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Federal Case Law

This guide is intended to familiarize the user with the U.S. court structure, the authoritativenss and publication of federal court opinions, and the various reporters/publications containing the text of these opinions.
URL: https://libguides.law.ucla.edu/federalcasechecklist

Reporters and Online Sources

  1. Case Reporters (all unofficial)
  • Federal Reporter, West Publishing Co. (F. (1880 - 1924), F.2d (1924 - 1993), F.3d (1993 - present))

Contains cases that have been ordered for publication by the U.S. Courts of Appeals. 

Library:

KF 105 F41 (F.);  KF 105 F42 (F.2d and F.3d) (Main Reading Room)
Lag time:         6 - 8 weeks

Online:

Westlaw:   Cases > U.S. Courts of Appeals Cases database (1891 -  present; also, "select coverage of pre-Court of Appeals appellate level case law beginning in 1783")

Lexis:         Cases > United States Court of Appeals

Additionally, Westlaw and Lexis have databases containing Court of Appeals cases for individual circuits.

Westlaw includes both text and PDF versions of the cases contained in this reporter. Lexis includes the text of the cases contained in this reporter (with their own summaries and headnotes instead of the reporter summaries and headnotes). Lexis also includes PDF versions for many of the cases contained in this reporter (with the summaries and headnotes redacted). 

 

  • Federal Appendix, West Publishing Co. (F. App’x)

    Contains "unpublished" cases from 2001 to 2021. Opinions are from all circuits except for the 5th and 11th, as these circuits do not provide their unpublished opinions to any publishers. 

Library:

KF 105 W47  (Main Reading Room)

Lag time: 6-8 weeks

 

  • Federal Cases, West Publishing Co. (F. Cas.) 

Contains reported lower federal court decisions up to 1882.  Provides access through names of parties

Library:

KF 105 F4 (Main Reading Room)

 

  1. ​​​​​​Los Angeles Daily Journal - Daily Appellate Report, L.A. Daily Journal (D.A.R.)

Includes the text of 9th Circuit Court of Appeals cases (along with cases from the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. District Courts in California, and the California state appellate courts). Check daily issues close to decision date, as indexing is fairly slow.

Library:

Current 6 months, request at Circulation Desk;
Older editions in the Los Angeles Daily Journal microfilm set.
K 12 O82  (Microform Room – Level 1)
Lag time:         1 - 4 days