Cases decided and ordered
to be published by the California courts of review can be found in one
of four publications. California Reports and California Appellate
Reports contain cases decided by the Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal
respectively. West's California Reporter contains published cases
of both courts. West's Pacific Reporter, a unit of the National
Reporter System, also contains cases ordered published by the California
Supreme Court. All cases ordered published are initially available in slip
opinion form and can be obtained via the internet from the California Judicial
Council Website for a period of 60 days after the opinions are filed. Cases
are accumulated and published in pamphlets called Advance
Sheets. Advance sheets are then accumulated and published in
permanent bound volumes.
Not all cases which
are decided by the appellate courts are published. Only those cases which
meet the criteria for publication set forth at Rule
976 are published. Pursuant to
Rule 977 only published opinions can be cited in pleadings or legal
briefs filed with the courts.
Legal Research 101
