Opinion Search Tips

• Published opinions released since January 2001 for both the Michigan Supreme Court and the Michigan Court of Appeals.
  
  
• Court of Appeals unpublished opinions released since July 1996.

Docket Number Search

1. In the Enter the docket number box, type the desired docket number.
   
   
2. Select either the Supreme Court or the Court of Appeals. Both courts cannot be searched simultaneously under the docket number search. (The Supreme Court is selected by default.)
   
   
3. Click the Search button to begin the search.
   
   
4. Use the New Search button to clear out the search criteria, allowing new search criteria to be entered.

Field Search

1. From the Opinion Type drop down list, select the court(s) and type of opinions. By default, the Opinion Type drop down list is set to All Opinions.
   
   All Opinions Includes both Supreme Court and Court of Appeals published opinions released since January 2001 and unpublished Court of Appeals opinions released since July 1996.
   
   Court of Appeals Published Includes only Court of Appeals published per curiam and authored opinions released since January 2001.
   
   Court of Appeals Unpublished Includes only Court of Appeals unpublished per curiam and memorandum opinions released since July 1996.
   
   Court of Appeals - All Includes both Court of Appeals published opinions released since January 2001 and unpublished opinions released since July 1996.
   
   Supreme Court Includes only Supreme Court published opinions released since January 2001.
   
   Supreme Court and COA Published Includes both Supreme Court and Court of Appeals published opinions released since January 2001.
   
   
   
2. The other required field is the Date Range. By default, the date range is set to All Dates. From the Date Range drop down list, choose from All Dates This Week , Last Week, This Month, Last Month and Select Range.
   
   When a specific date range category is selected, the corresponding dates are automatically inserted into the date boxes.
   
   When Select Range is chosen, the date boxes are cleared and you can manually input any range of dates. Keep in mind that the published opinions begin with January 2001 and the Court of Appeals unpublished opinions begin with July 1996.
   
   In addition, when entering a date, always enter in this format: mm/dd/yyyy. (ie: 02/07/1998)
   
   Opinions of the Michigan Court of Appeals are available the business day following the release date of the opinion.
   
   
   
3. Click the Search button to begin the search.
   
   
   
4. Use the New Search button to clear out the search criteria, allowing new search criteria to be entered.

1. In the Party Name box, enter at least four characters of the name of the party. For a person, the format must be LastName FirstName. There should be no comma and only one space separating the Last Name from the First Name. (For example: Smith Tracy) It is not required to enter both a Last Name and a First Name, however, entering the First Name or at least part of the First Name will help narrow the search. In addition, if the party name is an organization, simply enter that name, minimum four characters. (For example: ABC Inc.)
   
   
2. Use the Opinion Author drop down list to select the name of the writing justice or judge for published authored opinions. The drop down list includes the names of both Supreme Court justices and Court of Appeals judges, listed separately in alphabetical order. Because Supreme Court justices often have prior service on the Court of Appeals, their names may be used to retrieve published authored opinions from both courts depending on the option selected in the Opinion Type field.
   
   
3. Use the Panel Member drop down list to select the name of a panel member for a case. The search will retrieve cases where the specified judge was a member of the three-judge Court of Appeals panel that issued the opinion. The drop down list includes the names of Supreme Court justices, Court of Appeals judges and Visiting judges, listed in alphabetical order. This option is not available for the Supreme Court opinions, however. The names of the Supreme Court justices may be used to retrieve prior Court of Appeals opinions in which the justices participated while members of the Court of Appeals bench.
   
   
4. Use the Case Type drop down list to select a practice area. The Case Type category is determined when a case is first filed at the Court of Appeals. (Some examples include: Adoption, Assault & Battery, Child Abuse, etc.)
   
   
5. Use the Lower Court drop down list to select either the trial court or administrative agency to help narrow the search.
   
   
6. Click the Search button to begin the search.
   
   
7. Use the New Search button to clear out the search criteria, allowing new search criteria to be entered.
   
   

Text Search

1. In the Search For box, type the keyword or phrase. (See Text Search hints below) A docket number cannot be entered with this method of searching.
   
   
2. Select either the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, or Both Courts. (Supreme Court is selected by default.) A docket number cannot be entered with this method of searching.
   
   
3. By default, the search results include only published opinions. If you would like to include unpublished opinions in the search results, check the Include Unpublished Opinions box.
   
   
4. Click the Search button to begin the search.
   
   
5. Use the New Search button to clear out the search criteria, allowing new search criteria to be entered.
   
   

Other Useful Tips

1. Click the button.
   
   
2. Type the word or phrase.
   
   
3. Click Find.
   
   
4. Use the button to find all subsequent occurrences of the word or phrase.