Litigation

Court rules govern business in the courts.  They include required procedures for commencing actions, time limitations, rules for parties, motions, and trials, and other directives in civil and criminal actions and proceedings.  Federal and state courts are both usually governed by statutory law, and each jurisdiction has procedures about how its own court rules will be applied.  The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, the Federal Rules of Evidence, and the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure are published in the United States Code.  Most federal trial courts also publish local rules that concern the operation of the court and supplement the rules of general application found in the U.S. Code.

Jury instructions are directions from the judge to the jury.  These instructions help the jury understand applicable law to the case being tried, and assist jurors in identifying legal and factual issues of the case.  There are also secondary sources with model jury instructions to help you when you have to write instructions for a jury.  More information is below. 

Court Rules of General Application 

The Rules of General Application include the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, and the Federal Rules of Evidence.

• The United States Courts Website
  This site includes links to the federal rules and forms that are in effect, as well as to local rules of the federal district and appellate courts.  The local rules are required to be consistent with national rules.
   
• The United States Code (Office of Law Revision Council Website)
  The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, and the Federal Rules of Evidence are published in the appendix to Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.  Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure are published in the appendix to Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure. 

Rules of the United States Supreme Court

• The United States Supreme Court Website
  Rules, Guides for Counsel, Forms, and Circuit Assignments for Judges are all available on this website.

Annotated Versions of Court Rules

• Westlaw
  From the main Westlaw Edge page, scroll down to content types, and then click Statutes & Court Rules.
   
• Lexis Advance
  Go to Statutes & Legislation and then Court Rules.
   
• Bloomberg Law
  Click on the word Litigation at the top of the main page.  Then, click on Litigation Resources, then scroll down to where it says Find Jury Instructions.

State Court Rules
Court rules for all 50 states are available through Westlaw, Lexis, and Bloomberg Law.  In Lexis and Westlaw, you can access court rules for a particular state by clicking into the state materials.  In Bloomberg Law, click Laws and Regulations, and then State Laws and Regulations, and click on the jurisdiction of interest.

Jury instructions are also valuable for detailing the elements of a particular issue.  Below are some links to various jury instructions.

Civil Model Civil Jury Instructions

• Third Circuit
   
• Fifth Circuit
   
• Seventh Circuit
   
• Ninth Circuit
   
• Eleventh Circuit

Criminal Model Jury Instructions

• Third Circuit
   
• Fourth Circuit
   
• Fifth Circuit
   
• Sixth Circuit
   
• Seventh Circuit
   
• Ninth Circuit
   
• Eleventh Circuit

Law School Databases With Additional Jury Instructions

• Westlaw
   
• Lexis Advance
   
• Bloomberg Law