Petitions in the United States

Legal Materials

n a legal context, a “petition” is the document a plaintiff files to start a law suit (also known as a “complaint”). To get a copy of the petition filed in a particular case you can (a) get it online, if it is available (see the “Docket Sheets” entry), (b) call the court to see if they will copy and mail it to you, (c) pick it up yourself or (d) get someone to pick it up for you which, for courts in other cities, usually means hiring a document retrieval (see “Document Retrieval Services”).

Certiorari Petitions

Petitions for Certiorari are filed with a higher-level court to ask that the court review a lower court’s decision. Generally, you can find out whether cert. has been granted in a particular case by calling the court, and you can get copies of cert. petitions the same way you get copies of other petitions (see above). Exception: For cert. petitions filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, see “United States Supreme Court.”

Petitions and the State Laws

Select from the list of U.S. States below for state-specific information on Petitions:

• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Alabama Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Alaska Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Arizona Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Arkansas Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the California Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Colorado Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Connecticut Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Delaware Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Florida Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Georgia Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Hawaii Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Idaho Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Illinois Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Indiana Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Iowa Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Kansas Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Kentucky Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Louisiana Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Maine Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Maryland Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Massachusetts Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Michigan Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Minnesota Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Mississippi Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Missouri Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Montana Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Nebraska Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Nevada Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the New Hampshire Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the New Jersey Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the New Mexico Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the New York Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the North Carolina Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the North Dakota Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Ohio Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Oklahoma Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Oregon Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Pennsylvania Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Rhode Island Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the South Carolina Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the South Dakota Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Tennessee Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Texas Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Utah Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Vermont Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Virginia Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Washington Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the West Virginia Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Wisconsin Portal
• Petitions in the Subject Index of the Wyoming Portal

Resources

See Also

Briefs
Docket Sheets
United States Supreme Court

Further Reading

• Information about Petitions in the Gale Encyclopedia of American Law.