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What are Local Rules?
- What are local rules?
- Who develops local rules?
- A set of rules for every court
- Do I have to follow local rules too?
Sample Local Rules
- Local rules are about…
- Sample 1 local rule
- Sample 2 local rule
- Sample 3 local rule
- Sample 4 local rule
Finding, Using and Citing Local Rules
- Where do I find local rules?
- Resources for federal-local rules
- Resources for state-local rules
- Local rules in context
- ALWD Citation guide for local rules
- Citation rules in context
Transcript
Hi. I\’m Matt, and this is lesson five, the final lesson in our course, legal resources and authorities. This lesson is about local rules.
Lesson five will cover three areas. One, what are local rules? Two, sample local rules. And three, finding, using, and citing local rules. At the end of the lesson, we\’ll review course four.
Local rules are everyday court procedures that facilitate the application of laws within a particular court. They typically apply to all civil cases, including general civil, family, foreclosure, juvenile, probate, and so on.
Local rules are developed by the specific court where a case is located, and they facilitate the functioning of that court.
To give you a better picture, each of the ninety four federal district courts have devised their own local rules. The US Supreme Court has its own set of local rules. Supreme courts in each state as well as every other court all the way down to the tiniest municipality has a set of local rules they follow. Some may share local rules, but everyone has a set.
Do you have to follow local rules? Yes. But oftentimes, the penalty for not doing so are not as harsh as ignoring a statute.
No sheriff will come knocking on your door for missing a local rule, and chances are you won\’t lose a lawsuit by simply breaking one.
Still, you should know the local rules of the court you\’re in because they provide critical information about how litigation is carried out in that court.
Local rules cover many areas of the law. They get down to the minutiae, the nitty gritty. They\’re about court costs, how to deal with pro se litigants, courtroom conduct, transfer of cases, preparing an appeal record, hearings, formatting, discovery, assigning judges, and on and on.
This rule from the Saint Louis County Circuit Court is about paying filing fees in that court. It has a reference to attorneys, but if you\’re representing yourself, the rule also applies to you.
Even when you don\’t have resources that an attorney may have, like an electronic filing system, you must follow the rule using the resources you do have.
This rule from the US District Court for the District of Maine says a lot about how motions are to be presented in that court. It requires a memorandum of law to accompany a motion. Other courts don\’t require a separate memorandum but need to see citations and supporting authorities in a motion.
A rule from the Northern District of Georgia, US District Court instructs parties about how to present deposition testimony in a trial.
A local rule from the Akron, Ohio Municipal Court informs litigants about the specific information required to be included on a pleading in that court.
The best place to find local rules is the website of the court you\’ll appear before. How do you find these websites?
Well, a Google search will get you there. Other sources we\’ve covered in this course will also help you get there.
For instance, to find federal local rules, consult PACER, US courts dot gov, or JustIA at the web addresses listed here.
For states and municipalities, the best site is the National Center for State Courts. To make your court easier to find, it lists each state along with its Courtroom5 a court structure chart.
Yale University also has a research guide that lists local rules, and then there\’s Justia, which gives you a path to local rules.
Let\’s look at a local rule in context. The scenario we\’ve been dealing with throughout this course about Preston who sues psychologist, Meryl, for negligent infliction of emotional distress is governed by a local rule.
The rule says, among other things, that after Merrill files his answer, the party shall exchange copies of all available and relevant medical records.
That is the nitty gritty of what is to be expected in medical negligence cases in that specific court.
It\’s rarely necessary to include local rules in your motion. Still, it\’s good to know how to cite it. The Association of Legal Writing Directors provides a handbook of local court citation rules in each state. If their descriptions of the rule is not enough, use other motions or appellate cases as examples.
This is a citation rule telling you to put the letter r, then a period, and number of section of a rule after that.
This is how the rule might look in the text. State the rule then put r and rule number. It doesn\’t have to be perfect. Do the best you can here and move on.
In what are local rules, we defined and briefly discussed local rules and their presence in every court. In sample local rules, we discussed the different types of rules, finding, using, and citing local rules, described where to locate federal and state local rules, their use, and how to cite them.
Course review. Lesson one of this course discussed the process of legal research, including determining relevant facts and reviewing and analyzing cases.
Lesson two describes substantive and procedural laws, including where they apply and finding and using them. Case law is the focus of lesson three, where we discuss the notion of precedent and finding and using appellate opinions.
Lesson four, define dictionaries, encyclopedias, and guides and discuss how to find and cite them. Lesson five, the final lesson, defined local rules and provided instructions about where to find them and how to cite them in your legal documents.
Next up is the course four exam to see how well you\’ve been listening. Thank you, and good luck in your case.