Guides: Summer Clerks Research Guide: California Filings

Filing in California: Court Rules, Dockets, and Pleadings

Consult both state and county court rules before filing. Important print and online sources for court rules include:

California Superior Court Local Rules - Lexis+
Full-text superior court rules
California Superior Courts - Local Rules
Links to local rules for each county in the Superior Court of California system.
WestlawNext - Key Rules - California
Find rules of practice, timing requirements, filing and service requirements, hearing information, checklists and other pertinent documents related to pleadings, motions, requests, notices, and applications in selected California Superior Courts.
Includes links to relevant official California Judicial Council forms.

California Rules of Court (Federal District Courts)
Call Number: KFC992 .A19
Publication Date: Annual
LRC Reference Desk
Includes index. Library retains latest ed. on Reference Desk. Earlier editions are in Lower Level, Superseded collection.
California Rules of Court (State)
Call Number: KFC992 .A192
Publication Date: Annual
LRC Reference Desk
LRC California Room
Each annual volume is issued in two sequential editions (the first ed. of each year is simply called "... edition", the later ed. of each year is called "... revised edition"); e.g., v. for 1988 made up of the "1988 edition", which includes all amendments to the law up through the end of 1987; and the later "1988 revised edition", which includes all amendments to the law up through July 1, 1987.

Sources for dockets and pleadings include:

Bloomberg Law - Docket Search Tool
Dockets for several California courts are available on Bloomberg. The Docket Search tool allows you to search by docket number, judge, associated party, court name, or keyword.
Bloomberg login and password required.
Briefs of the California Courts of Appeal from LA Law Library
Scanned briefs back to 1995. Information about briefs back to California's admission to the Union. Search by docket number.
Court Information - California Courts - Courts.ca.gov
Includes web addresses and phone numbers for all the Courts of Appeal and Superior Courts in California.