Nevada Judiciary

Although the Nevada Supreme Court decides many cases each year in formal published opinions, there are many appeals filed that do not result in a published opinion. All of those other cases - numbering around 2,000 per year - are decided by "unpublished" court orders.

Formal published opinions have been available for years on the Nevada Supreme Court website, but until this week, the unpublished court orders have not been accessible online. Those court orders are now available on the Supreme Court website.

The difference between "published" and "unpublished" decisions is that lawyers may only reference the published opinions in their court briefs and court cases. Those published opinions are the cases that set precedents –,, the law and legal interpretations that lawyers and trial courts must follow. They are called “,,published”,, because they are actually printed in law books and are available on legal research sites.

But many lawyers believe that there is value in looking at the unpublished orders because they also indicate the legal thinking and positions of the Supreme Court justices. The justices have long agreed, but technical limitations of the Supreme Court website have prevented the orders from being posted in the same fashion that the published opinions have been for years.

The court orders have always been public records and copies could be obtained from the office of the Clerk of the Court in Carson City. Additionally, a list of all cases decided in unpublished orders was printed annually in the Nevada Reports, the bound volume of published opinions issued by the court. But the court was interested in making the orders more easily accessible, particularly to lawyers and other individuals outside Carson City.

The Supreme Court website (www.nvsupremecourt.us) recently increased its capacity, which finally enabled the Court to make the unpublished orders readily available to the public.

"This is something we have wanted to accomplish for years," said Chief Justice Mark Gibbons. “,,We believe this will be a valuable tool for attorneys and the public."

"The Supreme Court has worked diligently in recent times to ensure that our process is as open and transparent as possible," Chief Justice Gibbons said. "The posting of court orders on our website is another step in that direction."

More than 400 cases have been posted on the website, where they will stay for 90 days. New court orders will be posted on Thursdays only. That is the same process in effect for formal opinions, which means the public and interested attorneys need only visit the website one day a week for information about court decisions.

After the 90-day posting, there will be a listing of the orders for the year in sequence. Copies of orders can still be obtained from the clerk’,,s office, whether the order is posted on the website or not.

The website will allow searches for cases by name or case number.

Currently the court orders can be accessed by going to “,,Court Information”,, on the home page and clicking on “,,Documents.”,, The cases will be listed along with other court information.