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Federal Court Rules

Overview

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure "govern the procedure in all civil actions and proceedings in the United States district courts ... They should be construed, administered, and employed by the court and the parties to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action and proceeding." Fed. R. Civ. P. 1.

The Federal Rules of Civil 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. Civ. P. is also available in the US Code. Historical versions of the Fed. R. Civ. P. may also be available. See below for more information.

Finding the Federal Rules of Civil 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 Civil Procedure
Available on the LexisNexis Digital Library. A search for "United States Code Service" "Federal Rules of Civil Procedure" will return the pertinent U.S.C.S. volumes.

Federal Rules of Civil 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.

Federal Rules of Civil 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 Civil Procedure
Available on the library's Bloomberg Law computers. From "All Legal Content Search", select U.S. Courts > Court Rules > Federal Court Rules > Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Current rules only.

Federal Civil Rules Handbook West/Thomson Reuters
See Part III: Federal Rules of Civil Procedure with Commentary and Practice Pointers.

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 Civil Procedure" will return the pertinent U.S.C.S. volumes.
    • U.S.C.S through Lexis database access - see the 'Lexis' tab above.