Litigators often handle many cases before different judges in various jurisdictions simultaneously. It is difficult to keep abreast of the applicable rules for each case. Additionally, many federal district courts and judges often change their rules, sometimes more than once per year. Lawyers who do not understand and follow the rules may face professional embarrassment and negative consequences in the case for not following proper procedure.

Updates to the FRCP are usually well-publicized. For example, practitioners, legal reporters and bloggers will have been extensively following the proposed changes to FRCP 26 and 37 for over a year when the changes go into effect at the end of this year. However, changes to local district court rules, local CM/ECF rules and individual judges' rules happen quietly and typically are immediately effective. Practitioners are expected to comply with changes to local and judges' rules on a timely basis but often do not check those rules before every filing or court appearance.

District courts' rules vary greatly, and the rules of the judges within a federal district can vary even more. No lawyer wants to tell the client that papers were rejected by the court because of a filing mistake, or worse, face the admonishment of a judge in front of the client for failing to follow the court's procedure. In more extreme cases, no lawyer wants to have papers stricken, hearings cancelled or cases dismissed for failing to follow procedure.

To help practitioners avoid these problems and become aware of changes to the rules, Practical Law publishes weekly the changes made in the prior week to the local rules for all federal district courts as well as other updates important for practitioners. Attorneys find the updates helpful because they:

Practical Law's weekly rules updates can be accessed on Practical Law's Federal Litigation Updates page. They are also sent to all subscribers of Practical Law's free Weekly Litigation e-mail.

Whether or not you regularly practice in a particular court or before a specific judge, visit Practical Law's weekly rules updates to see whether any rules applicable to your cases have recently changed and avoid the embarrassment (and other consequences) of failing to follow the rules.