Rule 40.Scheduling Cases for Trial

Last amended December 1, 2007 · Last verified June 30, 2026

In one sentenceRule 40 leaves the scheduling of trials to each district court’s local rules, directing courts to provide by rule for placing actions on the trial calendar and to give priority to actions the law or the court’s rules require to be expedited.

Full Text of Rule 40

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Each court must provide by rule for scheduling trials. The court must give priority to actions entitled to priority by a federal statute.

End

Amendment History

(Amended April 30, 2007, effective December 1, 2007.)

Plain-English Summary

Rule 40 is short because it delegates. Rather than impose a single national system for setting trial dates, it tells each district court to handle trial scheduling through its own local rules — for placing cases on a trial calendar, fixing the order in which they are heard, and giving notice to the parties.

The rule adds one substantive instruction: priority must go to actions that statutes or court rules say should be expedited. In practice, trial scheduling today is closely tied to the case-management scheduling order under Rule 16, so Rule 40 mainly confirms that the timing of trial is a matter of local court administration.

Frequently Asked Questions

How are trial dates set in federal court?

Rule 40 leaves it to each district court’s local rules for placing cases on the trial calendar, with priority for actions the law requires to be expedited.

Does Rule 40 set a nationwide trial-scheduling system?

No. It delegates that job to each district's own local rules; the only substantive requirement it imposes is that actions statutes or court rules say should be expedited get priority.

Source & verification. The rule text and amendment history are reproduced verbatim from the official Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Fed. R. Civ. P. 40), a public-domain work of the U.S. Government. Prescribed by the United States Supreme Court under the Rules Enabling Act. The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified June 30, 2026. · Official source

Also known as: FRCP 40Fed. R. Civ. P. 40scheduling cases for trialtrial calendar