The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 23

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) 23 are the rules that govern civil cases in U.S. District Courts (Federal courts). As I mentioned in a recent post, this would include civil cases filed against an employer in a class action lawsuit or with a sole complainant.

Even though federal courts are required to apply the laws of the states as rules of decision in cases where state law is in question, the federal courts almost always use the FRCP as their rules of procedure.

The FRCP contains a list of the prerequisites for filing a class action complaint. For instance, the FRCP states:

One or more members of a class may sue or be sued as representative parties on behalf of all only if (1) the class is so numerous that joinder* of all members is impracticable, (2) there are questions of law or fact common to the class, (3) the claims or defenses of the representative parties are typical of the claims or defenses of the class, and (4) the representative parties will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class.

In other words, one or two employees filing suit against an employer can do so on behalf of all of the participants in the suit because:

1) There are a large number of participants that make individual suits impractical;
2) There are similar legal issues and facts among the participants;
3) The arguments/defenses of the representatives are similar/typical of the participants in the class action suit; and
4) The representatives will look out for the best interests of everyone involved in the class action suit in a fair and equitable manner.

The FRCP contains 86 rules, which are grouped into 13 chapters. These chapters include:

I. Scope of Rules--One Form of Action

II. Commencement of Action; Service of Process, Pleadings, Motions, and Orders

III. Pleadings and Motions

IV. Parties

V. Depositions and Discovery

VI. Trials

VII. Judgment

VIII. Provisional and Final Remedies

IX. Special Proceedings

X. District Courts and Clerks

XI. General Provisions

XII. Appendix of Forms

XIII. Supplemental Rules for Certain Admiralty and Maritime Claims

If you’re trying to find specific information about the rules governing civil lawsuits, the Cornell Law School web site contains the rules for each chapter of the FRCP. The link is: http://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/

There is also a permanent link to the FRCP in the Links section of this blog.

· Joinder is a legal term which refers to the inclusion of additional counts or additional defendants on an indictment.