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California Case Law Search: Plain-English California Case Law Research With Cited, Published Opinions
Ask a California question the way you would ask a colleague, and get back published Cal.5th and Cal.App.5th opinions with the holding in plain language and a still-good-law signal.
Last updated July 2026 · US firms · Research tool, not legal advice
CASESEARCH · RESEARCH
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The controlling statute is surfaced alongside the case law so you read the code and the precedents together.
Plain-English answer
Research memo
- Question
- Short answer
- Authorities
Casesearch shows you the sources. Always read the full opinion and verify citations before you rely on them.
The short answer
California case law search means finding the published opinions of the California Supreme Court and the six districts of the Court of Appeal that control your issue. Supreme Court opinions appear in the official California Reports (Cal.5th), Court of Appeal opinions in Cal.App.5th, and both are also reported in West's California Reporter (Cal.Rptr.3d). Only published opinions may be cited: under California Rule of Court 8.1115, an unpublished or depublished Court of Appeal opinion must not be cited or relied on except in narrow situations such as law of the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel.
6
appellate districts in the Court of Appeal
58
superior courts, one per county
Rule 8.1115
bars citing unpublished California opinions
Cal.5th
the official reporter for Supreme Court opinions
Side by side
Where California opinions are published, and what binds you
California is one of the few states where citing the wrong opinion is a rule violation rather than a stylistic problem, so the publication status of a case matters as much as its holding.
| Court | What it decides | Official reporter | Precedential weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supreme Court of California | Discretionary review, capital appeals, State Bar matters | Cal.5th (also P.3d, Cal.Rptr.3d) | Binding on every California court |
| Court of Appeal, six districts | Most civil and criminal appeals from superior courts | Cal.App.5th (also Cal.Rptr.3d) | Published opinions bind all superior courts statewide |
| Appellate divisions of the superior courts | Limited civil, misdemeanor and infraction appeals | Cal.App.5th Supp. | Binding only within that county |
| Superior courts | Trials, motions, family, probate, unlimited and limited civil | Not published | No precedential value |
| Ninth Circuit and federal district courts | Federal questions and diversity cases applying California law | F.4th, F.Supp.3d | Persuasive only in state court on state law |
Casesearch is a research accelerator, not legal advice. Confirm publication status and read the opinion before you cite it.
How do I search California case law?
Start with the issue, not the keywords. Most California research fails at the first step because the searcher guesses at the phrase a court used rather than describing the problem. Type the actual question, including the posture: "does a California employer have to reimburse a remote employee for home internet under Labor Code 2802", not "2802 reimbursement". Plain-English search reads the whole question, including the jurisdiction and the procedural setting, and returns the opinions that answer it.
Then narrow by court. A published Court of Appeal opinion from any district binds every superior court in the state, which is a quirk of California law that trips up lawyers who moved here from states where only the local intermediate court controls. It comes from Auto Equity Sales, Inc. v. Superior Court (1962) 57 Cal.2d 450, and it means a Fourth District opinion is binding on a Los Angeles trial judge unless a different published opinion conflicts with it. When districts split, the trial court may pick between them.
Describe the issue in a full sentence
Include the code section, the parties, and the procedural stage so the search has something to work with.
Confirm the opinion is published
An unpublished Court of Appeal opinion is not usable, no matter how good the reasoning is.
Check for grant of review or depublication
The Supreme Court can grant review or order an opinion depublished, which strips it of citable status.
Read the passage you will rely on
Summaries triage results. The opinion is what you cite.
Can you cite an unpublished California case?
In almost every situation, no. California Rule of Court 8.1115(a) says an opinion of a Court of Appeal or superior court appellate division that is not certified for publication, or that has been ordered depublished, must not be cited or relied on by a court or a party in any other action. The narrow exceptions in subdivision (b) cover law of the case, res judicata and collateral estoppel, and criminal or disciplinary matters involving the same defendant or respondent.
That rule is stricter than the federal practice most lawyers learn. Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 32.1 permits citing unpublished federal opinions issued on or after January 1, 2007, for their persuasive value. California does not, and the California Supreme Court has periodically invited comment on loosening rule 8.1115, so it is worth checking the current text before you assume the answer. Until it changes, treat an unpublished California opinion as background reading you can use to find the published authority, never as the authority itself.
Depublication is the trap that catches even careful researchers. An opinion is published, gets cited in your memo, and months later the Supreme Court orders it depublished. It stays in databases. It reads exactly the same. It is no longer citable. This is the single strongest argument for running a treatment check on every California case before a filing rather than only on the ones that look shaky.
How to cite California case law
California courts follow the California Style Manual, while briefs headed for federal court and most law reviews follow the Bluebook. The two disagree about parentheticals, reporter order, and whether to abbreviate. California Rule of Court 1.200 lets you use either, as long as you are consistent within the document.
