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Litigation

About Court Rules and Jury Instructions

Court Rules

Court rules govern business in the courts. They include rules for parties, motions, and trials, including required procedures for commencing actions, time limitations, and other directives in civil and criminal 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 Title 28 of 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

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. 

The U.S. Department of Justice maintains a Guide to Federal Court Resources with links to materials specific to each federal court., including court rules and model jury instructions.  

Online Court Rules

Federal Court Rules 

The Federal 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. 

Additionally, federal district courts have local rules that apply within their jurisdiction which can be found online, like the Local Rules for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Rules of the United States Supreme Court

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 and scroll down to where it says Find Jury Instructions.

State Court Rules
Court rules vary by state and can often be found online through the state court or bar website, like the Rules of Supreme Court of Virginia. Note that sometimes different counties or courts within a state may have additional rules. 

Court rules for all 50 states are also 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.

Online Model Jury Instructions

Model or pattern jury instructions are also valuable for detailing the elements of a particular issue. Below are links to various model or pattern jury instructions available online. 

Civil Model Civil Jury Instructions

Criminal Model Jury Instructions

Law School Databases with Additional Jury Instructions

Print Court Rules & Jury Instructions