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Real Law Society

A School of the Academy

School of Civil Procedure

Department of Civil Practice & Procedure

Pleadings, motions, discovery, and the rules of the court.

§ 0·a

The Record

Publications
3
Treatises
1
Articles
1
Authorities
40
Reading Lists
2
Research Collections
1
Certificates
1
Library Divisions
3

§ I

Introduction

Scope of Study

Civil Procedure

Procedure is the architecture of every case. The School teaches the Federal Rules and the practice that orbits them, with attention to local rules that govern in the room.

§ I·b·2

Subject Navigation

The subject architecture of this School.

Each group below is generated from the Society's own taxonomy — the Parts of the School's treatises, its editorial categories, and its Library divisions.

Editorial Categories

Library Divisions

§ II

Philosophy of the School

On how this School reads.

Procedure is the form in which substantive law is administered. The School treats the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as the principal text and the local rules of the forum as the binding gloss. A case is read as a sequence of filings, each governed by a rule and each producing a record.

§ III

What Students Will Study

The commitments of the School.

A School commits to a set of questions and to a method of reading them. The following are the working commitments of this department.

  1. 01

    The architecture of a civil action under the Federal Rules

  2. 02

    The drafting and answering of pleadings

  3. 03

    The motion practice that frames a case before trial

  4. 04

    The instruments of discovery and the duties they impose

  5. 05

    The procedural posture by which a case reaches the appellate courts

§ IV

Reading and Study Framework

The departmental reading and study framework.

A departmental framework for reading the field, arranged in six tiers by depth of inquiry. It is a reference for study within the School, not the syllabus of an active course, and it carries no enrollment, assignments, or record of completion. Foundations are read before advanced work presumes them.

Foundations

  1. 01

    The complaint under Rule 8 and the plausibility standard

  2. 02

    Service of process under Rule 4

  3. 03

    Subject-matter jurisdiction and removal

Intermediate Study

  1. 01

    Rule 12 motions and the order in which defenses are raised

  2. 02

    Joinder, intervention, and consolidation

  3. 03

    Discovery under Rules 26 through 37

Advanced Study

  1. 01

    Summary judgment under Rule 56

  2. 02

    Pretrial orders and the conduct of trial

  3. 03

    Appellate jurisdiction and the standards of review

Research & Method

  1. 01

    Locating the local rules of a federal district

  2. 02

    Reading a judge's standing order against the Federal Rules

  3. 03

    Tracing a procedural doctrine through the advisory committee notes

Reference Materials

  1. 01

    Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

  2. 02

    Federal Rules of Evidence

  3. 03

    Local rules of the district and circuit

Suggested Reading

  1. 01

    Wright & Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure

  2. 02

    Moore's Federal Practice

§ IV·b

Learning Path

A working sequence for the School.

A staged reading order — from institutional introduction through primary authority to advanced research.

  1. 01

    Introduction

    Procedure is the architecture of every case. The School teaches the Federal Rules and the practice that orbits them, with attention to local rules that govern in the room.

  2. 02

    Core Treatise

    The Architecture of Civil Procedure

    Open the treatise →
  3. 03

    Working Articles

    Editorial articles for this School.

  4. 04

    Primary Authorities

    Featured entries from the Legal Corpus.

  5. 05

    Reading List

    Federal Civil Procedure

  6. 06

    Advanced Research

    Civil Procedure Collection

    Open the collection →
  7. 07

    Related Schools

    Departments that read alongside this one.

§ V

Learning Outcomes

The capacities a member should leave with.

Outcomes are stated as capacities, not credentials. They describe what a member should be able to do after sustained reading.

  1. 01

    Draft a pleading that satisfies Rule 8 and survives Rule 12

  2. 02

    Design and respond to a discovery plan under Rule 26

  3. 03

    Identify the standard of review on appeal for a given ruling

§ VI

Primary Authorities

The texts the School takes seriously.

Authorities are listed by category. Entries marked in preparation are catalogued and reviewed before they enter the working record.

Court Rules

4 entries

  • Authority

    Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

  • Authority

    Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure

  • Authority

    Federal Rules of Evidence

  • Authority

    Local rules of the United States district courts

Judicial Opinions

1 entry

  • In Preparation

    Forthcoming — Supreme Court procedural decisions in preparation

Treatises & Restatements

2 entries

  • Authority

    Wright & Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure

  • Authority

    Moore's Federal Practice

§ VII

Featured Publications

From the press of the institution.

The following volumes are drawn from, or supply, the work of this School. Each is reviewed by faculty before publication.

The Society Press

All publications →

§ VII·b

From the Press

Articles associated with this School.

Editorial articles tagged to the subjects of this School, drawn from the Real Law Society Press.