A California Style Manual citation looks like this: People v. Sanchez (2016) 63 Cal.4th 665, 686. The year sits in parentheses right after the case name, and there is no comma before it. The Bluebook version of the same case is People v. Sanchez, 63 Cal. 4th 665, 686 (2016). Court of Appeal citations add the district and division in the parenthetical when the year alone is not enough context, for example (2019) 42 Cal.App.5th 1183.
Supreme Court
Cal.5th for opinions since 2016, preceded by Cal.4th, Cal.3d, Cal.2d and Cal. Parallel cites to P.3d and Cal.Rptr.3d exist but California practice usually omits them.
Court of Appeal
Cal.App.5th, with Cal.App.4th and earlier series before it. Include the pinpoint page for every proposition you attribute to the court.
Appellate division
Cal.App.5th Supp., which signals immediately that the opinion binds only that county.
Slip and advance opinions
A recent opinion may only have a slip citation until it is paginated in the official reports. Update the cite before filing.
How do I check whether a California case is still good law?
Three things can undo a California case, and a citation check has to catch all three. The opinion can be reversed or disapproved by the Supreme Court. It can be superseded by a statutory amendment, which is common in employment, landlord tenant and consumer law where the Legislature moves faster than the courts. Or it can lose citable status through a grant of review or a depublication order without anyone reversing anything.
A treatment signal answers the first and third quickly: has any later court followed, distinguished, criticized or overruled this case, and is it still published. The statutory question takes a second step, because a case interpreting a code section that was rewritten in the last legislative cycle can be perfectly good law about a statute that no longer exists. Check the current text of the code section, not just the case history, whenever the holding turns on statutory language.
Where can I find California case law online?
The official opinions are free. The California Courts website posts every published and unpublished opinion of the Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal as a slip opinion, usually within hours of filing, and keeps a searchable archive. CourtListener and Google Scholar carry the same opinions with better full-text search. What none of them give you is a citator, a plain-language holding, or any signal about depublication, which is why free sources work for pulling a case you already know about and fall apart when you are trying to find one.
The paid tier splits by how much of a library you need. Westlaw and Lexis carry the official headnote and citator systems, and for California appellate work the depth of KeyCite and Shepard's is genuinely hard to replace. For the everyday version of the job, finding the controlling published opinions on a discrete California issue, reading the holdings, and confirming they still stand, a self-serve research tool covers the work at a fraction of a seat. We break down the whole category in the legal research software guide.
Frequently asked
Questions buyers ask about california case law search
How do I search California case law?
Describe your issue as a full question, including the code section, the parties, and the procedural posture, then search published California opinions rather than all opinions. Start with the California Supreme Court (Cal.5th) and Court of Appeal (Cal.App.5th), confirm the opinion is certified for publication, and run a treatment check for grants of review or depublication before you cite it.
Can you cite an unpublished California case?
No, with narrow exceptions. California Rule of Court 8.1115(a) prohibits citing or relying on an unpublished or depublished Court of Appeal opinion in any other action. Subdivision (b) allows it only where the opinion is relevant under law of the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel, or in a criminal or disciplinary matter involving the same defendant or respondent.
Are California Court of Appeal decisions binding on superior courts?
Yes. Under Auto Equity Sales, Inc. v. Superior Court (1962) 57 Cal.2d 450, every published Court of Appeal opinion binds all California superior courts, not just the courts in that appellate district. When two published opinions from different districts conflict, the trial court may choose which line of authority to follow.
What does Cal.App.5th mean in a citation?
Cal.App.5th is the fifth series of the official California Appellate Reports, where published opinions of the California Courts of Appeal are collected. A cite like 42 Cal.App.5th 1183 means volume 42, page 1183. Supreme Court opinions go in Cal.5th instead, and appellate division opinions in Cal.App.5th Supp.
What is depublication in California?
Depublication is an order from the California Supreme Court directing that a Court of Appeal opinion no longer be officially published. The lower court judgment stands, but the opinion loses all citable and precedential status under rule 8.1115. Because depublished opinions remain visible in databases, checking publication status before filing is part of verifying California authority.
Keep reading
Federal case law search
Ninth Circuit authority, F.4th, and what binds a federal court in California.
Washington case law search
The other big Ninth Circuit state, where the appellate divisions do not bind each other.
Texas case law search
Two courts of last resort, fifteen courts of appeals, and S.W.3d.
New York case law search
Why the Supreme Court is the trial court and A.D.3d binds statewide.
Florida case law search
Six DCAs, So.3d, and the Pardo statewide binding rule.
Illinois case law search
Public-domain citation and the five appellate districts.
Pennsylvania case law search
Superior Court versus Commonwealth Court, split by subject.
Case law search engine
How plain-English search returns cited holdings.
Check if a case is still good law
The treatment check that catches reversals and superseding statutes.
How to read a legal citation
Reporters, pinpoints, parentheticals, and subsequent history.
Legal research software
The four kinds of research tool and how to choose between them.
Casesearch is a legal research tool, not legal advice. Always read the full opinion and verify citations before relying on them.
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Search California case law in plain English
Ask the California question you had this morning and read the published opinions, the holdings, and the treatment signal for yourself. A research tool, not legal advice.