民事诉讼是美国司法制度的重要组成。现今所指的美国民事诉讼,不论是在比较法还是在法学院的教学指导书上,通常都是指联邦规则。美国有联邦法院和州法院两套司法体系。联邦法院和州法院分别有自己的民事诉讼规则,各州都受到联邦民事诉讼规则的极大影响,自1938年开始,各州的诉讼程序 Civil litigation is an important part of American judicial system. The U.S. civil lawsuits nowadays refer to federal rules, both in comparative law and in law school instructional books. The United States has two judicial systems: the federal court and the state court. Federal courts and state courts have their own rules of civil procedure, each state is subject to the federal rules of civil procedure greatly affected, since 1938, state litigation procedures