Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) are rules governing court procedure for civil litigation in U.S. federal district courts. The FRCP are promulgated by the U.S. Supreme Court pursuant to the Rules Enabling Act, and then approved by the U.S. Congress. The Court's modifications to the rules are usually based on recommendations from the Judicial Conference of the United States &mdash; the federal judiciary's internal policy-making body. Although federal courts are required to apply the substantive law of the states in cases where state law is in question, the federal courts almost always use the FRCP as their rules of procedure.