How It's Done: Important Rules of Civil Procedure and Evidence

• Author: Scott A. Hatch/Lisa Zimmer Hatch
• Profession: Founders of The Center for Legal Studies and developed their award-winning paralegal curriculum in 1980, offering it through 600 colleges nationwide
• Pages: 101-116

CHAPTER 7 How It’s Done: Important Rules of Civil Procedure and Evidence 101

Chapter7

How It’s Done: Important

Rules of Civil Procedure

and Evidence

The cause of action may dier, but for every criminal case and every civil

case, the system has specic procedural and evidence rules that must be

followed. The rules are designed to make sure that court proceedings are

fair and that evidence gets admitted in court that’s relevant to the case and not

unnecessarily prejudicial to either party. Without procedural rules, properly

applying the substantive laws of society would be impossible. Because the major-

ity of paralegals work in civil law, this chapter focuses on procedural law for civil

cases. In researching either the rules of civil procedure or evidence, it’s critical

that you, as the paralegal, check for any amendments or modications to these

rules prior to relying upon them in research.

IN THIS CHAPTER

»

Seeing the dierence between the

laws governing procedure and

other laws

»

Getting familiar with important

federal civil procedure rules

»

Figuring out the procedures of your

state

»

Knowing the federal rules regarding

evidence

102 PART 2 Important Legal Concepts Every Paralegal Should Know

Distinguishing Between Procedural Law

and Substantive Law

The United States judicial system has rules governing the actual laws and how

those laws are litigated. The what is the substantive law, such as criminal law, real

estate law, torts, and family law. The how is encompassed in the rules of criminal

procedure, civil procedure, and evidence. To understand the dierence between the

two, think of each court case like a sporting event. Of course, there’s usually much

more at stake in the simplest court case than in the most-hyped sporting event, but

the analogy helps to distinguish between substance and procedure in law. For

example, every basketball game is dierent with dierent players, dierent plays,

and dierent outcomes. The one thing that remains constant is the rules. Because

the rules don’t change, everyone knows what to expect and can concentrate on

playing as well as possible for his team. If the rules were to change with every

game, the focus of each player would be on the rules and not the game itself.

What is true on the court is also true in the courtroom. Both share the need for the

participants’ behavior to be governed by consistent rules. Rules keep the focus of

the basketball game on the participants’ play, and rules keep the focus of a trial on

the evidence and the substantive law. Without consistent rules governing court

proceedings, cases wouldn’t be about arguments and facts, but instead would

focus on procedural details, like which attorney was allowed to do what and when.

Substantive laws are the ones that actually regulate public behavior, like criminal

laws, custody and child support statutes, and laws governing intellectual property

and negligence. The substantive laws are the issues to be tried in court; the way

parties present those issues is regulated by the rules of civil procedure and evi-

dence. Procedural law occurs at all levels of government, but paralegals deal mostly

with those on the federal and state levels.

Following the Federal Rules

of Civil Procedure

When you work as a paralegal, you probably deal mostly with state civil procedural

laws, but most states base their laws on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

(FRCP), so the federal rules provide a good foundation for understanding how

things are generally done in most states. Plus, you may nd yourself working on

a case that’s heard in federal court. This section highlights the federal rules you’ll

deal with most as a paralegal.