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legal.online, Column 41, July 1998
Copyright 1998 Robert J. Ambrogi
Finding Federal Court
Opinions Online
By Robert J. Ambrogi
Three years ago, this column surveyed the nascent phenomenon
of courts making their opinions available over the Internet. That
survey found all of nine courts with opinions online: the Supreme
Court, three U.S. circuits, and five state appellate courts.
Today, there is hardly an appellate court in the nation,
federal or state, whose opinions are not online, and a rapidly
growing number of trial and specialty courts are following suit.
This month's column reviews federal courts on the 'Net. It
includes courts whose opinions are online as well as those that
have Web sites without opinions. Notable is the growing number of
U.S. district and bankruptcy courts now on the list.
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has been disseminating its opinions
electronically since 1990. On the Web, the best place to find the
court's current opinions is Cornell Law School's Legal
Information Institute, http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct.
It includes all decisions since 1990, posted within hours of
release. Decisions can be searched by key words or browsed by
party name, date or docket number.
The most comprehensive, free Supreme Court database is
provided by FindLaw, which has all decisions since 1893, http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html.
Cases can be browsed by year and U.S. Reports volume number or
searched by citation, case title and full text.
For older Supreme Court cases, the FedWorld/FLITE database, http://www.fedworld.gov/supcourt/index.htm,
archives more than 7,000 opinions issued between 1937 and 1975.
Opinions since 1995 and those from the FLITE database are also
available through Villanova University School of Law at: http://www.law.vill.edu/Fed-Ct/sct.html.
A commercial site, USSCPlus, offers the full text of decisions
since 1953, as well as selected leading cases since 1793, http://www.usscplus.com.
For keeping abreast of current cases, Cornell provides a free
service that delivers syllabi of court decisions by e-mail the
day they are issued. These are official syllabi prepared by the
reporter of decisions. The full text of any decision can also be
requested by e-mail. To subscribe to this service, send e-mail
to: listserv@listserv.law.cornell.edu.
Your message should read: "subscribe liibulletin your
name" (substituting your name).
Electronic Libraries
If you do not mind paying for precedent, a number of
subscription services on the Web offer comprehensive collections
of federal and state case law. Notably, both Westlaw and
Lexis-Nexis now provide Web gateways to their complete databases.
Unlike the dial-in versions, no special software is required --
any standard Web browser will do. But like their older
counterparts, users must have a subscription and password, at
prices that track those of the dial-in services.
You can find Westlaw at: http://www.westlaw.com.
Lexis-Nexis is at: http://www.lexis.com.
Another subscription service is "V.", http://www.versuslaw.com. It
includes opinions from the Supreme Court, all federal circuits,
and the appellate courts of all states and the District of
Columbia. Its archive dates back to 1930 for many states, to 1930
for most federal circuits, and to 1900 for the Supreme Court.
Access costs $595 a year. You can try it free for two weeks.
LOIS, http://www.pita.com,
has Supreme Court opinions from 1899, all federal circuit court
opinions since 1971, and appellate opinions from 24 states. The
price ranges from $300 to $2,595 a year, depending on the
libraries you choose. New customers can try the service for $8 a
day.
If you are looking for a specific case and know the citation,
party names or docket number, you can retrieve it using WestDoc, http://westdoc.com. This service,
from West Group, allows you to retrieve any case from the WestLaw
library, at $8 per case.
U.S. Circuit Courts
The Internet offers a variety of options for finding federal
circuit court opinions. For "one-stop shopping," try
Law Journal EXTRA!, http://www.ljx.com/courthouse/index.html,
or Findlaw, http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/courts/index.html,
both of which offer libraries of opinions from all federal
circuits.
Each circuit also has at least one dedicated site. Most are
maintained by law schools in cooperation with the courts, some by
the courts themselves.
- 1st, from Emory School of Law, http://www.law.emory.edu/1circuit.
- 2nd, opinions since 1995, from Touro Law
Center, http://www.tourolaw.edu/2ndCircuit.
- 2nd, since September 1995, from Pace
University School of Law, http://www.law.pace.edu/lawlib/legal/us-legal/judiciary/second-circuit.html.
- 3rd, since 1994, through Villanova University
School of Law, http://www.law.vill.edu/Fed-Ct/ca03.html.
- 4th, since 1995, from Emory, http://www.law.emory.edu/4circuit.
- 5th, official site, http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov.
- 6th, since 1995, from Emory, http://www.law.emory.edu/6circuit.
- 7th, since 1993, from Chicago-Kent College of
Law, http://www.kentlaw.edu/7circuit.
