A Glossary for the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

Abstract

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure contain very few definitions for their many terms of art. Students seeking guidance from ordinary English dictionaries, or even Black’s Law Dictionary, are likely to find either no definitions or definitions drawn from other areas of law that sometimes use the terms differently. This glossary aims to assist civil procedure students by defining terms as they are used within the system created by the Rules. It does not attempt to define terms commonly understood (“trial”), complex terms that require knowledge of a full body of law (“jurisdiction”), or terms that are adequately defined by the Rules themselves (“initial disclosure” under Rule 26(a)(1)).