Georgetown Law
Georgetown Law Library

Federal Court Rules Research Guide

This guide identifies the most important sources for finding federal court rules; it identifies the materials that help in the interpretation of those rules; and finally, suggests some sources for federal procedural forms.

Free Online Sources

Major Electronic Sources

Major Print Sources

Title 28 Rules volumes of the United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.) (West)

  • Located after Title 28 volumes of U.S.C.A.
  • Provides the text of rules, case annotations, and cross references to secondary sources such as law review articles, West's Legal Forms, West's Federal Practice Manual, Wright and Miller's Federal Practice and Procedure, and others.
  • An index to the Rules of the Supreme Court appears right at the end of those rules in the volume containing them, the Rules of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and the Rules of the U.S. Court of International Trade.
  • Locations:
    • Current: KF62 1927.A3 (located in the Reading Room)
    • Historic (back to 1960): Located in Historic Core; ask at the Williams Circulation Desk

Court Rules volumes of the United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.) (Lexis)

  • Located after the Title 50 volumes of U.S.C.S.
  • Provides the text of the rules, case annotations, and cross references to secondary sources such as law review articles, American Jurisprudence Trials, American Jurisprudence Pleading and Practice Forms, Moore's Federal Practice, and others.
  • An index to the Rules of the Supreme Court appears at the end of the volume containing those rules.
  • Locations:
    • Current: KF62 1972.U5 (located in the Reading Room)
    • Historic (back to 1978): Located in Historic Core; ask at the Williams Circulation Desk

Title 28, Appendix of the United States Code (U.S.C.) (G.P.O.)

  • Located at the end of the volume containing Title 28.
  • This official source includes the text of the rules but does not provide case annotations.
  • Tends to be out-of-date, as main editions are published only once every six years, although annual cumulative supplements are published between main editions.
  • Locations:
    • Current: KF62 2006 .A2 (located in the Reading Room)
    • Historic (back to 1934): located in Historic Core; ask at the Williams Circulation Desk
    • Electronic (PDF) (1925 - current): available on HeinOnline

West's Federal Civil Judicial Procedure and Rules

  • Provides the unannotated text of the rules.
  • Includes an index which provides subject access to all of the rule sets (e.g., Supreme Court Rules, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure) in the volume.
  • Locations:

Microfiche (Historic Rules)