NOTES TO RULE 84
HISTORY: (Amended Mar. 19, 1948)
Notes of Advisory Committee on Rules.
In accordance with the practice found useful in many codes, provision is here made for a limited number of official forms which may serve as guides in pleading. Compare 2 Mass Gen Laws (Ter Ed, 1932) ch 231, § 147, Forms 1--47; English Annual Practice (1937) Appendix A to M, inclusive; Conn Practice Book (1934) Rules, 47--68, pp 123--427.
Notes of Advisory Committee on 1948 Amendments to Rules.
The amendment serves to emphasize that the forms contained in the Appendix of Forms are sufficient to withstand attack under the rules under which they are drawn, and that the practitioner using them may rely on them to that extent. The circuit courts of appeals generally have upheld the use of the forms as promoting desirable simplicity and brevity of statement. Sierocinski v E. I. DuPont De Nemours & Co. CCA 3d, 1939, 103 F2d 843; Swift & Co. v Young, CCA 4th, 1939, 107 F2d 170; Sparks v England, CCA 8th, 1940, 113 F2d 579; Ramsouer v Midland Valley R. Co. CCA 8th, 1943, 135 F2d 101. And the forms as a whole have met with widespread approval in the courts. See cases cited in 1 Moore's Federal Practice, 1938, Cum Supplement § 8.07, under "Page 554"; see also Commentary. The Official Forms, 1941, 4 Fed Rules Serv 954. In Cook, "Facts" and "Statements of Fact," 1937, 4 U Chi L Rev 233, 245--246, it is said with reference to what is now Rule 84: ". . . pleaders in the federal courts are not to be left to guess as to the meaning of [the] language" in Rule 8(a) regarding the form of the complaint. "All of which is as it should be. In no other way can useless litigation be avoided." Ibid. The amended rule will operate to discourage isolated results such as those found in Washburn v Moorman Mfg. Co. SD Cal 1938, 25 F Supp 546; Employers Mutual Liability Ins. Co. of Wisconsin v Blue Line Transfer Co. WD Mo 1941, 2 FRD 121, 5 Fed Rules Serv 12e.235, Case 2.
Preliminary draft of proposed amendments. The Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure of the Judicial Conference of the United States proposed the following amendment of Rule 84, dated August 15, 1991. "
The forms contained in the Appendix of Forms are sufficient under the rules and are intended to indicate the simplicity and brevity of statement which the rules contemplate. The Judicial Conference of the United States may authorize additional forms and may revise or delete forms.
Committee notes. The revision is intended to relieve the Supreme Court and Congress from the burden of reviewing changes in the forms prescribed for use in civil cases, which, by terms of the rule, are merely illustrative and not mandatory. Rule 9009 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure similarly permits the adoption and revision of bankruptcy forms without need for review by the Supreme Court and Congress.