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Materials About the Federal Rules

The materials listed below, produced or made available by the Center, are related to the Federal Rules of Practice and Procedure (appellate, bankruptcy, civil, criminal, and evidence).

Click here for curated content on Rules of Practice and Procedure.

Reports and Studies.

Displaying 101 - 110 of 235
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Research on Appeals of Attorney-Fee and Merits Decisions (Fed R Civ P 58(c)(2)) as Presented to the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules in May 2006

In early 2006, the Federal Judicial Center examined the prevalence of the use of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 58(c)(2), and the circumstances under which appeals of judgments on the merits and decisions regarding attorney fees can occur at the same time. Two resulting memoranda were presented to the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules in May 2006.

  • Coinciding appeals of a judgment on the merits and a decision regarding attorney fees, March 7, 2006, 6 pages
  • Fed.R.Civ.P. 58(c)(2), January 30, 2006, 2 pages
Federal Rules of Practice and Procedure, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Fed. R. Civil P. 58 May 1, 2006
Interim Progress Report on Class Action Fairness Act Study

This interim progress report on the impact of the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 was presented to the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules on May 22, 2006. The report examines class action filing trends from July 1, 2001, through June 30, 2005, in three federal district courts and includes data on the first four months after CAFA went into effect. Future reports will present the results of statistical tests of the impact of CAFA on federal courts across the country.

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Fed. R. Civil P. 23 May 22, 2006
The Impact of the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005: Second Interim Report to the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Civil Rules

The Federal Judicial Center has undertaken a long-term study of the impact of the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA) on the resources of the federal courts. This second interim progress report was presented to the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Civil Rules on September 7, 2006, and reports on the results of statistical tests of the impact of CAFA on federal courts across the country.

Federal Rules of Practice and Procedure, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Fed. R. Civil P. 23 September 7, 2006
The Hunt for Sealed Settlement Agreements

When a United States senator asked the federal judiciary to look into sealed settlement agreements, the Civil Rules Advisory Committee asked the Federal Judicial Center to undertake a research effort to discover how often settlement agreements are sealed in federal court and under what circumstances. The Center learned that the sealing of settlement agreements in federal court is rare, and typically the only part of the court record kept secret by the sealing of a settlement agreement is the amount of settlement. This article describes how the Center developed its research project to address the senator's concerns.

From 81 Chicago-Kent Law Review, 439-62 (2006).

For the published results of the research project, see Sealed Settlement Agreements in Federal District Courts (2004).

Federal Rules of Practice and Procedure, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure September 12, 2006
Form 29: Joint Status Report and Provisional Discovery Plan Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Fed. R. Civil P. 26 December 1, 2006
Trends in Summary Judgment Practice: 1975-2000

Report of a Federal Judicial Center study of summary judgment practice in six federal district courts during six time periods over twenty-five years (1975-2000), to determine whether summary judgment activity has increased over time and to what extent changes in summary judgment practice are due to the 1986 Supreme Court trilogy of summary judgment cases. For a 2-page summary of this report see FJC Research Brief, No. 2: Trends in Summary Judgment Practice: 1975-2000.

Federal Rules of Practice and Procedure, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Fed. R. Civil P. 56 January 1, 2007
Managing Discovery of Electronic Information: A Pocket Guide for Judges [Superseded]

This pocket guide helps federal judges manage the discovery of electronically stored information (ESI). It covers issues unique to the discovery of ESI, including its scope, the allocation of costs, the form of production, the waiver of privilege and work product protection, and the preservation of data and spoliation.

Superseded by Managing Discovery of Electronic Information: A Pocket Guide for Judges, Second Edition (2012).

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Fed. R. Civil P. 26, Fed. R. Civil P. 45, Federal Rules of Evidence, Fed. R. Evid. 502 January 1, 2007
Citing Unpublished Federal Appellate Opinions Issued Before 2007

Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 32.1 permits attorneys to cite to federal courts of appeals their unpublished opinions issued 2007 or later. Unpublished opinions issued before 2007 may be cited to the courts if permitted by the courts' local rules. This document is a summary table of the federal courts of appeals' local rules on citations to their unpublished opinions issued before 2007. The table is reprinted at 241 F.R.D. 328 (2007).

Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 March 9, 2007
FJC Research Brief, No. 1: The Impact of the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005: Third Interim Report to the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Civil Rules

The Impact of the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005: Third Interim Report to the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Civil Rules.

Federal Rules of Practice and Procedure April 1, 2007
The Impact of the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005: Third Interim Report to the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Civil Rules

The Federal Judicial Center has undertaken a long-term study of the impact of the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA) on the resources of the federal courts. The third interim report was delivered to the committee on April 16, 2007 for discussion at its April 19 meeting and reports on the results of statistical tests of the impact of CAFA on federal courts across the country.

Federal Rules of Practice and Procedure, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Fed. R. Civil P. 23 April 16, 2007

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