LibGuides: Law: Federal: Courts & Case Law

Quick Links

Use Google Scholar to find full-text legal opinions from the U.S. federal and state district, appellate and supreme courts. For more information, see Finding the laws that govern us (Google blog).

U.S. Courts' Court Locator
Includes hyperlinked color Circuit Map. May also search by type of court, zip code, city & state, circuit, or area code.
U.S. Courts (by Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts)
The purpose of this site is to function as a clearinghouse for information from and about the Judicial Branch of the U.S. Government. Access federal court statistics, publications and reports, and forms.
Federal Judicial Center
The FJC is the education and research agency for the federal courts. This site contains the results of the Center's research on federal court operations, procedures, and court history.
PACER
Use PACER for electronic access to U.S. District, Bankruptcy, and Appellate court records. Must register. Charge is $.08 per page.
Justia's Federal District Court Filings
May search by party name, by jurisdiction, lawsuit type, and limit by date case was filed. Also browsable by state, nature of suit and case name.
The Robing Room
This site's mission is to provide a forum for evaluating federal district court judges and magistrate judges. It is owned by North Law Publishers, Inc., a New York Corp., whose principal shareholders are attorneys.
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May view Top 10 and Bottom 10 Judges. Also browsable by last name.
The U.S. Court System: Comparing Federal and State
Discover the differences in structure, judicial selection, and cases heard in both systems.
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The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land in the United States. It creates a federal system of government in which power is shared between the federal government and the state governments. Due to federalism, both the federal government and each of the state governments have their own court systems.
U.S. Law Week
Part of BNA's Law School Program Core package. Law school only.

Judicial Nominations

Links to related guides

Federal Case Materials Checklist

How to Find a Case by Name or Topic Using Print Sources

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Understanding the Federal Courts

This 54-page publication (in PDF) provides an introduction to the federal judicial system, its organization and administration, and its relationship to the legislative and executive branches of the government. Published by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts in 2003.

U.S. Supreme Court

Supreme Court of the United States
This is the Court's official Web site. The docket page provides information regarding the status of cases for both the current term and the prior term. Users can search by using a Supreme Court docket number, a lower court docket number, or a case name. There are also links to court rules, opinions, and orders. The opinions are posted on this site within hours after the bench opinions are issued and remain posted until the opinions are published in a bound volume of the U.S. Reports.
HeinOnline's U.S. Supreme Court Library
Includes the Constitution, Rules of the Supreme Court of the United States and the U.S. Reports (1754-2005). Also available are several books (publication dates between 1804 and 1939) on the Court and two periodicals (Supreme Court Economic Review and Supreme Court Review).
FindLaw's U.S. Supreme Court Opinions
A searchable database of Supreme Court opinions since 1893. Browsable by year and U.S. Reports volume number and searchable by citation, case name and full text.
Legal Information Institute's Supreme Court Collection
Contains current U.S. Supreme Court decisions since 1990 and a selection of over 600 historic decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. Finding aids include case name lists, topical lists, and authorship lists.
United States Reports (OpenJurist)
United States Supreme Court Opinions, 1790-
Oyez
Cases from 1792 to present. Oyez provides a summary of the facts of the case, question(s) presented, and the Court's conclusion. Links to the full text opinion provided by Justia. In addition, the Oyez Project is a multimedia archive devoted to the Supreme Court of the United States. It aims to be a complete and authoritative source for all audio recorded in the Court since the installation of a recording system in October 1955. The site also reports voting details in every case back to 1953.
ABA's Preview of the United States Supreme Court Cases
Provides links to the merit briefs filed for current cases (both scheduled and unscheduled). Also links to the Supreme Court's Argument Transcript.
LexisNexis Academic Universe's U.S. Supreme Court Briefs
Includes merit briefs for cases granted certiorari and special masters, amicus curiae briefs and joint appendices beginning in January 1979, wih selected coverage from 1936. All briefs are available for cases granted certiorari beginning after the 1993-1994 term.
SCOTUS Blog
The Supreme Court of the United States blog is published by the law firm Akin Gump. Read news, commentary and analysis as well as keep up to date on new filings, orders and opinions. There is also page on the Court's schedule for the current week.

History & Statistics

Federal Judicial Center's History of the Federal Judiciary
Most notable on this page is the link to "Judges of the United States Courts," which takes you to the "Biographical Directory of Federal Judges" and the "Federal Judges Biographical Database." The Biographical Directory of Federal Judges provides information about all judges who have served since 1789 on the U.S. District Courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court, and the former U.S. Circuit Courts.
U.S. Courts' Statistics and Reports
Reports include the Annual Report of the Director: Judicial Business of the United States, Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act Statistics, Bankruptcy Statistics, PACER Bankruptcy Statistics, Federal Court Management Statistics, Federal Judicial Caseload Statistics, Judicial Facts and Figures, Statistical Tables for the Federal Judiciary, and Wiretap Reports.
U.S. Courts' History of Federal Judgeships
Includes historical information on authorized judgeships for all courts and links to judgeship appointments by presidents since 1933.
Creating the Federal Judicial System, 3rd ed.
Russell R. Wheeler and Cynthia Harrison. (Washington, DC: Federal Judicial Center, 2005). 36-page PDF.
The Supreme Court Historical Society
The Supreme Court Historical Society, a private non-profit organization, is dedicated to the collection and preservation of the history of the U.S. Supreme Court. On this site, one will find links to the history of the Court, how the Court works, some digitzied Society publications, and link to a 40-page PDF document called "Researching the Supreme Court of the United States: Available resources for commonly-asked questions resources" (under How the Court Works).

Other Federal Court Opinions

Please note that U.S. District Court cases are not as readily available for free on the Internet (except for those opinions posted on the courts' official Web sites, which are typically only the most recent decisions, and through Justia).

Public Library of Law
Includes cases from the Federal Courts of Appeals from 1950 to present (except for the 11th Circuit (from 1981) and the Federal Circuit (from 1982). In advanced search, may search only one jurisdiction at a time.
FindLaw's Cases
Scroll down the page to access links to U.S. Courts of Appeals, Opinions & Resources. Coverage varies by jurisdiction but earliest opinions are dated between 1994 and 1997. Page for District Court opinions links to the official court Web sites.
Justia Federal District Court Opinions & Orders
From 2004 to current. May search full-text or limit by jurisdiction, type of lawsuit, and party name.
Loislaw
This is a lower-cost alternative to Westlaw and Lexis. There are "flexible subscription plans for individual users." For example, one-day access to "Primary Law -- California" costs $39.99. Under Academic Plan, access to District Court opinions from 1921.
Federal Reporter, First Series (OpenJurist)
United States Court of Appeals Opinions, 1880-1925
Federal Reporter, Second Series (OpenJurist)
United States Court of Appeals Opinions, 1925-1993
Federal Reporter, Third Series (OpenJurist)
United States Court of Appeals Opinions, 1993 to present.