Complete directory of 50 federal and state courts. Browse SCOTUS, Courts of Appeals, state supreme courts, and appellate courts with AI case summaries.
50 courts indexed with AI-powered case analysis, including the U.S. Supreme Court, all 13 federal Courts of Appeals, and state supreme and intermediate appellate courts across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The federal judiciary is organized into three tiers. At the top sits the U.S. Supreme Court, the court of last resort on questions of federal law. Below it are the U.S. Courts of Appeals — 11 numbered geographic circuits, the D.C. Circuit, and the Federal Circuit — which hear appeals from federal district courts. Federal district courts are the trial-level courts; CaseLawBrief currently focuses on appellate opinions where binding precedent is established.
Each state has a court of last resort with final authority over questions of state law. Most are called "Supreme Court" — but New York's highest court is the Court of Appeals, and Maryland and Maine call theirs the Court of Appeals as well. Texas and Oklahoma uniquely operate two highest courts: a Supreme Court for civil cases and a Court of Criminal Appeals for criminal matters. State supreme court decisions interpreting state constitutions and statutes are not reviewable by federal courts unless they implicate federal constitutional questions.
Most states have intermediate appellate courts that hear appeals from trial courts before cases can reach the state supreme court. These courts handle the bulk of state appellate work — many cases never reach the state high court at all because the intermediate court's decision is final. California's Courts of Appeal, New York's Appellate Division, and Texas's Courts of Appeals are among the busiest intermediate appellate courts in the country.
The American court system is a dual-tier structure consisting of federal courts and 50 separate state court systems plus the courts of the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. The federal courts derive their authority from Article III of the U.S. Constitution and from acts of Congress. Their jurisdiction is limited: federal courts can hear cases involving federal questions (federal statutes, treaties, the Constitution), diversity cases between citizens of different states above a monetary threshold, admiralty and maritime claims, bankruptcy, patent and copyright disputes, and other categories Congress specifies. Anything outside that limited scope must be litigated in state court.
State courts, by contrast, are courts of general jurisdiction. They handle the overwhelming majority of legal disputes in the United States: criminal prosecutions, family law, divorce, child custody, probate, contracts, property, personal injury, employment disputes governed by state law, and countless other matters. Each state designs its own court system, judicial-selection process, rules of procedure, and rules of evidence — although most follow broadly similar patterns of trial court, intermediate appellate court, and high court.
Both systems use a common-law method: appellate courts decide cases by interpreting statutes, constitutions, and prior judicial decisions, and those decisions establish binding precedent within their jurisdiction. Trial courts apply that precedent to new fact patterns. When precedent is unclear, courts develop the law incrementally through reasoned opinions. CaseLawBrief tracks appellate opinions because that is where new precedent is made and where the texture of legal doctrine takes shape.
The Supreme Court of the United States, established by Article III of the Constitution and the Judiciary Act of 1789, is the highest court in the federal system. It hears about 60–80 cases per term out of roughly 7,000–8,000 petitions for certiorari, focusing on questions where lower federal courts disagree (circuit splits), where state high courts have ruled on federal questions, or where issues of substantial national importance arise. Its decisions are binding on every court in the United States on questions of federal law.
Below the Supreme Court are the U.S. Courts of Appeals. There are 11 numbered geographic circuits — the First through Eleventh — covering specific groups of states. The D.C. Circuit hears appeals from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and reviews decisions of many federal administrative agencies, making it especially important in regulatory law. The Federal Circuit has nationwide jurisdiction over patent appeals, certain trade and customs matters, and claims against the federal government.
Federal district courts are the trial-level courts. There are 94 federal judicial districts, with at least one in each state and additional ones in larger states. They handle federal criminal trials, civil cases involving federal questions or diversity jurisdiction, and bankruptcy through specialized bankruptcy units. Below them are magistrate judges, who handle pretrial matters and consent-based trials in many cases.
Although every state designs its own judiciary, most state systems share a three-tier structure: trial courts of general jurisdiction, intermediate appellate courts, and a state supreme court. Some states also have specialized courts — for family law, juvenile matters, probate, drug courts, mental health courts, and small claims. New York's structure is uniquely confusing: the trial-level Supreme Court of New York is not the state's highest court; the Court of Appeals is.
