Federal Case Law

Source: BNA’s Directory of State and Federal Courts, Judges and Clerks (2009)

Levels of Court in the Federal System

The chart above shows the three levels of court in the U.S. federal court system. At the lowest level are the federal trial level courts. The general trial level courts where most trials take place are the U.S. District Courts. There are 94 U.S. District Courts; each state has one or more District Courts, depending on its size (California has four). 

If a party loses at the federal trial level, they can appeal to one of the U.S. Courts of Appeals, which are the intermediate level federal courts. Most of the Courts of Appeals are referred to as the circuit courts. There are twelve regional circuit courts (1st Circuit, 2nd Circuit, etc.), each of which hears cases on appeal from the U.S. District Courts located in its geographic region (a map showing the states/territories included in each circuit court region can be found on the U.S. Courts website). The other federal circuit court is the Federal Circuit, which hears appeals in certain specialized types of cases (including the ones listed in the chart above as well as patent and trademark cases). 

Generally, cases before the U.S. Courts of Appeals are heard by 3-judge panels. The losing party can ask for a rehearing en banc, in which a larger number of judges from the same Court of Appeals will hear the case. En banc sessions are fairly rare but often occur when there is a conflict between different panel decisions in the same circuit or when the case has extraordinary significance.

The U.S. Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States. The losing party at the U.S. Court of Appeals level can petition the Supreme Court to hear the case by issuing a writ of certiorari. The Supreme Court only hears a very small number of cases each year (less than 100 in recent years).

Court Opinions

When federal and state courts decide cases or rule on specific motions, they often issue written opinions that not only set forth their decisions and rulings but also the rationales (including the legal bases) for such decisions/rulings. These legal bases include not just statutes and regulations but also judge-made rules and principles (i.e., rule/principles created by the judges when deciding the cases before them). In the U.S. legal system, courts are often required to follow these rules/principles in subsequent cases that are factually the same or similar (see box below). The prior decisions/rules that subsequent courts follow are often referred to as precedents and the body of judge-made law consisting of these rules from cases is often referred to as case law.  

Note: In the legal research context, court opinions are commonly just referred to as "cases," and therefore the terms "cases" and "opinions" are often used interchangeably in this guide.   

Court Websites

Each court has its own website that contains additional information about the court and links to their calendars, court rules, and often the court opinions and docket sheets (i.e., listing of court actions and filed documents) for their recent cases. Links to each federal court website can be found on the U.S. Courts website.