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Research Guides

Law: Court Opinions

This page offers the top recommended databases and indexes for legal research generally and for U.S. (federal) and Washington State law specifically.

About Court Opinions

The written decision from a judge (or panel of judges) is referred to as a case, decision, or opinion.

Generally cases only from appellate courts are available (typically, courts of appeals and supreme courts). While selected trial court decisions are reported in the news; they are not available in traditional print or online sources because they have no binding precedential value on anyone other than the immediate parties to the case.

The more information you have about a case, the more successful your search will be.

Do you know:

  • names of the parties (Roe and Wade)
  • the court that decided the case (U.S. Supreme Court, Washington Court of Appeals)
  • date or date range (2008 or last ten years)
  • the docket number, assigned to cases when they are filed with a court?
  • the reporter citation--official citation consisting of a volume number, the name of the reporter, and a page number (e.g., 100 U.S. 201)

Contact the Gallagher Law Library reference desk for help with identifying and locating court opinions.

U.S. Supreme Court Briefs at Gallagher Law Library

 

Sources for Court Opinions

Guides & Tutorials on Researching Court Opinions and Briefs