Litigation Process Resource Page

About The Litigation Process Resource Page


Supreme Court seal The Litigation Process Resource Page highlights useful guides and reference materials about the litigation process. Many of the materials are produced by the courts, special judicial committees, or the Federal Judicial Center.

  • The materials focus on a variety of stages of the litigation process, including **************.
  • If you have other materials to suggest, please let us know by using the Contact Page.



Litigation Process Resource Page


ReferenceSignificance

Appellate Litigation

Fifth Circuit: Practitioners’ Guide To The United States Court Of Appeals For The Fifth Circuit (April 2010) (99 pages)
  • Helpful background and specific suggestions for Fifth Circuit practice
  • Includes links to appendices on issues such as Internal Operating Procedures and Electronic Case Filing Standards, Checklist of Rule Requirements for Briefs and Record Excerpts, and Answers to the Fifty Most Frequently Asked Questions
Seventh Circuit: Practitioner’s Handbook for Appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (2003 ed.) (109 pages)
  • Helpful background and specific suggestions for Seventh Circuit practice
  • An introductory note encourages brevity: "[V]erbiage is looked upon with great disfavor by the Seventh Circuit. Briefs should be kept as short as possible. Motions and all other papers filed should be succinct. Every failure to honor this request reduces the amount of judge time that will be available for work that must be done." (p. iii)
Seventh Circuit: Requirements and Suggestions for Typography in Briefs and Other Papers (7 pages))
  • "[S]uggestions to help you make your submissions more legible—and thus more likely to be grasped and retained"
Eighth Circuit: Practitioner’s Handbook for Appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (2000 ed.) (121 pages)
  • Helpful background and specific suggestions for Eighth Circuit practice
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Ninth Circuit: Appellate Jurisdiction in the Ninth Circuit (2009 ed.) (420 pages)
  • Comprehensive reivew of appellate jurisdiction, including for final judgments, interlocutory appeals, and appeals of specific orders
Ninth Circuit: Perfecting Your Appeal (2009 ed.) (** pages)
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Ninth Circuit: Standards of Review (2009 ed.)
Tenth Circuit: Practitioners' Guide to the United States Court Of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (7th Rev.) (Jan. 2011) (94 pages))
  • Helpful background and specific suggestions for Tenth Circuit practice
D.C. Circuit: Handbook of Practice and Internal Procedures United States Court Of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (as amended through Dec, 1, 2010) (** pages))
  • Helpful background and specific suggestions for District of Columnia Circuit practice
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Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy Basics (applicable to cases filed on or after October 17, 2005
  • ) (76 pages))
    • "[D]esigned to provide basic information to debtors, creditors, court personnel, the media, and the general public on different aspects of the federal bankruptcy laws."
    • Bankruptcy Basics (applicable to cases filed before October 17, 2005)

    Capital Punishment Litigation

    Molly Treadway Johnson and Laural L. Hooper, Resource Guide for Managing Capital Cases Volume I: Federal Death Penalty Trials (April 2004) (** pages))
    • Published by the Federal Judicial Center
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    Ninth Circuit Capital Punishment Handbook (2006) (651 pages))
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    Civil Litigation

    Civil Litigation Management Manual (2d ed. 2010) (** pages))
    • Adopted by the Judicial Conference of the United States, Committee on Court Administration and Case Management
    • Appendix A: Sample Forms
    • Appendix C

    Class Action Litigation

    Barbara J. Rothstein and Thomas E. Willging, Managing Class Action Litigation: A Pocket Guide for Judges (3d ed. 2010) (55 pages)
    • Reviews standards under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA) and recommends practices for the judicial review and administration of class settlements

    Courtroom Technology

    Effective Use of Courtroom Technology: A Judge’s Guide to Pretrial and Trial () (** pages)))
    • A joint project of the Federal Judicial Center and the National Institute for Trial Advocacy
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    Courtroom Technology Manual (Aug. 1999) (** pages))
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    Discovery

    Barbara J. Rothstein, Ronald J. Hedges, and Elizabeth C. Wiggins, Managing Discovery of Electronic Information: A Pocket Guide for Judges (2007)(** pages))
    • Federal Judicial Center
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    Experts

    Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence (2d ed. 2000) (638 pages))
    • Published by the Federal Judicial Center
    • Reviewing ***
    Joe S. Cecil and Thomas E. Willging, (** pages))

    Grand Jury Proceedings

    Grand Jury Manual, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice (** pages))
    • Manual provides guidance to prosecutors in the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division concerning legal, policy and procedural issues concerning grand jury investigations and proceedings

    Jury Trials

    A Manual On Jury Trial Procedures (3d ed. Aug. 2004) (200 pages))
    • Prepared by the Ninth Circuit Jury Instructions Committee
    • "[T]his manual provides a reliable reference to issues that recur in the conduct of federal civil and criminal jury trials in the Ninth Circuit."

    Sealed Proceedings and Records

    Robert Timothy Reagan, Keeping Government Secrets: A Pocket Guide for Judges on the State-Secrets Privilege, the Classified Information Procedures Act, and Court Security Officers (2007) (37 pages)
    • Pocket Guide published by the Federal Judicial Center
    • Reviews applicable statutes and procedures to protect government secrets, including under the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA)
    Robert Timothy Reagan, Sealing Court Records and Proceedings: A Pocket Guide (2010) (22 pages))
    • Pocket Guide published by the Federal Judicial Center
    • Reviewing applicable constitutional and other standards and factors in sealing records and proceedings

    U.S. Supreme Court

    Supreme Court: Guide for Counsel in Cases to be Argued before the Supreme Court of the United States (October Term 2010) (** pages))
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    Blog Posts On The Litigation Process

    Blog posts from the Federal Evidence Blog discussing the litigation process are available here.


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