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Washington State Courts Cases & Briefs - Free Sources
- Washington State Courts - OpinionsOn this website are slip opinions from the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals that were filed after February 22, 2013. Slip opinions are the opinions that are filed on the day that the appellate court issues its decision and are often not the court's final opinion.
- Supreme Court IssuesCase summaries of current Washington Supreme Court cases.
- Washington Supreme Court & Court of Appeals BriefsSupreme Court Briefs, filed with the court since June 2006, are available.
Court of Appeals Division I Briefs, filed with the court since June 2009, are available.
Court of Appeals Division II Briefs, filed with the court since June 2006, are available.
Court of Appeals Division III Briefs, filed with the court since August 2010, are available.
Subscription Databases for Washington Case Law
The L&C Law School community has a number of subscription database options for accessing Washington case law.
Both Fastcase and LLMC Digital are provided for free to the L&C Law School community without a password. Just click on the links below for both on and off-campus access.
Individual passwords are required for Westlaw, Lexis, and Bloomberg Law. Passwords are distributed to new students at the beginning of the school year. Questions? Ask a reference librarian.
- Bloomberg Law This link opens in a new window
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Bloomberg Law provides access to federal and state court opinions, dockets and practice material, including Bloomberg Law Reports and books. Log in with your L&C Law School Bloomberg Law account. Don't have one? Contact the Reference Desk at lawlib@lclark.edu - Fastcase This link opens in a new windowFastcase's libraries include primary federal and state law and some secondary sources.
- Lexis This link opens in a new window
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Lexis is a legal research platform that provides access to primary and secondary sources, including state and federal cases and statutes, news, a powerful citator, and treatises. Lewis & Clark law school students, faculty and staff should contact Meredith Kostek for registration instructions. - LLMC Digital This link opens in a new windowDigital library of images of U.S. & foreign legal documents, including U.S. federal agency decisions and executive documents, U.S. court reports, U.S. statutes and journals, Canadian law, and military law.
- Westlaw This link opens in a new window
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Westlaw is a powerful search platform that allows you to search primary and secondary sources, including state and federal case law and statutes, news, legal encyclopedias, and treatises.
Google Scholar for Washington Cases
Google Scholar provides access to Washington cases from 1950, updated within a month.
To access Washington or other state and federal jurisdictions, go to Google Scholar (scholar.google.com) and select "case law," followed by "select courts."
Google Scholar embeds clickable citation links within the case law and the "How Cited" tab allows one to research prior case law and the subsequent citations to the court decision.
- Google ScholarWashington Supreme Court and Court of Appeals cases from 1950 to present.
- Google search operatorsUse search operators to refine your searches in Google Scholar
Trial Court Dockets and Documents
- Washington State CourtsThe Washington State Courts website provides an online search portal for locating case information. The website also provides links to the individual courts, court opinions, and local rules for each jurisdiction.
- Bloomberg Law This link opens in a new window
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Bloomberg Law provides access to federal and state court dockets including the Ninth Circuit, Washington Federal District Courts, and Washington State Superior Courts. Log in with your L&C Law School Bloomberg Law account. Don't have one? Contact the Reference Desk at lawlib@lclark.edu
Washington Trial Court Orders
To view just Washington trial court orders, use the following links:
- Washington Superior Court - Trial Orders
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Superior Court cases from the State of Washington, primarily from King County. - Washington Civil Trial Court Orders
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Selected civil and bankruptcy court orders from Washington state and federal trial courts. Coverage begins in 2001. - Washington Criminal Trial Court Orders
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Selected criminal court orders from Washington state and federal trial courts. Coverage begins in 2003. - Washington Jury Verdicts & Settlements
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Information on Washington jury verdicts, judgments, settlements, and arbitrations from Washington, such as case type; geographic area where a case was tried; names of parties, attorneys, and expert witnesses; factual information about the case; and amount of award.
Washington Supreme Court Orders
- Supreme Court General OrdersThe Washington Supreme Court's orders governing oral argument procedures, special appearance fees, and other procedural and administrative issues.
Washington State Court Briefs - Subscription Databases
- Lexis: Washington Briefs, Pleadings, and MotionsWashington briefs and other court documents from 1989 to present.
Briefs are also linked from the opinion under the heading "Related Court Materials." - Westlaw: Washington BriefsWashington Appellate Briefs from 2002 to Present.
Briefs are also linked from the opinion under the heading "Filings."
Washington State Courts Helpful Information
- Washington State CourtsThe website for the Washington Judicial Branch.
- Washington State Supreme Court CalendarCurrent and past dockets and oral argument calendars for the state supreme court.
- Oral Argument Hearing Video RecordingsVideo recordings of Washington State Supreme Court oral arguments on the Washington television archive. Coverage: 1997-Present.
- Oral Argument Hearing Audio RecordingsVideo recordings of Washington State Supreme Court oral arguments on the Washington television archive. Coverage: 2016-Present.
- Washington State Court RulesThe Washington State Courts link to all Washington court rules, including the Superior Court Rules, Supplemental Local Rules, Rules for General Application, and Rules of Appellate Procedure.
- Washington State Court DirectoryDirectory of the Washington court system including names and contact information.
- Washington Case SearchThis site is a search engine for cases filed in the municipal, district, superior, and appellate courts of the state of Washington. The search results can point you to the official or complete court record.
Research Help
We're here to help. Contact a research librarian for help with an assignment, project, or resource.
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