Legal research for law firms in every major US city - your courts at a glance
By LegiMatch Research Team · Published October 16, 2026 · 7 min read
Short answer: wherever you practice, three courts shape most of your research: the federal district court for your city and the circuit above it, and your state's intermediate appellate court (above it, the state's highest court). The table below lists them for 30+ major US cities, so you know which decisions bind you before you start searching.
Your courts, city by city
| City | Federal court (circuit) | State appeals court |
|---|---|---|
| New York, NY | S.D.N.Y. (Manhattan, Bronx) and E.D.N.Y. (Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island); 2nd Cir. | Appellate Division, First and Second Departments |
| Los Angeles, CA | C.D. Cal. (9th Cir.) | Court of Appeal, Second District |
| Chicago, IL | N.D. Ill. (7th Cir.) | Appellate Court, First District |
| Houston, TX | S.D. Tex. (5th Cir.) | First and Fourteenth Courts of Appeals |
| Phoenix, AZ | D. Ariz. (9th Cir.) | Court of Appeals, Division One |
| Philadelphia, PA | E.D. Pa. (3rd Cir.) | Superior Court; Commonwealth Court (government matters) |
| San Antonio, TX | W.D. Tex. (5th Cir.) | Fourth Court of Appeals |
| San Diego, CA | S.D. Cal. (9th Cir.) | Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division One |
| Dallas, TX | N.D. Tex. (5th Cir.) | Fifth Court of Appeals |
| Austin, TX | W.D. Tex. (5th Cir.) | Third Court of Appeals |
| Jacksonville, FL | M.D. Fla. (11th Cir.) | District Court of Appeal (check current district) |
| San Jose, CA | N.D. Cal. (9th Cir.) | Court of Appeal, Sixth District |
| Fort Worth, TX | N.D. Tex. (5th Cir.) | Second Court of Appeals |
| Columbus, OH | S.D. Ohio (6th Cir.) | Tenth District Court of Appeals |
| Charlotte, NC | W.D.N.C. (4th Cir.) | North Carolina Court of Appeals |
| San Francisco, CA | N.D. Cal. (9th Cir.) | Court of Appeal, First District |
| Indianapolis, IN | S.D. Ind. (7th Cir.) | Indiana Court of Appeals |
| Seattle, WA | W.D. Wash. (9th Cir.) | Court of Appeals, Division One |
| Denver, CO | D. Colo. (10th Cir.) | Colorado Court of Appeals |
| Washington, DC | D.D.C. (D.C. Cir.) | D.C. Court of Appeals is the highest local court |
| Boston, MA | D. Mass. (1st Cir.) | Massachusetts Appeals Court |
| Nashville, TN | M.D. Tenn. (6th Cir.) | Court of Appeals (civil); Court of Criminal Appeals |
| Detroit, MI | E.D. Mich. (6th Cir.) | Michigan Court of Appeals |
| Las Vegas, NV | D. Nev. (9th Cir.) | Nevada Court of Appeals |
| Portland, OR | D. Or. (9th Cir.) | Oregon Court of Appeals |
| Atlanta, GA | N.D. Ga. (11th Cir.) | Court of Appeals of Georgia |
| Miami, FL | S.D. Fla. (11th Cir.) | Third District Court of Appeal |
| Minneapolis, MN | D. Minn. (8th Cir.) | Minnesota Court of Appeals |
| New Orleans, LA | E.D. La. (5th Cir.) | Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal |
| Baltimore, MD | D. Md. (4th Cir.) | Appellate Court of Maryland |
| St. Louis, MO | E.D. Mo. (8th Cir.) | Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District |
| Kansas City, MO | W.D. Mo. (8th Cir.) | Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District |
| Salt Lake City, UT | D. Utah (10th Cir.) | Utah Court of Appeals |
| Newark, NJ | D.N.J. (3rd Cir.) | Superior Court, Appellate Division |
| Pittsburgh, PA | W.D. Pa. (3rd Cir.) | Superior Court; Commonwealth Court (government matters) |
| Birmingham, AL | N.D. Ala. (11th Cir.) | Court of Civil Appeals; Court of Criminal Appeals |
| Milwaukee, WI | E.D. Wis. (7th Cir.) | Wisconsin Court of Appeals |
Court boundaries and names change from time to time (Maryland renamed its appellate courts in 2022; Florida added a sixth district in 2023; Texas added a statewide Fifteenth Court of Appeals in 2024). Confirm on your court's official website before relying on the table.
