Court Briefs, Dockets & Oral Arguments Research Guide: Finding Briefs

Lexis+ - Lexis provides a good selection of recent court briefs.

• One of the ways to search Lexis is to select the Briefs, Pleadings & Motions content type.  On the main Lexis page, the Content Types are listed below the Search Box.  You can also narrow your search by picking the jurisdiction and practice area.  
• If there is a brief you want from a specific case, the best first step is to search for that case.  Once you find the case, select "About This Document" on the right side of the page to see the available briefs. Usually briefs are only available for recent cases. 

CourtLink is now available though Lexis+.  CourtLink provides access to a large collection of dockets and documents, and allows users to set Alerts and Track cases.

• Lexis+ CourtLink Quick Reference Guide
• Searching in Lexis+ CourtLink

• Lexis+ CourtLink Overview  

Westlaw - From the Westlaw Edge homepage, click on Briefs in the Content Types section. The briefs are organized as: Federal, State, and Topical.

• U.S. Supreme Court: Selected coverage begins with 1930. A limited number of selected older briefs may be included. It includes Merit and Amicus briefs for cases granted certiorari.
• U.S. Courts of Appeals: Coverage varies by circuit. Overall, there is selected coverage from 1972 through current. For the Ninth Circuit selected coverage starts for 1973.
• U.S. Tax Court: Selected coverage beginning with 1999 for briefs and 2004 for petitions.
• California: Selected coverage from 1998.
• New York: Selected coverage begins with 1992 for the Court of Appeals and 1995 for the Appellate Division. Earlier documents may be included in this database.
• Westlaw provides Briefs by Subject Matter including:  Antitrust, Bankruptcy, Commercial Law, Corporations, Criminal Law, Environmental Law, Estate Planning, Family Law, Health Law, Immigration, Intellectual Property, Labor & Employment, Municipal Law, Products Liability, Real Property, Securities, Tax, and several other subjects.

Bloomberg Law - Briefs can be located several ways using Bloomberg Law search features:

• Browse > All Legal Content > U.S. Courts > Court Briefs. This collection features briefs filed in the US Supreme Court from 2015 to current, plus selected older briefs.
• Another way to find briefs in Bloomberg Law if you have a specific case is to search for the case using the Docket Search. Search by docket number or party.
• Or search by case name with the Court Opinion Search feature. Once you have located the case opinion, click on "General Info" to the right of the opinion and then click on the docket link.
• Once at a docket sheet, click on the number to the left of the brief you want to see. The number will be either blue or green. If it is blue it means it is available now.  If the number is green the item is not yet available; click on the number to request the item; if it can be obtained, Bloomberg will retrieve it for you within minutes.

There are a few free online sources for court briefs but none of them are comprehensive. 

• US Supreme Court - The official US Supreme Court website lists sources to access court briefs, including a link to the ABA collection of Merits Briefs (not including amici curiae briefs and joint appendices) available through the American Bar Association's Preview of United Supreme Court Cases. These electronic versions are unofficial. The official briefs are printed versions filed with the Court. 
• RECAP Archive - The Free Law Project is attempting to download all of the opinions and orders that are available on PACER, and make them freely accessible.
• Office of the Solicitor General - provides access to government briefs filed on behalf of the United States. All briefs filed by the Solicitor General with the Supreme Court on or after July 1, 1998, except for responses to petitions in "in forma pauperis" or "IFP" cases. Selected briefs from 1982-1986. 
• SCOTUSblog - reports Supreme Court cases and provides links to some decisions and briefs. (September 29, 2002 - present) For a specific term click here.
• American Bar Association - In their Supreme Court Preview, access to briefs from 2006 to the current term are available.
• LLRX.com - Features Free and Fee Based Appellate Court Briefs Online
• Court Records Free Reference and Directory - provides direct links to U.S. trial courts, some of which provide downloadable documents.

It is difficult to find US Supreme Court briefs before 1832 because the Supreme Court did not order records in cases to be printed until the January Term 1832 (i.e., 6 Peters). We recommend contacting the National Archives and Records Administration or the Law Library of Congress regarding their US Supreme Court records and briefs holdings.

The Library does have an Index of Cases before 1832 in the book Landmark Briefs and Arguments of the Supreme Court of the United States: Constitutional Law - KF 101.9 L36. The cases listed are:

• Chisholm v. Georgia, 2 Dallas 419 (1793)
• Ware v. Hylton, 3 Dallas 199 (1796)
• Marbury v. Madison, 1 Cranch 137 (1803)
• Ex parte Bollman, 4 Cranch 75 (1807)
• Fletcher v. Peck, 6 Cranch 87 (1810)
• Martin v. Hunter's Lessee, 1 Wheaton 304 (1816)
• McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheaton 316 (1819)
• Dartmouth College v. Woodward, 4 Wheaton 518 (1819)
• Cohens v. Virginia, 6 Wheaton 264 (1821)
• Gibbons v. Ogden, 9 Wheaton 1 (1824)
• Osborn v. Bank of the U.S., 9 Wheaton 738 (1824)
• Ogden v. Saunders, 12 Wheaton 213 (1827)
• Brown v. Maryland, 12 Wheaton 419 (1827)
• American Insurance Co. v. Canter, 1 Peters 511 (1828)
• Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 5 Peters 1 (1831)

The library has available, in print or microform, records and briefs for the following jurisdictions:

• United States Supreme Court - Print (1839-1891); Microform (1832-1896 & 1976-2011). Note: While extensive in scope, this microform set does not include briefs for all cases.  Summary disposition and certiorari denied cases are included for 1976-2001.
• United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit - Print available at the SF branch 9th circuit library (1891-current); Microform (1985-1987; 1989-1994). Note: these sets are incomplete.
• United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals - Print available at the SF branch of the 9th circuit library (1831-1979)
• California Supreme Court - Print (1906-1974); Microform (1895-mid 1930’s; 1959-1964; 1969-1995; 1998-2014)
• California Court of Appeal - Print (4649 volumes / 1906-1978); Microform (1895-mid 1930’s; 1969-2014 )

Special indexes for the bound volumes of California records and briefs are located at the UC Hastings Reference Desk.

All of the micrographic holdings are in the 4th floor Micrographics Room, except for the 1996-2014 California briefs, which are in limited access 5th floor storage.  The currency of the microform records and briefs differs by jurisdiction and is dependent on the microform publisher. Users should consult with a reference librarian for assistance in locating the records and briefs for specific opinions.

A Union List of Appellate Court Records and Briefs: Federal and State, by Michael Whiteman & Peter Scott Campbell

Appellate court records and briefs are a useful resource for legal research, offering a wealth of background information on cases that may explain the reasoning behind judicial opinions.  This book highlights the availability of both free and fee-based resources, and also includes information about libraries and archives that maintain briefs in print and microform. This book is divided into four sections: United States Supreme Court, United States Circuit Courts of Appeals, State Final Appellate Courts, and State Intermediate Appellate Courts.