circuits

U.S. District Courts

•Rules specific to U.S. District Courts can be found in:▫Federal Local Court Rules ▫US Courts @ http://www.uscourts.gov/

Form Books for Federal Courts

•Bender’s Federal Practice Forms•Federal Procedural Forms, Lawyers

Edition•Nichols Cyclopedia of Federal

Procedure Forms•West’s Federal Forms

Federal Citators

•Shepard’s Federal Rules Citations includes citations to:▫Federal Rules of Civil Procedure▫Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure▫Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure▫Federal Rules of Evidence

Federal Forms: WestlawNext

Lexis Advance

South Carolina Court Rules

•South Carolina Rules of Court, KFS 2329 .A197

•South Carolina Family Law Annotated, South Carolina Collection, KFS 1894 .A29 S68

•South Carolina Probate Law Annotated, South Carolina Collection, KFS 1944 .A29 S66

•South Carolina Criminal Law Manual, South Carolina Collection, KFS 2361 .A26 S68

South Carolina Court Rules & Forms

• My Little Rules Book, Civil by Jack Swerling, et. al., South Carolina Collection, KFS 2375 .Z9 S94 2005.

• My Little Rules Book, Criminal by Jack Swerling, et. al., South Carolina Collection, KFS 2375 .Z29 S94 2004

• South Carolina Evidence Handbook Annotated, 9th ed., by Justin S. Kahn, KFS 2340 .A4 K23 2013

• South Carolina Practice Manual by William L. Howard, KFS 2330 .S68 2000

• South Carolina Rules Annotated by Justin S. Kahn, KFS 2330 K235 2014

• South Carolina Rules of Procedure Annotated by Justin S. Kahn, KFS 2330 .K23

South Carolina Court Rules

South Carolina Court Forms

Conclusion•Questions?•Stop by the Library Reference Desk in

Room 120•Email the Reference Desk @

reference@charlestonlaw.edu•Call the Reference Desk at 843-377-4020