What are the differences between federal rules of civil procedure and Indiana state rules of civil procedures?

Answer 1

Since there are 86 separate Federal Rules, I will not try to discuss the substantive differences in individual rules. The difference between the Federal Rules of Civ Pro, as a whole, and the NC State Rules, is where they are applicable. NC did not adopt the Federal Rules outright when they were first became law in 1938; rather they adopted many of principles. The Fed Rules were originally adopted to give practitioners in federal courts a uniform system of rules. Prior to the 1938 code, all federal courts adopted the rules of state in which they were located. This meant someone who specialized in one of the primarily federal litigation fields might have to know a number of different sets of rules. To assist these practitioners by giving them some uniformity, and in hopes that states would adopt these new rules, the Federal Rules were enacted. North Carolina, like many states, adopted the principles, and in some cases, adopted rules outright, from the Fed Rules, but many of the state rules differ. This means, for example, that an action that allows 20 days to respond in a federal court, might only allow 14 days in a state court. One of the more recent changes to the Fed Rules, an adoption of new e-discovery rules, is not even being considered in NC.