federal & california courts & case reports: the basics real world research november 12, 2008...
TRANSCRIPT
Federal & California Courts & Case Reports: The Basics
Real World ResearchNovember 12, 2008
Marlene Harmon & Dean C. Rowan, Reference Librarians
The California Courts
Judicial Council of California, Administrative Office of the Courts, California Courts– 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
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
Official– LexisNexis California Reports, now in its 4th
series CA Supreme Court
– LexisNexis California Appellate Reports, now in its 4th series
CA Courts of Appeal Appellate Division of CA Superior Courts
– LexisNexis California Official Reports (advance sheets)
Print Sources (cont.)
West– California Reporter, now in its 3rd series
CA Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal
– Pacific Reporter, now in its 3rd series 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
Daily Journal Daily Appellate Report– 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
Title 8, Appellate Rules, Division 5, Publication of Appellate Opinions
– 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 Requesting publication of unpublished opinion
s
– Rule 8.1125. Requesting depublication of published opinions
Commercial Electronic Sources
Westlaw & LexisNexis Loislaw VersusLaw Fastcase Cal Law
– Free news headlines, but full decisions require subscription
Westlaw
CA Reported Cases CA-CSR– Approx. 9% of Ct. of App. opinions published
CA Unreported Cases CA-CSU– No headnotes
Trial court orders CA-TRIALORDERS CA State Bar Court decisions, 1990- CA-CS CA Attorney General Opinions CA-AG
LexisNexis
CA Published Cases, Combined Published CA Court of Appeal Cases Unpublished CA Court of Appeal Cases CA State Bar Court Decisions, March 1990- CA Attorney General Opinions, Jan. 1960-
Free Electronic
VersusLaw, Findacase– CA Supreme Ct. 1930, Cts. of App. 1944
Public Library of Law PreCYdent
– January 2000-
Cal. Office of the Attorney General
Legal Opinions, Monthly Report, Search “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
Advanced Legal Research syllabus, Fall 2008, California Cases and Depublication
Federal Court Structure
Supreme Court: United States Supreme Court Appellate Courts: US Courts of Appeals
– 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– 94 Judicial Districts– US Bankruptcy Courts– US Court of International Trade– US Court of Federal Claims
Federal Court Structure (cont.)
Other Federal Courts (Courts of Special Jurisdiction)– 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 Decisions1. Universe of Published Print Decisions
Published vs. Unpublished Decisions– 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.
US Supreme Court– 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.)
US Courts of Appeals– West’s Federal Reporter, now in its 3rd Series
US District Courts– West’s Federal Supplement, now in its 2nd Series
Courts of Special Jurisdiction– West’s Bankruptcy Reporter– Federal Claims Court Reporter– West’s Veteran’s Appeals Reporter– United States Tax Cases
How to Find Print Decisions
Using Print Sources:– Digests
West – National Reporter System – State and Federal Cases
– Editorial Enhancements in Print Decisions Headnotes & West’s Key Numbers – tie into the digests
2. The Ever Expanding Universe of Online Case Law: The Big 2
Using Online Sources to Find Cases:– 1970s Mead Data Central (became Lexis)
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.)
Using Online Sources to Find Cases (cont.):– Editorial enhancements
Headnote and key number searching (the digests online)
Links to full text briefs, treatises, encyclopedias Citators
– Lexis and Westlaw are the “Big 2” 5 Star, Full Service Legal Databases
– COST!
Beyond the Big 2
Lexis and Westlaw aren’t the only game in town
Increasing numbers of alternative commercial and free sources of case law:– Loislaw– VersusLaw– Fastcase
Beyond the Big 2 (cont.)
Alternative commercial and free sources of case law– Smaller databases– Fewer or different editorial enhancements – And cheaper – market to smaller firms, solo
practitioners
Court and Law School Websites (Mostly free)
PACER– 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.)
Several Law Schools also publish decisions of selected courts
– 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
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
Judicial Conference of the United States– Principal policy making body of the US courts
Administrative Office of the US Courts– Central Support for the entire federal judicial
branch.– Carries out policies of the Judicial Conference– Annual Reports, statistical information about
caseloads