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Federal Court Rules

Overview

The Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure "govern procedure in the United States courts of appeals." Fed. R. App. P. 1(a)(1).

The Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure are available for free online; on the member database LexisNexis Digital Library; on the library's in house Lexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg Law computers; and in print. The Fed. R. App. is also available in the US Code. Historical versions of the Fed. R. App. may also be available. See below for more information.

Finding the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure

Current Rules of Practice & Procedure United States Courts
Includes PDFs of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, Bankruptcy Procedure, Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure, and Evidence.

United States Code Service - Court Rules: Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure
Available on the LexisNexis Digital Library. A search for "United States Code Service" "Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure" will return the pertinent U.S.C.S. volume.

United States Code Service - USCS: Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure
Available on the library's Lexis computers.
Rules are found in the USCS - Federal Rules Annotated content page.

Historical court rules back to 1992 also available. For instructions on finding historical court rules on Lexis, see the Historical US Code page of the United States Code guide.

United States Code Annotated - USCA: Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure
Available on the library's Westlaw computers.

Historical court rules back to 1990 also available. For instructions on finding historical court rules on Westlaw, see the Historical US Code page of the United States Code guide.

Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure
Available on the library's Bloomberg Law computers. Click Select Sources to the right of the search bar > U.S. Courts > Court Rules > Federal Court Rules > Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. 
Current rules only.

Federal Civil Rules Handbook West/Thomson Reuters
See Part 6: Appellate Procedure.

Federal Court of Appeals Manual: Local Rules West/Thomson Reuters
Includes Rules of Appellate Procedure and U.S. Ct. of Appeals Circuit Rules.

Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure - United States Code
The U.S. Code can be found in multiple places. For a full list please see the United States Code guide.

  • In the U.S.C. (GPO) and the print U.S.C.A. (West), see title 28.
    • U.S.C.A through Westlaw database access - see the 'Westlaw' tab above.
  • In the print U.S.C.S. (Lexis), see the Court Rules volumes located after Title 54.
    • If accessing the U.S.C.S. via the LexisNexis Digital Library, a search for "United States Code Service" "Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure" will return the pertinent U.S.C.S. volume.
    • U.S.C.S through Lexis database access - see the 'Lexis' tab above.