Research Guides: Pennsylvania Legal Research: Case Law and Dockets

Overview of the Pennsylvania Courts

The Pennsylvania Constitution organized the judiciary into a Unified Judicial System, consisting of the Supreme Court, Superior and Commonwealth Courts, Courts of Common Pleas, and Minor Courts. The Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania has an interactive diagram of the courts with more information.

With roots dating back to 1684, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth and arguably the oldest appellate court in the nation. It hears appeals from the Superior and Commonwealth Courts. Its decisions are binding on all state courts in Pennsylvania, and on all matters of Pennsylvania state law. It also possesses administrative power over the Unified Judicial System, with several committees and boards responsible for writing and enforcing rules for judges, attorneys, and litigants.

The Commonwealth Court is an intermediate appellate court that is primarily responsible for matters involving state and local governments and regulatory agencies, including election cases, real estate tax appeals, eminent domain cases, zoning cases, and appeals from decisions made by state agencies. It also acts as a trial court when the Commonwealth itself is the plaintiff or defendant in a lawsuit.

The Superior Court is an intermediate appellate court with jurisdiction over civil and criminal appeals that do not fall within the Commonwealth Court's jurisdiction.

The Courts of Common Pleas are the trial courts of Pennsylvania; they also hear appeals from the Minor Courts. They are organized into 60 judicial districts that usually are coterminous with county borders, although some cover two counties.

The Minor Courts are the first level of Pennsylvania's judiciary and are presided over by magisterial district judges and municipal court judges. They are responsible for matters such as preliminary arraignments, preliminary hearings, bail, and traffic violations.

In the federal judicial system, Pennsylvania is located within the Third Circuit.

Case Law

Westlaw Pennsylvania State & Federal Cases (Temple Law access)
Pennsylvania State & Federal Cases contain reported and unreported case law from the Pennsylvania state courts, U.S. Federal District and Bankruptcy courts from Pennsylvania, U.S Circuit Courts of Appeal authoritative in the Third Circuit, the U.S. Supreme Court and the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. Date coverage varies by court.
Lexis Pennsylvania State & Federal Cases (Temple Law access)
Pennsylvania case law decided by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court from 1754, the Pennsylvania Superior Courts from 1895, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Courts from 1970, the Commonwealth Court of Judicial Discipline from 1994, and decisions from the Courts of Common Pleas reported in Pennsylvania District & County Reports from 1789 and the Philadelphia County Reporter from 1975. Selected unpublished decisions from 1994 for Supreme, from 1982 for Superior, and from 2008 for Commonwealth Courts.
The Federal case law includes the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, as well as the U.S. District Court and Bankruptcy Courts for the State of Pennsylvania.
Westlaw Campus Research Pennsylvania State & Federal Cases (Temple University access)
Pennsylvania State & Federal Cases contain reported and unreported case law from the Pennsylvania state courts, U.S. Federal District and Bankruptcy courts from Pennsylvania, U.S Circuit Courts of Appeal authoritative in the Third Circuit, the U.S. Supreme Court and the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. Date coverage varies by court.
Nexis Uni Cases (Temple University access)
Using the Legal tab, Nexis offers various means of case law searching, including by citation, by party name, or by court.
HeinOnline Early American Case Law (Temple Law access)
Hein's Early American Case Law databases contain some Pennsylvania cases and case references with information not available in Lexis or Westlaw.
How to Find Free Case Law Online
The Library of Congress has compiled a list of free case law databases in this research guide.

The Pennsylvania appellate courts have posted opinions from 1998 to the present on the Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System website. Be aware that these opinions as posted are not the official versions and do not have reporter citations.

Pennsylvania Fiduciary Reporter
Call Number: KFP137.A519 P46
Publication Date: 1951-
The Pennsylvania Fiduciary Reporter contains select decisions from the Orphans' Courts of Pennsylvania involving trusts and decedents' estates. Other materials, such as Appellate decisions, sometimes are included. The Fiduciary Reporter is available only in print.

Reporters for Pennsylvania Court Cases
Court	Reporter Name	Abbreviation
Pennsylvania Supreme Court	Pennsylvania State Reports	Pa.
	Atlantic Reporter	A. A.2d A.3d
Pennsylvania Superior Court	Atlantic Reporter	See above
	Pennsylvania Superior Court Reports (until 1997)	Pa. Super.
Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court	Atlantic Reporter	See above
	Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Reports (until 1995)	Pa. Commw.
Courts of Common Pleas	District and Country Reports	Pa. D. & C. Pa. D. & C.2d Pa. D. & C.3d Pa. D. & C.4th Pa. D. & C.5th

Judicial Websites - State

Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania Web Portal
The Pennsylvania Judiciary Web Portal provides the public with access to various aspects of court information, including docket sheets for appellate courts, common pleas courts criminal cases, and magisterial district courts; calendars for common pleas courts and magisterial district courts; and PAePay. Direct links to the various courts' webpages are below.
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Superior Court of Pennsylvania
Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
Courts of Common Pleas
Minor Courts

Briefs, Pleadings, and Motions

Westlaw Pennsylvania Briefs (Temple Law access)
Pennsylvania Briefs has selected briefs from PA Supreme Court, Superior Court, and Commonwealth Court, and selected petitions from the PA Commonwealth Court, with coverage beginning in 1994.
Lexis Pennsylvania Briefs, Pleadings and Motions (Temple Law access)
Nexis Uni Briefs, Pleadings and Motions (Temple University access)
In the Advanced Search, choose the Legal tab, then select Briefs, Pleadings and Motions from the menu. You then can run a terms and connectors search.

Dockets

Below is basic information on finding Pennsylvania dockets. Temple Law Library also has created a research guide specifically focused on Pennsylvania Dockets, which is available here.

Pennsylvania Appellate Courts (Supreme Court, Superior Court, and Commonwealth Court)
Courts of Common Pleas - criminal cases
Courts of Common Pleas - civil cases
The Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas (CCP) have no common site for their civil dockets. Check the individual court's website for information on its civil docket system, check the CCP civil dockets information on our Pennsylvania Dockets research guide, or call the court for information.
Magisterial District Courts
Federal courts (PACER)
The Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) service provides electronic public access to federal court records. PACER provides the public with instantaneous access to more than 1 billion documents filed at all federal courts. If you accrue $30 or less of charges in a quarter, fees are waived for that period.
Bloomberg Law (Temple Law access)
Bloomberg Law's dockets contain federal materials pulled via PACER, as well as some state court docket materials. For Temple Law students, the advanced search functions and ability to pull materials above the PACER fee limits make this the preferred database for federal court docket research.