Federal Civil Rules Handbook, 2023 ed.

From its inception, Federal Civil Rules Handbook has aimed to bridge the gap between a simple, austere reprinting of the rules and an exhaustive but costly multi-volume treatise that explores the rules in comprehensive depth.

This handbook occupies the middle ground between these two poles: it sets the text of each Federal Rule of Civil Procedure alongside our authors' practical explanation as to what the rule means and how it operates in a legal practice.

Published in an easily referenced, single-volume format, it offers an affordable guide that can be kept by the desk, consulted in the court room, or carried wherever today's practitioner may need a trusted resource.

This handbook begins with an introduction to general concepts in federal practice, addressing issues such as personal and subject-matter jurisdiction, removal and remand, venue, the Erie doctrine, and issue and claim preclusion. Then, each rule is discussed in turn, beginning with the current rule text, followed immediately by author commentary to that rule and its subparts.

This commentary distills each rule’s “Purpose and Scope,” summarizes the “Core Concept” of each rule’s various subsections, and culminates in a practical explanation of the rule’s subparts in “Applications” — including helpful citations from the Supreme Court, the Federal Courts of Appeals, and the District Courts.

This publication also includes:

• Expert discussion and practice tips, including practical applications, limitations, and traps to avoid.
• The Advisory Committee notes to the civil rules, which illuminate their legislative history.
• The most often-consulted sections of Title 28 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of USCA®.
• A primer on appellate procedure, including the text of the appellate rules and their associated forms.
• The text of the Federal Rules of Evidence.
• An overview of federal multidistrict litigation (MDL).