Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I find federal rules and local court rules?

You can find the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure, Evidence, and Bankruptcy Procedure (as well as state court rules) in subscription-based databases.

• Lexis + (Content > Statutes & Legislation > Court Rules)
• Westlaw Precision (Statute & Court Rules)

You can find free access to the federal rules on the following websites.

• United States Courts
• Legal Information Institute
• CALI

Courts also adopt their own local rules. You can find local court rules on official federal and state court websites. Here are links to the rules of the U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. Courts of Appeal.

• U.S. Supreme Court
• 1st Circuit
• 2nd Circuit
• 3rd Circuit
• 4th Circuit
• 5th Circuit
• 6th Circuit
• 7th Circuit
• 8th Circuit
• 9th Circuit
• 10th Circuit
• 11th Circuit
• DC Circuit
• Federal Circuit

Both The Bluebook and the ALWD Guide to Legal Citation contain lists of local court rules and describe how to cite them.

• The Bluebook (KF245 .U54)
• ALWD Guide to Legal Citation (KF245 .A45)