
It might be from the Supreme Court or from any Court of Appeals- based on the docket number alone there is no way to tell. The docket number above tells us that this case was filed in 2014, with the sequence number 12345.
The docket number 2:14-cv-123456 may refer to a case filed in Los Angeles (court 2 in the Central District of California), Memphis (court 2 in the Western District of Tennessee), Phoenix (court 2 in the District of Arizona), or any other court assigned the number 2 within its district. The docket number 14-1234 might refer to a 2014 appellate case filed in any of the circuits or the Supreme Court. As a result, the same docket number may be assigned to different cases in different courts. 2:14-cv-123456).Įach circuit and district assigns docket numbers independently but uses the same basic format. the judge's initials, and are commonly skipped (2:14-cv-123456-ABC-RZ vs. Letters at the end of the number are usually local notes such as, e.g. Letters indicating case type are often skipped (2:14-ap-123456 vs. Skipping or altering parts of the docket number. Skipping or adding leading zeros (7-4771 vs. Skipping or altering punctuation (2:14-ap-123456 vs. To view this information, navigate to the court's page in Westlaw's Dockets section and then click the i symbol beneath the court's name. Westlaw's source information for the court, which generally explains how the court assigns docket numbers. To learn how a specific court assigns docket numbers, check:
A sequence number, randomly assigned to each case as it is filed. The court the case was filed in, represented by a letter or number. The year the case was filed, in two or four digit format. However, understanding how docket numbers are constructed can be helpful for correcting mistyped docket numbers and determining where and when a case was filed.Įach court generally has its own system for assigning docket numbers, which may include some or all of the following: Usually, it's not necessary to understand how docket numbers are assigned to use them to retrieve cases. Courts assign each case case a docket number to make it easier to track.