Court Rules & Legal FormsProfessor Lisa Smith-ButlerAdvanced Legal ResearchFall 2016

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.

The Print Version

Available on WestlawNext

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/

Eugene Gressman’s Supreme Court Practice (9th ed. 2007) is the most widely used treatise for practice before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Also check out: Shapiro & Geller, Supreme Court Practice (10th ed. 2013), KF

9057 .S8 2013, also available on Bloomberg Law

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

United States Supreme Court Rules

All Circuits

Local Court Rules for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for All Federal District Courts

Local U.S. District Court Rules

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

WestlawNext

United States District Court of South Carolina: Charleston

Form Books for Federal Courts

Bender’s Federal Practice Forms Federal Procedural Forms, (West) 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

LexisAdvance: Matthew Bender’s Forms

Federal Forms: WestlawNext

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, 10th ed., by Justin S. Kahn, KFS 2340 .A4 K23 2015

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

South Carolina Rules Annotated by Justin S. Kahn, KFS 2330 K235 2015

South Carolina Rules of Procedure Annotated by Justin S. Kahn, KFS 2330 .K23 2013

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.