Detailed guides by state and city
- New York City - Departments of the Appellate Division, the Tanbook, NY Slip Op citations
- California - Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Sacramento; rule 8.1115 on unpublished opinions
- Texas - Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and Fort Worth; transfer cases and the Fifteenth Court of Appeals
- Florida - Miami, Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville; the six DCAs and PCAs
- Chicago and Illinois - the First District, Rule 23 orders and public-domain citations
- Pennsylvania - Philadelphia and Pittsburgh; Superior vs Commonwealth Court
- Atlanta and Georgia - when a Court of Appeals opinion is binding (Rule 33.2)
- Washington, DC - local vs federal courts and M.A.P. v. Ryan
- Boston and Massachusetts - SJC, Appeals Court and Rule 23.0 decisions
- Phoenix and Arizona - Divisions One and Two, memorandum decisions
- Seattle and Washington State - three divisions and GR 14.1
- Denver and Colorado - public-domain citations and the Tenth Circuit
- New Jersey - the Appellate Division and Rule 1:36-3
- Ohio - Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati; web citations
- Detroit and Michigan - MCR 7.215 and the Sixth Circuit
More state guides
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arkansas
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Mexico
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Three research questions that apply in every city
1. What binds my court? The U.S. Supreme Court and your federal circuit bind federal district courts in your city. In state court, the state's highest court binds everyone, and intermediate appellate decisions usually bind trial courts, with local rules on what happens when districts disagree.
2. Can I cite it? Rules on unpublished and nonprecedential opinions vary widely. California bars citing unpublished opinions in most cases; Illinois allows post-2021 Rule 23 orders as persuasive authority; federal courts allow citing unpublished opinions issued on or after January 1, 2007 (Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 32.1). Check before you rely on one.
3. Is it still good law? A decision that was later reversed, overruled or questioned can sink a brief. Check treatment for everything you cite.
Finding cases with facts like yours, in any city
Most research time goes into finding decisions whose facts match your matter. Keyword search misses many of them because courts describe the same facts in different words. A faster workflow:
- Describe the matter in plain English, or upload the complaint.
- Set the jurisdiction - your state, plus your federal circuit if the case is in federal court.
- Read the closest matches first and note which court decided each.
- Check treatment before relying on any decision.
- Read the statute each case applies, in its official text.
LegiMatch does steps 1 to 4 for lawyers in every US state: describe a matter and get up to 100 similar decisions, ranked by a match score that shows how much facts, legal issues, statutes, jurisdiction and recency contributed. Results are real decisions linked to the court's text, filterable by jurisdiction and year, with good-law flags. The statute finder (official text of the U.S. Code and state codes) and keyword search are free in every account. LegiMatch supports your research; it doesn't give legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
Which federal court covers my city?
Use the table above for major cities, or the court locator on uscourts.gov for any address. Some cities sit in one district but near the boundary of another, so confirm by county.
Are decisions from another state's courts useful?
They aren't binding, but they can be persuasive, especially when your state hasn't decided the issue or when both states have similar statutes. Courts are more receptive to well-reasoned decisions from states with similar law.
Can a small law firm do thorough research without an expensive subscription?
Often yes. Free official sources cover statutes and many opinions, and lower-cost tools now handle fact-based search and citation checking. Compare total cost, including attorney time, rather than subscription price alone.
How do I find cases from my own district only?
Filter by jurisdiction (state or federal court) and, where the tool allows, by court. Then read decisions from your district or Department first, since they're the most likely to bind your trial court.
Sources
- United States Courts, court locator and court websites (uscourts.gov)
- Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 32.1
- State judicial branch websites for each listed state
This article is general information about legal research, not legal advice. Verify every authority before relying on it.
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