Case Law Research

Federal

• The Supreme Court of the United States (The court of last resort)
• United States Court of Appeals (Intermediate appellate court)
  • A case from the United States District Court, District of Nevada can be appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 
  • Use this map to determine which circuit has federal jurisdiction over your case 
• United States District Courts (Trial court; Nevada has 1 Federal District Court)

State

• All states have trial courts and the court of last resorts. Most states also have an intermediate appellate court
• Nevada has trial court (District Courts), an intermediate appellate court (Court of Appeals)*, and the court of last resort (Supreme Court of Nevada).
  • In Nevada, all cases appealed from the District Courts are filed with the Supreme Court, which then may assign cases to the Court of Appeals.
  • *The Supreme Court of Nevada has a webpage providing more information on the Court of Appeals and the Nevada court structure.

Primary Authority = actual sources of law

• Constitutions, Statutes, Cases, Regulations, International treaties, local ordinances 

Secondary Authority = Writing about Primary Authority

• Law review articles, treatises, ALR, legal encyclopedia, etc.

• Precedents are prior cases in your jurisdiction that are similar to your case
• A court uses precedents to rule on similar cases in its jurisdiction. 
• What does this mean for a party in Nevada?
  • On a question of federal law, cases from the Supreme Court of the United States are binding
    • If there is no Supreme Court case on point, look for 9th Circuit cases. Cases from the other circuits are persuasive authorities.
  • On a question of Nevada state law, cases from the Supreme Court of Nevada are binding
    • If there is no Nevada Supreme Court case on point, look for cases from The Court of Appeals.