Published Opinion Vs. Unpublished Opinion - Case Law Research

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  3. First-Year Legal Research Review
  4. Case Law Research
  5. Published Opinion vs. Unpublished Opinion
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  • Home
  • Part 1 - Background Information
    • Review: Court Structure, Primary/Secondary Authorities, & Stare Decisis
    • Reporters
    • Anatomy of a Case
    • Published Opinion vs. Unpublished Opinion
      • Published vs. Unpublished
      • How Do I Know If a Case is Published or Not?
      • Slip Opinion
      • Why Do We Care Whether a Case is Published or Not?
  • Part 2 - How to Locate Cases
    • Secondary Sources
    • Annotated Statutes
    • Keyword Search
    • Headnotes & Key Numbers
    • One Good Case
    • Citators

Published vs. Unpublished

In previous pages, we learned how cases are organized into various reporters. We also looked at the components of a case published in a reporter. However, not every single case is published in a reporter. Court rules decide which cases can be published and used as legal precedent.

  • All Supreme Court cases (both federal and state) are published
  • Some intermediate appellate court cases (both federal and state) are published. Some are not.
  • Some federal district court cases are published
  • Most states, including Nevada, do not publish state trial court cases

How Do I Know If a Case is Published or Not?

An unpublished case (both federal and state) has a notice at the top that says it is not for publication

  • You will see such a notice whether you locate the case from the court's website or Westlaw/Lexis Advance
  • Since an unpublished case does not have a reporter citation (e.g. 280 F.3d 1027), Westlaw and Lexis provide an unique identifier that serves as a substitute for a reporter citation. You can type 2016 WL 3316618 in the search box to retrieve the following unpublished 7th Circuit case on Westlaw.

a case from 7th circuit not for publication.

Slip Opinion

I want to cite a 9th Circuit case decided a few days ago. Since it does NOT have the not-for-publication notice, I know it will be published in a reporter in near future. Can I cite this case in my brief?

  • A recent published case that has yet to be added to a reporter is known as a slip opinion. You may cite a slip opinion in your brief in accordance with Bluebook Rule B10.1.4 and Rule 10.8.1(b).

Why Do We Care Whether a Case is Published or Not?

  • A published case is a mandatory authority for the court and the lower courts in its jurisdiction
  • An unpublished case is NOT a binding authority. In some cases, it can be used as a persuasive authority. Check your jurisdiction's court rules to see if you may cite an unpublished case in your brief
    • Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 32.1
    • Nevada Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 36(c)(3)
  • Do not cite an unpublished case UNLESS
    • There is no published case on point AND
    • Your jurisdiction's court rules allow you to cite it as a persuasive authority
  • << Previous: Anatomy of a Case
  • Next: Part 2 - How to Locate Cases >>
  • Last Updated: Feb 15, 2022 11:54 AM
  • URL: https://law-unlv.libguides.com/caselaw
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