Federal Dockets, Briefs, Filings, & More

"The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish." U.S. Const. art. III, § 1.

The United States Federal Court System consists of the U.S. Supreme Court, which is the highest court of the nation; several Courts of Appeals, which includes the 13 circuit courts and the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces; and other lower courts, which include 94 District Courts, Tax Court, Armed Forces Courts of Criminal Appeals, and more. For more information about the organization of the Federal Courts, see Court Role and Structure from the United States Courts.

Jurisdictions vary on how much information is available online. Links to the official websites for the U.S. Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and the Pennsylvania District Courts are listed within this guide. When available, docket and brief information is also listed. To find the official websites to the different federal courts, use the Federal Court Finder.

Jenkins is a depository for records and briefs from the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from 1898-2011. Jenkins' collection also includes U.S. Supreme Court briefs. Jenkins' collection of Briefs and Records from the Third Circuit can be searched and ordered through our Court Records and Briefs database [some entries may be index only, not digitized].

Lexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg Law, all available in the library, include select dockets and documents from the various federal courts.

Detailed information for each court can be found within this guide. Contact Research Services at 215.574.1505 or research@jenkinslaw.org with questions about access to these documents at Jenkins.

Records and briefs for the federal courts are available at the National Archives. Coverage varies by court, but many begin in the late 1700s and continue through the mid-1990s.