The publication status of a California lower appellate court opinion is readily available online on both Westlaw and LexisNexis. These databases indicate if an opinion was never certified for publication, if it was ordered not to be published by the California Supreme Court, or if it was superseded by a grant of a rehearing or a review by the Supreme Court. This information can be found both at the top of the opinion itself as well as via the Shepard's (LexisNexis) and KeyCite (Westlaw) citator services, which are kept very up-to-date.
On LexisNexis, the publication status of a case is reflected at the top of the opinion and under the "Subsequent appellate history" heading in Shepard's. A red stop sign also appears on all uncertified, superseded and depublished opinions at the top of the screen. For opinions that have not been certified for publication by the rendering court, LexisNexis notes that the opinions are "Not to be Published in the Official Reports" or that it is "Not Citable: Ordered Not Published." For opinions that have been superseded by a grant of a rehearing or a review by the California Supreme Court, LexisNexis notes that the opinions are “Not Citable; Superseded by Grant of Rehearing/Review.” For depublished opinions, LexisNexis notes that the opinions are “Not Citable; Ordered Not Published.”
On Westlaw, the notations regarding status and subsequent history are also found at the top of opinions as well as under the KeyCite "Negative Treatment" and "History" tabs. The Westlaw KeyCite red flag also appears on all uncertified, superseded and depublished opinions at the top of the screen. For opinions that have not been certified for publication by the rendering court, Westlaw notes that the opinions are "Not Officially Published," "unpublished/noncitable" and/or "not certified for publication." For opinions that have been superseded by a grant of a rehearing, Westlaw notes "Opinion Vacated" and "rehearing granted, opinion not citeable." For opinions that have been superseded by a grant of review by the California Supreme Court, Westlaw notes "Review Granted and Opinion Superseded.” For depublished opinions, Westlaw notes "Ordered Not Published" and “Ordered Not to be Officially Published.”