- 8th, beginning Oct. 30, 1995, http://ls.wustl.edu/8th.cir/cindex.html.
- 9th, from June 1995, from Villanova, http://www.law.vill.edu/Fed-Ct/ca09.html.
- 9th, Office of Circuit Executive (no
opinions), http://www.ce9.uscourts.gov.
- 10th, official site (no opinions), http://www.ck10.uscourts.gov.
- 10th, August 1995 to October 1997, http://www.law.emory.edu/10circuit.
- 10th, Oct. 1, 1997 to present, http://lawlib.wuacc.edu/ca10
- 11th, since November 1994, through Emory, http://www.law.emory.edu/11circuit/index.html.
- 11th (last three months only), http://www.mindspring.com/~wmundy/opinions.html.
- Federal, since August 1995, from Emory, http://www.law.emory.edu/fedcircuit.
- Federal, since August 1995, from Georgtown University, http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/Fed-Ct/cafed.html
- Federal, decisions since 1994 (download only), http://www.fedcir.gov.
- D.C., official site, opinions since September 1997, http://www.cadc.uscourts.gov
- D.C., decisions since March 1995, http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/Fed-Ct/cadc.html.
U.S. District Courts
While the federal circuits appeared in Cyberspace fairly
early, U.S. district courts were long nowhere to be seen. That is
changing, with a number of them now online. Some include
opinions, others do not, but even those that do not generally
provide useful information such as local rules and forms.
Courts whose sites include opinions are:
- California, C.D. (recent opinions), http://www.cacd.uscourts.gov.
- Idaho, http://www.id.uscourts.gov.
- Mississippi, N.D., opinions since August 1994, from the
University of Mississippi, http://sunset.backbone.olemiss.edu/~llibcoll/ndms.
- Pennsylvania, E.D., http://www.paed.uscourts.gov.
- South Carolina, opinions since 1994, from the University
of South Carolina, http://www.law.sc.edu/dsc/dsc.htm
Courts that publish only selected opinions on their sites are:
- California, E.D., http://www.caed.uscourts.gov.
- District of Columbia. Selected 1996 opinions are
available from this unofficial site, which is no longer
updated, http://www.radix.net/~stmon/USDC/ddc.html.
- Kentucky, W.D., http://www.kywd.uscourts.gov.
- South Dakota (published by the state bar), http://www.sdbar.org/opinions/dsdindex.htm.
- Texas, E.D., opinions resulting from Norplant litigation,
http://www.txed.uscourts.gov.
Finally, district courts on the Web, but without opinions,
are:
- Alabama, N.D., http://www.mindspring.com/~enelson.
- Alaska, http://www.touchngo.com/lglcntr/usdc/usdcak.HTM.
- Arkansas, E.D., http://www.are.uscourts.gov.
- California, N.D., http://www.cand.uscourts.gov.
- Delaware, http://www.lawlib.widener.edu/pages/deopind.htm.
(This is an index of opinions from which full text can be
ordered by e-mail.)
- Florida, S.D., http://www.netside.net/usdcfls.
- Georgia, N.D., http://www.gand.uscourts.gov.
- Hawaii, http://www.hid.uscourts.gov.
- Illinois, N.D., http://www.ilnd.uscourts.gov.
- Iowa, S.D., http://www.iasd.uscourts.gov.
- Louisiana, M.D., http://www.lamd.uscourts.gov.
- Maine, http://www.med.uscourts.gov.
- Michigan, W.D., http://www.miw.uscourts.gov/usdc/usdc.html.
- Mississippi, S.D., http://www.mssd.uscourts.gov.
- Nebraska, http://www.nfinity.com/~usdcne.
- New Mexico, http://www.nmcourt.fed.us/dcdocs.
- New York, E.D., http://www.nyed.uscourts.gov.
- New York, N.D., http://www.nynd.uscourts.gov.
- New York, S.D., http://www.nysd.uscourts.gov.
- North Carolina, M.D., http://www.ncmd.uscourts.gov.
- Ohio, N.D., http://www.ohnd.uscourts.gov.
- Oregon, http://oregon.court.fed.us.
- Puerto Rico, http://www.prd.uscourts.gov.
- South Dakota, http://www.sdd.uscourts.gov.
- Texas, N.D., http://www.txnd.uscourts.gov.
- Texas, S.D., http://www.txsd.uscourts.gov.
- Texas, W.D., http://www.txwd.uscourts.gov.
- Utah, http://www.utd.uscourts.gov.
- Washington, E.D., http://www.iea.com/~usdcwae.
