Briefs, Motions & Pleadings
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This guide deals with finding actual briefs, pleadings and motions filed with courts. For forms, see Forms and Practice Materials guide
Federal Courts
U.S. Supreme Court Briefs
Where to Find Briefs of the Supreme Court of the U.S. -- List published by U.S. Supreme Court, includes document retrieval services and the Court’s self-service program.
- Lexis - BRIEFS - August 12, 1936 through current: From 1979 on, includes
merit briefs for
cases granted cert., amicus curiae briefs, joint appendices and special masters. Full coverage for cases granted cert. starts 1993. Full coverage for all cases petitioning for cert. starts 2001. - Westlaw
- SCT-BRIEF-ALL - selected briefs and Petitions for Writ, 1870-
- SCT-BRIEF - Merits briefs: begins with 1990 - 91 Term; Amicus briefs: begins with 1995 - 96 Term
- LexisNexis Academic: - same coverage as Lexis, above. Click on Sources tab, type in briefs, check US Supreme Court briefs, click OK-Continue.
- Microform -
- United States Supreme Court records and briefs [microform] Drawer ZZ20 - 1832- 1896 - decided cases only???
- United States Supreme Court records and briefs [microform]:
- Drawers S-AA6 For Cases w/Full Opinion 168 U.S. 1 (1897)-2005/06
- Drawers BB2-DD7 Cert. Denied 1975/76 term-2005/06
- Drawer FF1-FF2 Summary Disp. 1982/83 term-2005/06
- Free Websites
- Findlaw Supreme Court Briefs (2007-1999)-
- ABA’s Briefs for the 2007-2008 Term
- Yale University – Curiae Project - Briefs for selected, highly cited cases.
- A Brief Summary: Free Briefs on the Web - article from 2003, but still some useful links
- Others
in Print
- BNA's law reprints. Labor law series : the Supreme Court of the United States petitions and briefs KF3310.A15 L38
- Landmark Briefs and Arguments of the Supreme Court of the United States, Constitutional law. KF4549 .U589, 1793-1849 - oral argument summaries only ; 1850 - selected briefs for selected cases plus oral argument summaries.
Oral Arguments:
- Oyez Oyez Oyez Collection of Audio Files of Selected Oral Arguments before the Court (requires the RealAudio Player)
- US Supreme Court's website - transcripts, 2000-
- Westlaw -transcripts- SCT-ORALARG, 1990-
- Lexis - transcripts - USTRAN file, 1979-
- Oral arguments of the Supreme Court of the United States [microform] : the Warren Court, 1953-1968 term - Drawer GG1
- The Complete oral arguments of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1969 term- [microform] - Drawer GG1
- Cornell research guide
Federal Appellate & District Courts
- Lexis -All Federal Briefs and Motions, Combined - FDMTBR - 2000-; All Federal Pleadings Combined FDPLDG, 2000-;
- Westlaw -
In general, Directory Location: All Databases > U.S. Federal Materials > Briefs >
- CTA-BRIEF database for all circuits, for individual circuits, ex. CTA6-BRIEF. FED-BRIEF-ALL combines US Supreme and appellate courts. Also, separate database for criminal briefs, ex. CTA6-CRBRIEF
- Westlaw - All Databases > U.S. Federal Materials > Trial Filings (pleadings, motions, and other filings combined) to access pleading and motion files for federal and state courts. Generally 2000-
- PACER - Years of Coverage for access to full text of briefs varies by year, earliest approx. 1999. Can search by type of case.
- LLRX: Free and Fee Based Appellate Court Briefs Online - Links to those circuit courts which have briefs available on their website.
