LibGuides: Pennsylvania Legal Resources: Pennsylvania Opinions

Court of Common Pleas Websites

Subscription information to other county legal reporters can be found by going to the Pittsburgh Legal Journal website.

District and County Reports opinions. Contact librarian for username and password.

Finding Journal Articles available from Widener Law Commonwealth and Widener University

To locate journal articles, perform a search in one of the databases listed below. The following databases are listed on the law library’s webpage under Library Resources, A-Z Databases.

Use the databases to search for articles on your topic. Some databases provide full-text display of articles while others only provide citations to, or abstracts of, articles. Some of the databases linked to in this Guide are subscription databases. Access is available to these databases on the campus and also off campus.

EBSCOHost This link opens in a new window
Coverage: 1965 to present
Search all EBSCO databases all at once.
NOTE: Desktop: Adobe Digital Editions 1.7.1 or higher is required for offline viewing.Apple and Android devices: Bluefire Reader is recommended Kindle: PDFs can be created in the eBook Full Text view and transferred using Send To Kindle
FirstSearch This link opens in a new window
Includes ArticleFirst and ECO: indexes to general, non-legal periodicals. Indexes only, no full-text.
Index to Legal Periodicals and Books This link opens in a new window
Index to law reviews, journals, and books. Some full-text available.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Coverage: Varies
JSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources.
Online Tutorial Available Here
Law Library Microform Consortium (LLMC) This link opens in a new window
Older federal executive, judicial, and legislative documents available online.

See reference librarian for username and password.
LegalTrac This link opens in a new window
Index to legal journals and newspapers, includes selected full-text articles.
Lexis This link opens in a new window
ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive online collection of primary source congressional publications and legislative research materials covering all topics, including government, current events, politics, economics, business, science and technology, international relations, social issues, finance, insurance, and medicine. Finding aid for congressional hearings, committee prints, committee reports and documents from 1970-present, and the daily Congressional Record from 1985-present. Compiled legislative histories from 1969-present.
SSRN This link opens in a new window
The SSRN, formerly known as Social Science Research Network, is a repository for preprints devoted to the rapid dissemination of scholarly research in the social sciences and humanities and more.
See reference librarian to post articles.
US Newsstream (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
US Newsstream enables users to search the most recent premium U.S. news content, as well as archives which stretch back into the 1980s featuring top newspapers, newswires, blogs, and news sites in active full-text format.
Westlaw This link opens in a new window
WorldCat This link opens in a new window
Find what you want in a library near you with WorldCat, a global catalog of library collections. Great resource for distance learners, here you can search for library materials that are available in libraries near you. WorldCat also includes links to interlibrary loan information and to materials in Wolfgram Library and Delaware Law library.

Class Presentation:

Content on PA opinions found on slides 2-13.

Video Tutorial: PA Opinions--Part One

Video Tutorial: PA Opinions--Part Two

Free databases with PA opinions

Appellate court opinions for Pennsylvania cases, back to 1997.

Collection has select Nominative and Side Reports opinions dating from the 1800's to the early 2000's.

This search engine can be used to find cases online, either by citation or key word searching

PA Docket Search

Includes docket sheets for Philadelphia Municipal Court, Pennsylvania Magisterial Courts, Common Pleas Courts, and Appellate Court. Search by docket number or key word search by court type.

PA Court Records & Briefs

Pennsylvania State Court Records & Briefs -- for a FEE

Index of PA Supreme Court Briefs available at Widener Legal Information Center, Harrisburg