Overview

The sources in this guide provide access to Appellate level caselaw from the Supreme, Superior, and Commonwealth courts of Pennsylvania. Some decisions are not published and not received by electronic databases like Lexis, Westlaw, Bloomberg Law, and Fastcase. These opinions must be obtained from the court.

For information about trial level caselaw, see the Pennsylvania Cases - Trial Level guide.

Pennsylvania Appellate Courts

The Pennsylvania State Reports (Pa.) is the official reporter for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. This publication began in 1845 and continues today. Prior to 1845, decisions from the Supreme Court were reported in the nominative reports (Dallas Reports, Binney Reports, etc.) and the Miscellaneous State Reports (Grant Reports, Walker Reports, etc.). Beginning with vol. 108, the opinions in the Pennsylvania State Reports are also reported in the Atlantic Reporter series (A., A.2d, A.3d), the regional reporter published by West/Thomson Reuters.

For more information about opinions from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, see Frank Y. Liu et al., Pennsylvania Legal Research Handbook ch. 7 (2008).

For more information about Pennsylvania's early nominative reports, see Joel Fishman, The Reports of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 87 Law. Lib. J. 643 (1995).

From 1895 to 1997, opinions from the Pennsylvania Superior Court were published in the Pennsylvania Superior Court Reports (Pa. Super.). This publication was discontinued in 1997 and all current opinions are published in the Atlantic Reporter series (A., A.2d, A.3d), the regional reporter published by West/Thomson Reuters. Additionally, most cases found in the Pennsylvania Superior Court Reports have parallel citations to the Atlantic Reporter series.

Not all opinions from the Superior Court are published. Lexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg Law, all available in the library, receive unpublished opinions from the courts, and the number and selection of unpublished cases they receive may differ. Some opinions must be obtained directly from the court.

For more information about opinions from the Pennsylvania Superior Court, see Frank Y. Liu et al., Pennsylvania Legal Research Handbook ch. 7 (2008).

From 1970 to 1995, opinions from the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court were published in the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Reports (Pa. Commw.). This publication was discontinued in 1995 and all current opinions are published in the Atlantic Reporter series (A., A.2d, A.3d), the regional reporter published by West/Thomson Reuters. Additionally, most cases found in the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Reports have parallel citations to the Atlantic Reporter series.

Not all opinions from the Commonwealth Court are published. Lexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg Law, all available in the library, receive unpublished opinions from the courts, and the number and selection of unpublished cases they receive may differ. Some opinions must be obtained directly from the court.

For more information about opinions from the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, see Frank Y. Liu et al., Pennsylvania Legal Research Handbook ch. 7 (2008).