Locate a federal court using the Court Locator page on the United States Courts website.
Find jury instructions using these databases. Access is restricted and requires a username and password.
Bloomberg Law - Choose Litigation dropdown tab → Litigation Resources → Scroll to down and use the "Find Jury Instructions" search box
Lexis - Choose the "Content" tab of the "Explore" menu → Jury Instructions
Westlaw - Choose the "Content types" tab → Secondary Sources → Jury Instructions
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There are two major encyclopedic sets of federal jury instructions, Federal Jury Practice and Instructions (West) and Modern Federal Jury Instructions: Civil and Criminal (Lexis). These treatises are also accessible on Westlaw and Lexis respectively. Access to Westlaw and Lexis are restricted to faculty and students of Marquette University Law School through individual usernames and passwords.
Companion handbooks to Federal Jury Practice and Instructions, Federal Jury Practice and Instructions: Civil Companion Handbook and Federal Jury Practice and Instructions: Criminal Companion Handbook, provide guidance in applying the jury instructions in cases.
Federal civil jury instructions are governed by Rule 51 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure while federal criminal jury instructions are governed by Rule 30 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. For both civil and criminal cases, the procedural aspects of jury instructions are specifically governed by the federal rules.
In addition, the treatises Federal Practice and Procedure (West) and Moore's Federal Practice (Lexis) provide information about federal jury instructions.
Compiled lists of federal jury instructions have been made available on several websites, including some hosted by the U.S. Department of Justice, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit webpage and at the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit webpage.
Federal court jury instructions may also be found by going to the appropriate court's website. A list of federal courts with links to court websites is available on the United States Courts website's Courts Locator page. Some federal judges may have their own standard jury instructions available electronically. Find the judge's name on the court's website to see if preferred instructions are noted. If they are not listed, the judge should be contacted to determine if the judge has standard instructions.
Federal pattern or model jury instructions may also be found by searching Bloomberg Law, Lexis and Westlaw. Access to these commercial databases is restricted to faculty and students of Marquette University Law School through individual usernames and passwords.