Ohio Courts
Ohio Supreme Court
- Ohio Supreme Court docket, 2006 and later
- Lexis - Ohio State Briefs and Motions - 2000-, selected cases
- Westlaw - Ohio Supreme Court Briefs - OH-SCT-BRIEF - 1990-, selected coverage
- Ohio Supreme Court Records & Briefs - microfilm Drawer ZZ62 v.54-64 v.65 reels1-2 v.66 - 54 Ohio St. 2d (1978)-
- Ohio Supreme Court Records & Briefs - microfilm Drawers WW1-WW3 175 OS 381 (1964) - 48 OS2d 381 (1976)
Appellate & Trial Courts
- Lexis -
- Westlaw
- OH-APP-BRIEF(court of appeals) 2000-, a few earlier documents, OH-BRIEF-ALL (supreme court and appellate)
- Ohio Civil Trial Court Filings OH-FILING - 1999-, a few earlier documents
- Ohio Criminal Trial Court Filings (OH-CRFILING) - 2001-, a few earlier documents
- Some Ohio Court Dockets with Full text documents:
- Summit County Docket - (includes both common pleas and appellate cases). The Summit County docket even has a handy search by type of document. BEST ONE for finding sample documents.
- Montgomery County Docket -(includes both common pleas and appellate cases) Search by type of case, attorney.
- Butler County Docket - (includes both common pleas and appellate cases) Search by type of case.
- Medina County Docket - (includes both common pleas and appellate cases) Search by type of case.
- As of this time Cuyahoga, Lucas, Ashtabula, Lake, Lorain, Geauga and Hamilton counties do not have full text documents available via their online dockets.
- For links to more dockets, see Resources for Online Court Dockets
Other State Courts
- Lexis -
- Briefs & Motions for 28 states, See State Briefs Sublibrary, 2000-, selected coverage- Legal > Area of Law - By Topic> Litigation Practice & Procedure> Find Briefs, Motions, Pleadings & Jury Verdicts> Transcripts Motions & Pleadings > By State
- All State Pleadings Combined- STPLDG, 2000-, selected coverage. Each state may have its own pleadings file, such as New York State Pleadings, NYPLDG, California State Pleadings, CAPLDG etc.
- Briefs & Motions for 28 states, See State Briefs Sublibrary, 2000-, selected coverage- Legal > Area of Law - By Topic> Litigation Practice & Procedure> Find Briefs, Motions, Pleadings & Jury Verdicts> Transcripts Motions & Pleadings > By State
- Westlaw -
- State Briefs All (STATE-BRIEF-ALL) - Covers 51 states and DC. For individual state brief databases: Directory Location: All Databases>Litigation>Briefs> Briefs by State Jurisdiction
- Trial Pleadings (PLEADINGS) - all states and federal pleadings and motions. Selective coverage from 2000 on. For individual state pleading & motion databases, see Directory Location: All Databases > Litigation > Pleadings > State Trial Filings > State Court Filings
- LLRX: Free and Fee Based Appellate Court Briefs Online
Attorney Work Product databases
Attorney upload briefs, motions, pleadings and transactional documents they have written to these sites:
- JDSupra - Documents are tied to attorney profiles
- Scribd
- DocStoc
- LawLink
- Legal On-Ramp
If all else fails, try a general Internet (Google, Clusty, etc), legal search engine or blog search.
Books on Brief/Motion Writing
For books on writing motions and pleadings, see Forms and Practice Material Research Guide
Books on Brief writing:
- Ruggero J. Aldisert, Winning on Appeal: Better Briefs and Oral Argument KF9050 .A935 2003
- Linda H. Edwards, Legal Writing and Analysis KF250 .E378 2007
- Amanda Martinsek, Legal Writing : How to Write Legal Briefs, Memos, and Other Legal Documents in a Clear and Concise Style, KF250 .M372 2009
- Michael R. Fontham et al., Persuasive Written and Oral Advocacy in Trial and Appellate Courts KF251 .F658 2007
- Antonin Scalia & Bryan A. Garner, Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges KF8870 .S28 2008
For more, consult the many legal writing books available in room AO66 in the library under call number range KF240- KF251.
SA, 5/12/2009 links checked 8/09