Several amendments and new rules to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Appellate Procedure, and Bankruptcy Procedure took effect on December 1, 2025. These changes impact federal court processes across civil, appellate, and bankruptcy cases.
Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, updates include amendments to Rule 16 concerning pretrial conferences, scheduling, and management. Additionally, a new Rule 16.1 addresses multidistrict litigation. Rule 26 regarding disclosure duties and general discovery provisions has also been revised.
The Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure have updated Rule 6 on appeals in bankruptcy cases or proceedings as well as Rule 39 related to costs.
For bankruptcy matters, revisions were made to Rule 3002.1 involving claims secured by a security interest in the debtor’s principal residence and to Rule 8006 on certifying direct appeals to the Court of Appeals. Several official forms for Chapter 13 bankruptcy proceedings have also been updated or introduced.
Links to the revised rules are available here.
