Local Rules
Local rules are the procedural rules each federal district court adopts to govern practice in its own courthouse — supplementing (never contradicting) the Federal Rules of Civil, Criminal, and Appellate Procedure. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 83, a district court acting by a majority of its judges may promulgate local rules after public notice and comment. Local rules cover practical matters: filing formats and page limits, standing orders, courtroom conduct, and how the court handles its docket; many judges also issue their own standing orders on top of them.
Local rules are the procedural rules each federal district court adopts to govern practice in its own courthouse — supplementing (never contradicting) the Federal Rules of Civil, Criminal, and Appellate Procedure. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 83, a district court acting by a majority of its judges may promulgate local rules after public notice and comment. Local rules cover practical matters: filing formats and page limits, standing orders, courtroom conduct, and how the court handles its docket; many judges also issue their own standing orders on top of them.
Example: Under Rule 83(a)(1), each district court may adopt local rules “after giving appropriate public notice and opportunity for comment” — a federal judge can require, for example, that filings in that district use a particular format, and parties must comply or seek leave.
Common misconception: Local rules are not optional, and they are not lawmaking by judges. They bind the parties practicing in that court (with courts authorized to relax them in a given case where justice requires), but they cannot expand substantive rights or conflict with the national rules — if they did, the national rules control.
Sources: Fed. R. Civ. P. 83 (Rules by District Courts) | Cornell LII"