INSTITUTIONS AND AN INTERPRETIVE METHODOLOGY FOR THE FEDERAL RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE

72 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";} Before the 1980s, problems of statutory interpretation suffered from serious neglect. Since then, courts and scholars have generated volumes of opinions and commentary that have made interpretive practices more rigorous and sophisticated. But statutory law provides only a small part of the average lawyer's daily diet. A host of other legal texts, including the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, are quite important in this regard, but they have thus far remained largely in the shadows of interpretive theory. As they move more into the light, it is important that the development of interpretive methodologies for each track their unique institutional settings. The assembly of my inclusive method for the Federal Rule s illustrates how sensitivity to institutional features, relationships, and values can lead to customized and appropriate interpretive practices.