Local Rules and Individual Practices
When litigating a case, it is not enough to read the applicable law. And it is not enough to read the applicable rules of civil procedure. There is another body of law and rules that lawyers need to read and follow, and that many overlook. These are the local rules of a court and the individual practices of the judge handling the case. Many of these rules are available online, but often not on the research platforms that litigators often use, which makes them easy targets to miss.
Why should you read this post about local rules?
You are really running out of content to read.
You want to know something important that they often skip over in law school.
You want to know that even reading the local rules may not be enough! It’s almost never enough!
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The Kinds of Things You See in Local Rules
Different states and the U.S. federal government have their own rules of civil procedure. These rules set forth how plaintiffs can file a complaint, how defendants can oppose the complaints, and generally how litigation proceeds.
But these rules don't answer every question. And so different courts have their own local rules that give more detailed guidance and that reflect the preferences of the judges that hear cases. For federal courts, these local rules are often available online. For example, here are the rules for the federal district court in Manhattan. Here are the ones for the federal district court in Miami. Here are the ones for Seattle and Chicago. Appellate courts have their own rules, too. Here are the ones for the appeals courts in New York and Boston.
In New York, there are uniform rules that apply to all of the Supreme trial courts. And rules that apply to its appellate courts, and then to specific appellate courts (for example, here are the rules for the court in Albany).
Local rules often provide rules about the formatting of documents (like what fonts and spacing and margins are acceptable) and page limits. They may also require things like tables of contents, additional filings that explain other filings, or specific statements to be made in filings. For example, many federal courts have a local rule 56.1 that requires a statement be made in connection with a motion for summary judgment that sets forth the undisputed facts.
Local rules may also set forth obligations for the parties to abide by certain time limits or to confer among each other before filing motions with the court.
Failure to follow the local rules may cause clerks to reject filings before a judge even sees them. Or they may result in criticism by the judge or the denial of relief.
The Kinds of Things You See in Individual Practices
Even if a lawyer follows the local rules, there are still more rules to follow. Many judges have their own individual rules that they expect litigants to follow. Here are the rules for a federal judge. Here are the ones for a New York State judge.
These rules may impose additional obligations on litigants, such as an obligation to file a letter to the judge before making a motion, or to abide by certain page limits.
Sometimes, judges have forms for certain filings that they want lawyers to use instead of their own proposed documents. For example, instead of a lawyer’s own proposed confidentiality order, a judge’s individual practices may ask the parties to use the judge’s standard form instead. And instead of lawyers proposing their own plan for the schedule or management of a case, the judge may require the parties to use her proposed form instead.
Failure to file these rules is often met by annoyance by the judge, and sometimes with the rejection of a motion.
The Clerks Office Often Has Its Own Rules and Practices
Even if you follow all of these rules, litigants still need to interact with the clerk’s office when they want to file certain documents or judgments. And unlike the court system or judges, clerks may not publish their rules. Sometimes the clerks may seem arbitrary, doing what they want because litigants are often at their mercy. But I am sure that clerks deal with so much nonsense from lawyers and litigants in their work that they need to rule with an iron fist in order to get anything done.
Litigants often ask the clerks what their rules are and how to comply with their rules, but sometimes you just have to be lucky or hope for a helpful clerk to process papers. Often, learning how to get things processed with the clerk’s office just requires experience, or the advice of a practitioner who has worked with the clerk'‘s office before. It certainly is not the kind of thing they teach in law school.