Arizona Briefs Collection

The Law Library holds briefs from the Arizona Supreme Court and the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One. Our print and microform collections are incomplete and no longer updated.  

Where are the briefs located?

Bound briefs are shelved by court and are located in the Stacks Collection on the sixth floor. Briefs on microfilm are arranged by court and case type and are located on the third floor. Check the library catalog record for holdings by selecting the type of case below.

Bound Briefs

Arizona Supreme Court

Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One (Phoenix)

Microfilm

Arizona Supreme Court

• Civil
• Criminal
• Habeas Corpus
• Miscellaneous
• Extraordinary
• Transfer 

Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One (Phoenix)

• Civil
• Criminal
• Habeas Corpus
• Industrial Commission
• Special Action
• Unemployment Benefits

Whom do I contact if I am looking for a brief that is not in your collection?

The clerk of each court is the best person to contact.

• Supreme Court — 602-452-3396
• Court of Appeals, Division One (Phoenix) — 602-542-4281
• Court of Appeals, Division Two (Tucson) — 520-628-6954 

How are the briefs arranged on the microfilm rolls?

Primarily, the briefs are arranged by docket number. To find the docket number of a case, find the opinion in the Arizona Reports or Pacific Reporter. The docket number is listed in the preliminary information at the beginning of the opinion. For recent Arizona Court of Appeals cases, you may also find the docket numbers on the courts' web sites (Division One; Division Two).

Unfortunately, the docket number ranges printed on the microfilm boxes are erratic. For example, Box 1 may show #400–425 on the label but only contain scattered briefs in that docket range. Box 2 may show #415–430 on the label and contain earlier briefs that were not available for filming with Box 1. The docket number ranges on the boxes are meant to be guidelines rather than an accurate range for what is on the film.

What do the various parts of a docket number mean?

Supreme Court

• Examples:
  • CR 96-1495
  • HC 97-958

  The CR in the first example tells you that this is a criminal case.
  The HC in the second example tells you that this is a habeas corpus case.

  The complete list of abbreviations is:

  CV or CIV (civil)
  CR (criminal)
  HC (habeas corpus)
  IC (industrial commission)
  MH (mental health)
  CC (corporation commission)
  TX (tax court)
  SA (special action)
  SB (state bar)
  UB (unemployment benefits)

  The 96 in the first example (CR 96-1495) means that this is a 1996 case. The 1495 is the unique number assigned to this case.

• Prior to 1986, Supreme Court docket numbers did not contain either a case type or year designation, only a unique number that was sometimes followed by an abbreviation; e.g., No. 15948 PR.

Court of Appeals

• Examples:
  • 1 CA-CV 95-0587
  • 2 CA-SA 89-338

  1 CA in the first example means Court of Appeals, Division 1 (Phoenix).
  2 CA in the second example means Court of Appeals, Division 2 (Tucson).

  CV in the first example tells you that this is a civil case.
  SA in the second example tells you that this is a special action case.
  For a complete list of abbreviations, see the Supreme Court section above.

  95 in the first example is the year 1995, and 89 in the second example is the year 1989.

  0587 in the first example is the unique number assigned to the case. 338 is the second case's unique number.

• Prior to 1988, docket numbers did not contain a year designation; e.g., 1 CA-CV 8876.