Federal & California Courts &
Case Reports: The Basics
Real World Research
November 12, 2008
Marlene Harmon & Dean C. Rowan,
Reference Librarians
The California Courts
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Judicial Council of California, Administrative
Office of the Courts, California Courts
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Supreme Court & Courts of Appeal opinions
Superior Court web sites
California Judicial Branch fact sheet
Court Statistics Reports
NCSC, Court Structure Chart
CA Superior Courts
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No published rulings, with one exception:
Appellate Division decisions are selectively
published in Cal. App. Supp.
"[T]he appellate division of the superior court has
appellate jurisdiction in causes prescribed by
statute.”--Cal Const art VI, §11(b)
California Civil Appellate Practice, 3rd ed. (CEB
1996-), §§ 10.2 et. seq., for more on App. Div.
Print Sources for California Cases
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Official
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LexisNexis California Reports, now in its 4th
series
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LexisNexis California Appellate Reports, now in
its 4th series
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CA Supreme Court
CA Courts of Appeal
Appellate Division of CA Superior Courts
LexisNexis California Official Reports (advance
sheets)
Print Sources (cont.)
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West
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California Reporter, now in its 3rd series
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CA Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal
Pacific Reporter, now in its 3rd series
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At one time combined CA Supreme Court and Courts of
Appeal with other Pacific region states’ courts’ opinions
Post-1959, includes only Supreme Court from CA
Alternatives & Staying Current
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Daily Journal Daily Appellate Report
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Full text of all published opinions of SCOTUS, 9th
Cir. (inc. Bankruptcy), Cal., Cal. App., Cal. AG
Selected US District Courts in CA, State Bar
Court
Daily Journal California Court Directory,
monthly supplement
California Rules of Court
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Title 8, Appellate Rules, Division 5,
Publication of Appellate Opinions
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Rule 8.1105. Publication of appellate opinions
Rule 8.1110. Partial publication
Rule 8.1115. Citation of opinions
Rule 8.1120. Requesting publication of unpublished
opinions
Rule 8.1125. Requesting depublication of published
opinions
Commercial Electronic Sources
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Westlaw & LexisNexis
Loislaw
VersusLaw
Fastcase
Cal Law
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Free news headlines, but full decisions require
subscription
Westlaw
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CA Reported Cases CA-CSR
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CA Unreported Cases CA-CSU
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Approx. 9% of Ct. of App. opinions published
No headnotes
Trial court orders CA-TRIALORDERS
CA State Bar Court decisions, 1990- CA-CS
CA Attorney General Opinions CA-AG
LexisNexis
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CA Published Cases, Combined
Published CA Court of Appeal Cases
Unpublished CA Court of Appeal Cases
CA State Bar Court Decisions, March 1990CA Attorney General Opinions, Jan. 1960-
Free Electronic
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VersusLaw, Findacase
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CA Supreme Ct. 1930, Cts. of App. 1944
Public Library of Law
PreCYdent
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January 2000-
Cal. Office of the Attorney General
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Legal Opinions, Monthly Report, Search
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“As the chief law officer of the state, the California
Attorney General provides legal opinions upon
request to designated state and local public officials
and government agencies on issues arising in the
course of their duties. The formal legal opinions of
the Attorney General have been accorded ‘great
respect’ and ‘great weight’ by the courts.”
For Future Reference
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Advanced Legal Research syllabus, Fall
2008, California Cases and Depublication
Federal Court Structure
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Supreme Court: United States Supreme Court
Appellate Courts: US Courts of Appeals
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12 Regional Circuit Courts of Appeals
US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit
Trial Courts: US District Courts
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94 Judicial Districts
US Bankruptcy Courts
US Court of International Trade
US Court of Federal Claims
Federal Court Structure (cont.)
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Other Federal Courts (Courts of Special
Jurisdiction)
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Military Courts (trial and appellate)
Court of Veterans Appeals
US Tax Court
Federal Administrative Agencies and Boards
Court Structure Chart
District and Circuit Boundaries
Finding the Court Decisions
1. Universe of Published Print Decisions
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Published vs. Unpublished Decisions
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With the exception of the US Supreme Court, only about
16% of federal decisions are published.
All US Supreme Court decisions are published.
This brief video by West demonstrates the process of preparing a newly issued
opinion for publication and online access.
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US Supreme Court
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United States Reports (official reporter)
United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyer’s Edition
West’s Supreme Court Reporter
US Law Week (BNA)
1. Universe of Published Print
Decisions (cont.)
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US Courts of Appeals
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US District Courts
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West’s Federal Reporter, now in its 3rd Series
West’s Federal Supplement, now in its 2nd Series
Courts of Special Jurisdiction
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West’s Bankruptcy Reporter
Federal Claims Court Reporter
West’s Veteran’s Appeals Reporter
United States Tax Cases
How to Find Print Decisions
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Using Print Sources:
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Digests
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West – National Reporter System – State and Federal
Cases
Editorial Enhancements in Print Decisions
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Headnotes & West’s Key Numbers – tie into the digests
2. The Ever Expanding Universe of
Online Case Law: The Big 2
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Using Online Sources to Find Cases:
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1970s Mead Data Central (became Lexis)
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Full text of federal case law goes electronic on
subscription database (not the Internet)
Neat (seemingly) Universe of print case law began to
explode
West slow to catch up, but eventually did
Huge databases, moved far beyond just case law
Sophisticated search engines
Breadth of coverage
The Big 2 (cont.)
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Using Online Sources to Find Cases (cont.):
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Editorial enhancements
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Lexis and Westlaw are the “Big 2”
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Headnote and key number searching (the digests
online)
Links to full text briefs, treatises, encyclopedias
Citators
5 Star, Full Service Legal Databases
COST!
Beyond the Big 2
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Lexis and Westlaw aren’t the only game in
town
Increasing numbers of alternative
commercial and free sources of case law:
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Loislaw
VersusLaw
Fastcase
Beyond the Big 2 (cont.)
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Alternative commercial and free sources of
case law
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Smaller databases
Fewer or different editorial enhancements
And cheaper – market to smaller firms, solo
practitioners
Court and Law School Websites
(Mostly free)
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PACER
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Access to federal court docket and case
information
Can find court decisions, though not its primary
function
Fee based, but cheap
Best accessed through a particular court’s web
site
Court and Law School Websites
(Mostly free) (cont.)
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Several Law Schools also publish decisions of
selected courts
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Cornell (LII – Legal Information Institute)
Georgetown
Emory
Washburn
The Law Library of Congress’s website links to all of
the court opinion sites as well as to the Law School
Sites
US Supreme Court opinions most readily available
More Free Internet Sites
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Findlaw
LexisOne
AltLaw
Justia
The Public Library of Law
PreCYdent
Coverage and features vary for each site
Additional Resources for Information
about the Federal Courts
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Judicial Conference of the United States
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Principal policy making body of the US courts
Administrative Office of the US Courts
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Central Support for the entire federal judicial
branch.
Carries out policies of the Judicial Conference
Annual Reports, statistical information about
caseloads