Research Guides: Minnesota Law Research Guide: Court Rules

Minnesota Court Rules

Online Sources

Minnesota Court Rules (Minnesota Judicial Branch)
Minnesota Rules of Court are rules adopted by the Supreme Court of Minnesota. The court rules also contain court orders, notes, and comments of the drafters. Includes appendix of forms. All documents are available as PDFs. Information on recent rules changes and rules orders provided. Email update service to monitor rules changes is available.

Legal Research Databases with Annotated Minnesota Court Rules:

Bloomberg Law, Lexis Advance, Westlaw & WestlawNext Campus Research

Each of these databases include the full-text of court rules and case law annotations. Both versions of Lexis and Westlaw provide citator results to case law and references to helpful secondary sources (texts and law journal articles). Bloomberg Law includes a "Smart Code" tool for locating related case law.

Print Sources for Minnesota Court Rules

Unannotated Versions:

Minnesota Rules of Court
Call Number: Reserve KFM5929 .A193
Publication Date: Published annually
Vol. 1 contains state court rules. Vol. 2 contains federal court rules. Vol. 2A contains federal keyrules.
Minnesota Statutes
Call Number: Primary KFM5429 .M56
The last volume of the Minnesota Statutes contains court rules, sentencing guidelines and various professional rules.

Annotated Versions

Minnesota Statutes Annotated
Call Number: Primary KFM5430 1946 .A315
Publication Date: 1946-
The rules are contained in a separate volume at the end of this set. Included after each rule are historical notes, references to commentary and court interpretations.
Appellate Rules Annotated - Minnesota Practice Series by Eric J. Magnuson, David F. Herr, et al.
Call Number: Reference Office KFM5480 .M53 (Available online see below)
ISBN: 9780314841681
Publication Date: Published annually
Volume 3 of the Minnesota Practice series. Contains Rules of Civil Appellate Procedure. In-depth history and commentary are provided for each rule along with indexed case law abstracts.
Also available online via Westlaw (U of M Law faculty, student, and staff only).
Civil Rules Annotated - Minnesota Practice Series by David F. Herr, Roger S. Haydock
Call Number: Reference and Reserve KFM5480 .M53 (vols. 1-2A) (Available online see below)
Publication Date: 6th ed., 2017 (Updated periodically)
Volumes 1 - 2A of the Minnesota Practice series. This source employs the same numerical order used in the Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure. In-depth history and commentary are provided for each rule along with references to case law.
Also available online via Westlaw (U of M Law faculty, student, and staff only).
General Rules of Practice Annotated - Minnesota Practice Series
Call Number: KFM5480 .M53
ISBN: 9780314841698
Publication Date: 2016 updated annually
Volume 3A of the Minnesota Practice series. Also available on Westlaw & WestlawNext Campus Research. Includes General Rules of Practice for District (trial) Courts. Rules for specialized courts (family, probate, conciliation, housing, etc.).

Secondary Sources

The following resources can be used to find case law interpreting Minnesota rules of court:

Dunnell Minnesota Digest: An Encyclopedia of Minnesota Law
Call Number: Reference and Reference Office KFM5457 .D86 2023 (Available online see below)
Publication Date: 7th ed., 2023 (Updated periodically)
Discusses the Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure under the general heading COURTS. A subject index and table of the rules are included.
Also available online via Lexis (U of M Law faculty, students, and staff only).
West's Minnesota Digest 2d
Call Number: Rep. KFM 5445 .A18 1988
Publication Date: Republished as needed; updated with periodic supplements
Available on Westlaw and WestlawNext Campus Research. This digest offers coverage of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure under the general topic, FEDERAL CIVIL PROCEDURE. No comparable topic covers Minnesota court rules. Cases are listed in the digest under specific litigation topics (e.g. pleading). . Covers Minnesota Supreme Court and Court of Appeals cases. Also covers federal court decisions decided by the U.S. Federal District Court of Minnesota, and other federal court decisions from cases arising in Minnesota. Updated periodically with pocket part and pamphlet supplements.
Minnesota Civil Practice by Douglas D. McFarland, William J. Keppel
Call Number: Reserve and Reference Office KFM5930 .M31x (Available online see below)
ISBN: 9781422424773
Publication Date: 4th ed., 2008– (Updated periodically)
This three-volume treatise, is organized to follow the chronology of a lawsuit, with practical, tested forms in every chapter plus a detailed index and finding tables. Includes analysis and discussion of Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules of Appellate Procedure and General Rules of Practice.
Also available online via Lexis (U of M Law faculty, student, and staff only).