LibGuides: Free Online Legal Research: Other Court/Judicial Information

Court Rules

United States Courts - Current Rules of Practice and Procedure
Provides links to the general federal court rules, including the Rules of Appellate Procedure, Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules of Criminal Procedure, and Rules of Evidence.

The general federal court rules can also be found in the Appendix to Titles 18 and 28 of the United States Code. The Appendix to Title 18 contains the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and the Appendix to Title 28 contains the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, and the Federal Rules of Evidence (see the U.S. Code portion of this guide for a listing of freely available versions of the United States Code).

Each federal court publishes its local rules on its court website. For links to the various federal courts, see the the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts' Court Website Links page.

Additional information about federal court rules can be found on the Federal Rules portion of the UCLA Law LibGuide on Court Rules.

Courts, Judges and Judicial Nominations

United States Courts - Court Website Links
Provides links to the websites for the U.S. Supreme Court, Courts of Appeals, and District and Bankruptcy Courts for each federal district. Also includes listings of the U.S. probation and pretrial services offices and federal public defender organizations for the various federal districts (with links to their websites if available).
United States Courts - Judges & Judgeships
Provides both historical and current information on federal judgeships, including lists of judicial vacancies, nominations, and confirmations (from 1981 to the present). You can use the Search feature for the main United States Courts website to search this page.
Understanding the Federal Courts
This 44 page publication (in PDF) provides "an introduction to the federal judicial system, its organization and administration, and its relationship to the legislative and executive branches of the government." Published by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary - Judicial Nominations
Regularly-updated list of judicial nominations, organized in reverse-chronological order; also searchable.
Congress.gov
This searchable database of Congressional legislative history includes status information on judicial nominations. Select "Nominations" from the pull-down menu near the top of the screen. Select "More Options" to enter your search terms and filters. Note that you can restrict your search results to judicial nominations by typing "judiciary" under the "Organizations" heading.
Alliance for Justice - Judicial Nominations
Provides information on federal judicial nominees, including fact sheets on nominees, letters of support and opposition, and tracking/status information regarding nominations.
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"Alliance for Justice is a national association of over 140 organizations, representing a broad array of groups committed to progressive values and the creation of an equitable, just, and free society."
Federal Judicial Center - Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, 1789-present
Provides biographical information on both current and former federal judges. Includes a main search box as well as an "advanced search criteria" page that allows one to "create customized lists of judges based on various criteria, including appointing president, type of court, dates of service, and demographics."
The Robing Room
This site's mission is to provide a forum for evaluating federal circuit, district court and magistrate judges. It is maintained by North Law Publishers, Inc., a New York based legal publisher created by and for attorneys.

Federal Court Dockets

RECAP the Law Archive
This archive provides free access to millions of federal court documents from the PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) database. While not all PACER documents are included in RECAP, the documents that have been uploaded to this archive are searchable. Anyone can contribute to the archive by installing the free RECAP internet browser extension.
Justia Dockets & Filings
The Justia Federal District Court Filings & Dockets site republishes public litigation records retrieved from the US Federal District Courts (with links to PACER). Search by party name, judge, jurisdiction, type of lawsuit, and date.

History & Statistics

U.S. Courts - Statistics & Reports
The "Statistics and Reports" section of the U.S. Courts website "provides statistical data and analysis on the business of the federal Judiciary. Specific publications address the work of the appellate, district, and bankruptcy courts; the probation and pretrial services systems; and other components of the U.S. courts."
U.S. Courts - Authorized Judgeships
The "Authorized Judgeships" section of the U.S. Courts website contains data on authorized judgeships for all federal courts.
Creating the Federal Judicial System, 3rd ed. (2005)
This 30 page publication by Russell R. Wheeler and Cynthia Harrison provides a history of the federal courts.
The Supreme Court Historical Society
The Supreme Court Historical Society, a private non-profit organization, is dedicated to the collection and preservation of the history of the U.S. Supreme Court. On this site, one will find information about the history of the Court and how the Court works as well as some digitized Society publications.