State courts are also where most Americans actually encounter the legal system. Estimates suggest more than 95% of all cases filed in the United States each year are filed in state court. State court rulings on state law are final — federal courts cannot overrule a state supreme court's interpretation of state law. The only exception is when a state court decision turns on a question of federal law, in which case the U.S. Supreme Court can grant certiorari.
State courts also serve as a laboratory of democracy in legal doctrine. Many federal constitutional protections were first recognized at the state level — and even today, many state constitutions provide broader rights than the U.S. Constitution requires. Researchers studying the development of American law often need both federal and state court analysis to see the full picture.
Each court entry in the directory above links to a dedicated court page on CaseLawBrief. Court pages list recent opinions issued by that court, organized chronologically and tagged with legal topics, AI-generated plain-English summaries, key holdings, the impact score (a 0–100 measure of precedential significance), and identified parties and judges. From any court page, you can drill into individual case pages, navigate to a specific judge's page to see their opinion history, or jump into related cross-dimensional pages such as “Ninth Circuit + Employment Law” that combine court and topic filters.
For practitioners, the directory is most useful when researching a question of binding authority — to find decisions of the specific court that controls your case. For students and researchers, the directory provides a structured map of the American judiciary and an easy way to compare how different courts approach the same legal issue. For journalists, the court pages offer a fast way to find recently decided cases and ready-to-quote summaries.
Federal courts handle cases involving federal law, the U.S. Constitution, treaties, disputes between states, and cases where the United States is a party. State courts handle the vast majority of legal disputes — including most criminal cases, family law, contracts, property disputes, and personal injury claims — under state constitutions and state statutes. The two systems run in parallel; some cases (such as civil-rights claims) can be brought in either, while others are exclusive to one.
The U.S. Courts of Appeals are the intermediate federal appellate courts. There are 13 circuits: 11 numbered geographic circuits (1st through 11th), the D.C. Circuit, and the Federal Circuit. They review decisions from federal district courts within their geographic boundaries (or, for the Federal Circuit, subject-specific cases like patent appeals). A panel — usually three judges — hears each appeal, and their published opinions bind district courts in that circuit.
SCOTUS receives roughly 7,000–8,000 petitions for certiorari each term and hears oral argument in only 60–80. The Court generally grants certiorari (cert) when there is a circuit split — different Courts of Appeals reaching different conclusions on the same federal legal question — or when a case raises an issue of substantial national importance. Four of the nine Justices must vote to grant cert (the "Rule of Four").
A state supreme court is the highest court in a state's judicial hierarchy. It is the final authority on questions of state law within that state. Decisions of a state supreme court interpreting state law are binding on all lower state courts and cannot be reviewed by federal courts unless they involve a question of federal law or the U.S. Constitution. Some states use different names — for example, New York's highest court is called the Court of Appeals.
A published opinion is officially designated by the court for inclusion in the official reporters and may be cited as binding precedent. An unpublished or non-precedential opinion typically resolves a case but is not intended to establish new law. Many federal circuits and state appellate courts allow unpublished opinions to be cited for their persuasive value but do not treat them as binding.
Click on any court name in the directory above to view all opinions tracked from that court. Each court page lists recent decisions, AI-generated plain English summaries, key holdings, legal topic classifications, and impact scores. You can also filter by year, topic, judge, or jurisdiction to narrow your research.
Yes. Published decisions from the highest court in a jurisdiction bind all lower courts within that jurisdiction. For example, a published Ninth Circuit decision binds all federal district courts within the Ninth Circuit. A state supreme court decision interpreting state law binds all state trial and intermediate appellate courts within that state. A SCOTUS decision interpreting federal law binds every court in the United States.
Generally no. State court decisions on questions of state law are final and cannot be appealed to a federal court. The narrow exception is when a state court decision turns on a federal constitutional or statutory issue — those rare cases can be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court via petition for certiorari, but federal district courts and Courts of Appeals do not act as appellate courts for state court decisions.