Court Rules

Rules of practice govern both the procedure of getting into a court and the conduct of business when there.

The U.S. Supreme Court has promulgated rules for its own court.

Since the individual U.S. Courts of Appeals in their circuits and U.S. District Courts throughout the country may encounter special local conditions they are empowered by 28 USC §2071 to make their own special rules.

The websites of the Circuit Courts provide links to their local rules:

*1st Circuit: Select "Rules & Procedures."
*2nd Circuit: Select "Clerk's Office" and then "Rules" using the navigation pane on the left. *4th Circuit: Links to a PDF document, which requires Adobe Acrobat software.
*8th Circuit: Select "Rules and Publications" from the menu on the left.
*9th Circuit: See links under the heading "Rules & Changes" on the menu to the right.
*10th Circuit: Select "Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure and Tenth Circuit Rules" under the "Local Rules" heading on the right side of the page.

Most of the District Courts also have websites that provide links to local rules. To locate a district court website, select the Court Links tab on the U.S. Courts website. Click on the state where your court is located. A list of the district courts in that state will appear. Click on the district court name and you will be taken to that court's website. A link to the court rules should be available somewhere on the main page.