Submission guidelines for court opinions

Submit judicial opinions to Thomson Reuters for publication
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Judges

Opinions for publication in the National Reporter System print volumes on Thomson Reuters Westlaw

Forward all opinions you recommend for reporting in all versions (print and Westlaw) of the Federal Supplement, Federal Rules Decisions, and Bankruptcy Reporter of the National Reporter System. These should be of general interest and importance to the bench and bar, such as those that:

  • Deal with an issue of first impression
  • Establish, alter, modify, or explain a rule of law
  • Provide a review of the law
  • Involve unique factual situations
  • Present a unique holding
  • Involve newsworthy cases

Opinions for inclusion on Westlaw ONLY

Forward all opinions you recommend exclusively for online reporting, which can be of more limited scope than those included in print. Because Westlaw has unlimited storage capacity, we encourage you to exercise liberal discretion in submitting opinions for online-only reporting.

Transmission of opinions

If you are already providing us with data for publication, please review the following policies and preferred electronic transmission methods, including email or a password-protected Data Capture Site.

Electronic transmission

State Appellate Judges: Your judicial opinions are important to us, and we are profoundly grateful to your court for their transmittal. Typically, your opinions are provided to us by the Clerk of Court or Court Administrator. However, we may need to contact you occasionally with questions about corrections, additions, and other issues. To contact us:

Federal Judges: Thank you for submitting your opinions to us for publication in the National Reporter System and Westlaw. Alternative methods for transmitting opinions include email and FTP (file upload). For more information:

Attorneys 

You may submit interesting decisions for inclusion on Westlaw. Lower federal court decisions may also be included in the National Reporter system.

Decisions can be mailed to Attorney submissions »

Hard-copy transmission for judges and attorneys

Electronic submissions make opinion processing more efficient, so electronic submission is encouraged. If your opinions or the attachments cannot be sent electronically, address them to:

Thomson Reuters
Cases Publishing Center
610 Opperman Drive
Eagan, MN 55123

If needed, judges may request postage-paid envelopes from the same address.