Cases are simply listed in date order. Lawyers can search the forms by category or form number, review recent form changes only, or download an entire set in a compressed format. While the Judicial Council forms can be printed from any computer that has Adobe Acrobat Reader, they, like most other free court forms, cannot be completed interactively. Any good researcher knows that although reading case law is imperative, reading the briefs underlying the case adds insight into each side's arguments and offers lawyers more ammunition. At the state level, Westlaw currently provides California Supreme Court briefs back to 1999.
Every county has a separate site, and content can differ widely.
Tentative decisions, local court rules, fee schedules, forms, a list of judges, and court locations represent some of the information found at the Los Angeles Superior Court site. Free access to dockets is rare at any court level, but especially so at the state trial court level. In June 2000, however, without fanfare, the Los Angeles Superior Court's docket site appeared online for free. Date coverage is not noted at the site. While trial court docket sheets can only be searched by docket number, once the sheet is retrieved, attorneys can view information regarding the case name, the parties involved, the attorneys of record, the list of documents filed, and the dates of all proceedings.