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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 (both unofficial)
  • Federal Supplement, West Publishing Co. (F. Supp. (1932 - 1998), F. Supp. 2d (1998 - 2014), F. Supp. 3d (2014 - present))

Contains selected cases from the federal district courts. 

Library:

KF 120 F4  (Main Reading Room)
Lag time:         6 - 8 weeks

Online:

Westlaw:   Federal District Court Cases database (1779 - present)

Lexis:       Cases > Federal District Courts 

Additionally, Westlaw and Lexis have databases containing District Court cases for individual states.

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 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 selected cases from the U.S. District Courts in California (along with cases from the U.S. Supreme Court, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, 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