Federal California Courts Case Reports The Basics Real

Federal & California Courts & Case Reports: The Basics Real World Research November 12, 2008 Marlene Harmon & Dean C. Rowan, Reference Librarians

The California Courts l Judicial Council of California, Administrative Office of the Courts, California Courts – – l 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 l l 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, 3 rd ed. (CEB 1996 -), §§ 10. 2 et. seq. , for more on App. Div.

Print Sources for California Cases l Official – Lexis. Nexis California Reports, now in its 4 th series l – Lexis. Nexis California Appellate Reports, now in its 4 th series l l – CA Supreme Court CA Courts of Appeal Appellate Division of CA Superior Courts Lexis. Nexis California Official Reports (advance sheets)

Print Sources (cont. ) l West – California Reporter, now in its 3 rd series l – CA Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal Pacific Reporter, now in its 3 rd series l l 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 l Daily Journal Daily Appellate Report – – l Full text of all published opinions of SCOTUS, 9 th Cir. (inc. Bankruptcy), Cal. App. , Cal. AG Selected US District Courts in CA, State Bar Court Daily Journal California Court Directory, monthly supplement

California Rules of Court l 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 Requesting publication of unpublished opinions Rule 8. 1125. Requesting depublication of published opinions

Commercial Electronic Sources l l l Westlaw & Lexis. Nexis Loislaw Versus. Law Fastcase Cal Law – Free news headlines, but full decisions require subscription

Westlaw l CA Reported Cases CA-CSR – l CA Unreported Cases CA-CSU – l l l 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

Lexis. Nexis l l l 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 l Versus. Law, Findacase – l l CA Supreme Ct. 1930, Cts. of App. 1944 Public Library of Law Pre. CYdent – January 2000 -

Cal. Office of the Attorney General l Legal Opinions, Monthly Report, Search l “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 l Advanced Legal Research syllabus, Fall 2008, California Cases and Depublication

Federal Court Structure l l Supreme Court: United States Supreme Court Appellate Courts: US Courts of Appeals – – – l 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. ) l Other Federal Courts (Courts of Special Jurisdiction) – – l l 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 l 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. l 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. ) l US Courts of Appeals – l US District Courts – l West’s Federal Reporter, now in its 3 rd Series West’s Federal Supplement, now in its 2 nd 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 l Using Print Sources: – Digests l – West – National Reporter System – State and Federal Cases Editorial Enhancements in Print Decisions l Headnotes & West’s Key Numbers – tie into the digests

2. The Ever Expanding Universe of Online Case Law: The Big 2 l Using Online Sources to Find Cases: – 1970 s Mead Data Central (became Lexis) l l – – 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. ) l Using Online Sources to Find Cases (cont. ): – Editorial enhancements l l l – Lexis and Westlaw are the “Big 2” l – 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 l l Lexis and Westlaw aren’t the only game in town Increasing numbers of alternative commercial and free sources of case law: – – – Loislaw Versus. Law Fastcase

Beyond the Big 2 (cont. ) l 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) l 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. ) l Several Law Schools also publish decisions of selected courts – – l l 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 l l l l Findlaw Lexis. One Alt. Law Justia The Public Library of Law Pre. CYdent Coverage and features vary for each site

Additional Resources for Information about the Federal Courts l Judicial Conference of the United States – l 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