NFPA Paralegal Core Competency Exam (PCCE)Legal ResearchHard
A paralegal is attempting to locate a specific federal court rule, such as a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure. Which of the following primary sources would contain the official text of these rules?
- AUnited States Statutes at Large
- BUnited States Code Annotated (USCA)
- CCode of Federal Regulations (CFR)
- DFederal Rules Decisions (FRD)
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. United States Code Annotated (USCA)
While the official text of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is published by the U.S. Government Printing Office, for research purposes, the most accessible and useful primary source is the United States Code Annotated (USCA) or United States Code Service (USCS), which includes the rules, historical notes, and annotations to cases interpreting the rules.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. United States Statutes at Large publishes federal statutes in chronological order as they are passed, not codified court rules.
- C. The CFR contains federal administrative regulations, not federal court rules.
- D. Federal Rules Decisions (FRD) publishes opinions from federal district courts that interpret the federal rules, but it does not contain the official text of the rules themselves.
Federal Court Rules (Source)
The official text of federal court rules (e.g., Federal Rules of Civil Procedure) is found in annotated versions of the U.S. Code, such as USCA or USCS.
- Rules govern procedure in federal courts
- Found in Title 28 of the U.S. Code (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure)
- Annotated codes (USCA/USCS) provide rules, history, and case interpretations
Memory trick: Federal Rules are 'coded' into the Annotated Code for easy access.