- Washington, W.D., http://www.wawd.uscourts.gov.
- Wyoming, http://www.ck10.uscourts.gov/wyoming/district.
- Wisconsin, W.D., http://www.wiw.uscourts.gov/pub_district/index.htm.
U.S. Bankruptcy Courts
Bankruptcy courts, too, are setting up Web sites. The
Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the 8th Circuit has a site at: http://ls.wustl.edu/8th.cir.
At the trial level, the majority of the bankruptcy courts online
do not provide opinions, but a growing number do.
Bankruptcy courts that publish their opinions online are:
- Massachusetts, decisions since 1995, courtesy of a Boston
law firm, http://prospex.com/craig-macauley/bankruptcy.html.
- California, C.D. (selected opinions), http://www.cacb.uscourts.gov.
- California, N.D., http://www.canb.uscourts.gov.
- Florida, M.D. (requires password), http://www.flmb.uscourts.gov.
- Idaho, http://www.id.uscourts.gov.
- Iowa, N.D., http://www.ianb.uscourts.gov/index.html.
- Minnesota, http://www.mnb.uscourts.gov.
- New Mexico (requires account and password), http://www.nmcourt.fed.us/bkdocs.
- New York, N.D., http://www.nynb.uscourts.gov.
- North Carolina, W.D., http://www.ncbankruptcy.org.
- Pennsylvania, M.D. (unofficial site), http://www.uslaw.com/usmiddle.
- Utah, recent decisions, http://www.utb.uscourts.gov.
- Vermont, http://usbcvt.court.fed.us.
Bankruptcy courts with Web sites but without opinions are:
- Alaska, http://www.touchngo.com/lglcntr/usdc/bnkrptcy/bnkrptcy.htm.
- Arizona, http://www.azb.uscourts.gov.
- California, E.D., http://www.caeb.uscourts.gov.
- Colorado, http://www.ck10.uscourts.gov/cobk.
- Georgia, M.D., http://www.gamb.uscourts.gov.
- Georgia, N.D., https://ecf.ganb.uscourts.gov/index.html.
- Illinois, N.D., http://www.ilnb.uscourts.gov.
- Illinois, S.D., http://home.stlnet.com/~usbcsdil.
- Indiana, N.D., http://www.innb.uscourts.gov.
- Kansas, http://www.ksb.uscourts.gov.
- Louisiana, W.D., http://www.lawb.uscourts.gov.
- Maine, http://www.meb.uscourts.gov.
- Massachusetts, http://www.mab.uscourts.gov.
- Michigan, W.D., http://www.miw.uscourts.gov/usbc/usbc.html.
- Missouri, E.D., http://www.moeb.uscourts.gov.
- Nevada, http://www.nvb.uscourts.gov.
- New Jersey, http://njuscourts.org.
- New York, S.D., http://www.nysb.uscourts.gov.
- North Carolina, E.D., http://www.nceb.uscourts.gov.
- North Carolina, M.D., http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/ncmb.
- Ohio, N.D., http://www.ohnb.uscourts.gov.
- Pennsylvania, E.D., http://www.paeb.uscourts.gov.
- South Dakota, http://www.sdb.uscourts.gov.
- Texas, N.D., http://www.txnb.uscourts.gov.
- Texas, S.D., http://www.txsd.uscourts.gov.
- Virginia, E.D., http://www.vaeb.uscourts.gov.
- Virginia, W.D., http://www.vawb.uscourts.gov/courtweb/enter8.htm.
- Washington, W.D., http://www.wawb.uscourts.gov.
- Wisconsin, W.D., http://www.wiw.uscourts.gov/pub_bankruptcy/index.htm.
- Wyoming, http://www.wyb.uscourts.gov.
The American Bankruptcy Institute maintains an extensive
library of bankruptcy court decisions at its Web site, http://www.abiworld.org/chambers.
Opinions are searchable and also indexed by court, date and
judge. The scope of the archive is limited to cases judges submit
to ABI.
Note that case information and dockets for district and
bankruptcy courts are available via modem (but not the Internet)
through the federal judiciary's PACER system (Public Access to
Court Electronic Records). Most PACER systems charge an access
fee of 60 cents a minute. A complete list of PACER telephone
numbers can be found at: http://www.uscourts.gov.
Other Courts
A handful of specialized courts also have Web sites. They are:
Robert J. Ambrogi (rambrogi@legaline.com),
a lawyer in Rockport, Mass., is editor of the Internet newsletter
legal.online, http://www.legalonline.com.
Past installments of this column are archived at: http://www.legaline.com.