Winning Research Skills - Westlaw

Appendix B
Federal Courts of Appeals
Information
This table provides information that will help you search the U.S. Courts of Appeals Cases
database (CTA) and individual federal court of appeals databases on Westlaw.
To retrieve courts of appeals cases from a particular circuit, access the database for that circuit
and type your search.
To retrieve cases from more than one circuit, but not all circuits, access the CTA database and
add a court field (co) restriction to your search. For example, to retrieve cases from the Second,
Tenth, and Federal circuits, type co(second tenth cafed).
Individual Westlaw Database Court Abbreviation to Use When
Searching the CTA Database
CTA1 first
CTA2 second
CTA3 third
CTA4 fourth
CTA5 fifth
CTA6 sixth
CTA7 seventh
Coverage
The First Circuit covering Maine,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
Puerto Rico, and Rhode Island
The Second Circuit covering
Connecticut, New York, and Vermont
The Third Circuit covering Delaware,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the
Virgin Islands
The Fourth Circuit covering
Maryland, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Virginia, and West
Virginia
The Fifth Circuit covering Louisiana,
Mississippi, Texas, and the former
Canal Zone judicial district
The Sixth Circuit covering Kentucky,
Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee
The Seventh Circuit covering Illinois,
Indiana, and Wisconsin
Winning Research Skills 203