§ VII·c

Certificates

Certificate programs associated with this School.

Certificate programs of the Academy that draw on the reading of this School. A certificate program is entered through the Academy, not through the School itself.

  • Certificate · Advanced

    Certificate in Civil Procedure

    Planned Program

    The sequence of a civil matter from pleading to judgment, taught against the rules of the controlling court.

    Not open for enrollment. This certificate is a planned course of study and has not yet entered development.

§ VII·d

Reading Room

Reading lists of this School.

Curated sequences of primary reading maintained in the Reading Room.

  • Reading List

    Federal Civil Procedure

    The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure with the controlling opinions on pleading, joinder, discovery, summary judgment, and trial — read against Title 28 of the United States Code.

  • Reading List

    Evidence

    The Federal Rules of Evidence and the corresponding common-law doctrines — relevance, hearsay, privilege, character, and authentication — with the leading opinions of the federal circuits.

§ VII·e

Research Collections

Working collections of this School.

  • Collection

    Civil Procedure Collection

    The rules of procedure, pleading, the record, and judgment.

§ VII·f

Legal Corpus

Authorities catalogued for this School.

Entries drawn from the Real Law Society Legal Corpus that supply the primary reading of this School.

  • case

    Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon

  • case

    Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co.

  • case

    Shelley v. Kraemer

  • case

    Penn Central Transportation Co. v. New York City

  • case

    Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council

  • case

    Board of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth

  • case

    Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Co. v. City of Chicago

  • case

    United States v. Causby

  • case

    International News Service v. Associated Press

  • case

    Loretto v. Teleprompter Manhattan CATV Corp.

  • case

    United States v. Rodgers

  • case

    Ruckelshaus v. Monsanto Co.

§ VII·g

Authors

Contributors to this School.

  • Journal · Author

    Faculty of the School of Civil Procedure

§ VII·h

From the Journal

Institutional news associated with this School.

  • Journal

    Procedure as Architecture

    A case note on the federal pleading standard as articulated in Ashcroft v. Iqbal. The note reads the decision against Rule 8 and the architecture of pleading that the Rule establishes.

  • Journal

    The Summary Judgment Record

    A case note on Celotex Corp. v. Catrett and the materials properly before the court on a motion for summary judgment. The note reads the decision against Rule 56 as it has since been amended.

§ VIII

Research in the Library

Where this School reads.

The divisions below carry the primary materials this School draws on. The catalogue opens in stages as the index is reviewed.

  • Library Division

    Court Rules

    Federal and state rules of procedure, evidence, and local practice.

  • Library Division

    Judicial Opinions

    Selected opinions of the federal and state courts of record.

  • Library Division

    Treatises

    Restatements, hornbooks, and reference works of accepted authority.

Catalogue · XI Divisions

Enter the Research Library →

§ IX

Related Schools

Departments that read alongside this one.

Doctrine does not respect departmental boundaries. The following Schools take up adjacent questions.

§ X

Timeline

Recent activity of this School.

The institutional record — publications, articles, primary authorities, and journal notices — in date order.

  1. 2026

    Press · Article

    Acquisition and Possession of Property
  2. 2026

    Treatise

    The Architecture of Civil Procedure

  3. 2026

    Practice Manual

    Consumer Credit Authority

  4. 2025

    Educational Guide

    An Introduction to Legal Research

  5. 2021

    Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid, 594 U.S. 139 (2021)

    Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid
  6. 2015

    Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc., 576 U.S. 519 (2015)

    Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc.
  7. 2015

    Horne v. Department of Agriculture, 576 U.S. 350 (2015)

    Horne v. Department of Agriculture
  8. 2014

    Marvin M. Brandt Revocable Trust v. United States, 572 U.S. 93 (2014)

    Marvin M. Brandt Revocable Trust v. United States

§ XI

Continue Research

Next reading for this School.

A short standing recommendation drawn across the institutional record.

Publication

The Architecture of Civil Procedure

Authority

Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon

Reading List

Federal Civil Procedure

Research Collection

Civil Procedure Collection

§ XI

Browse This Subject

Where to continue in the institution.

Each gateway opens the family surface in which this School's records are catalogued.

Society Membership

Membership in the Real Law Society.

Membership is in the Society, not in a single School. Members may read every School, including Civil Procedure, together with the Library and the Press. A School is a subject-area home and is not itself enrollable or completable. Certificate programs are entered separately within the Academy, and enrollment requires an active Society Membership; the Certificate in Legal Research and the Certificate in Estate Administration are open now, and the remaining programs are announced as each one opens. Founding Membership is a separate, optional designation reviewed by the Office of Administration.

View MembershipReturn to the Academy →
The Real Law Society · Est. MMXXVRead Law. Not Lore.™Vol. I — Folio I