Title Page
The date that the opinion issues is located in the upper right hand corner of the page preceded by FILED:.
The identification of the appellate court is centered on the page in uppercase letters, e.g.,
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF OREGON
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF OREGON
IN THE OREGON TAX COURT REGULAR DIVISION
IN THE OREGON TAX COURT MAGISTRATE DIVISION
For nonprecedential memorandum opinions issued by the Court of Appeals, the following recitation will precede the caption:
This is a nonprecedential memorandum opinion pursuant to ORAP 10.30 and may not be cited except as provided in ORAP 10.30(1).
Parties are generally listed in the order in which they appeared in the lower court or tribunal, but using their appellate court designations: appellant, respondent, petitioner on review, respondent on review, etc. That information is generally taken from the originating document filed for a case, e.g., the Notice of Appeal or Petition for Judicial Review.
In criminal cases, the STATE OF OREGON is the first party listed, followed by the full name of the defendant.
Each appellate case is assigned a number when filed, which is centered on the title page below the names of the parties to the case and preceded by any identifying number(s) from the court or agency in which the case originated. If cases have been consolidated on appeal or review, then both appellate case numbers are listed. A Supreme Court case number begins with an "S," a Court of Appeals case number begins with an "A," a Tax Court-Regular Division case number begins with "TC," and a Tax Court-Magistrate Division case number begins with "TC-MD."
If a case is decided by the full court, then that will be noted in the first line starting at the left-hand margin. No period follows the en banc designation. The initial letter in each word is in uppercase on the title page (e.g., En Banc), but when used within the text of an opinion, the term is in lowercase letters.
Identifies where / how the case originated.
Identifies judge(s) who signed the appealable judgment(s) or order(s) that are the subject of the appeal. The Supreme Court footnotes that information on the title page with an asterisk.
Identifies when the case was submitted and whether it was argued. Some cases are submitted on the record only.
The attorney(s) for all parties to a case are named. If a party appears for himself or herself (sometimes referred to as pro se), then that is noted. A person or entity appearing as amicus curiae is also identified here, along with the counsel of record. Counsel names are listed as they appear on the signature line of the briefs filed in the case.
Regarding Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys, use official titles (e.g., Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General, Solicitor General, Deputy Solicitor General, Assistant Attorney General), but do not uses any internal DOJ classification or position description, such as "Attorney-in-Charge, Post-Conviction Section" or "Senior Assistant Attorney General," etc.
Regarding Office of Public Defense Services (OPDS) attorneys, use official titles (e.g., Chief Defender, Criminal Appellate Section; Chief Defender, Juvenile Appellate Section; Deputy Public Defender), but do not use any internal OPDS classification or position description, such as "Chief Deputy," "Senior Deputy Public Defender," etc.
The panel of judges (in the Court of Appeals and also denoting the Presiding Judge) or the names of the Supreme Court justices deciding the case (if not heard en banc) are listed. When denoting a judge who has retired or resigned, a judge's designation will reflect the status of the judge at the time the opinion issues.
The author's name is listed in uppercase. When there is a concurring or dissenting opinion, the name of its author is listed on the title page after the decision line (e.g., Smith, J., dissenting.). Each opinion is arranged in this order: majority; concurring (the authoring justice / judge wishes to write separately, but agrees with both the result and rationale of the majority opinion); specially concurring (the authoring justice / judge wishes to write separately and agrees with the result, but not the rationale, of the majority opinion); concurring in part, dissenting in part; and dissenting (the authoring justice / judge disagrees with the result of the majority opinion). If two or more justices / judges file a concurring or dissenting opinion, then the more senior justice's / judge's opinion goes first. See, e.g., State v. Dameron, 316 Or 448, 853 P2d 1285 (1993) (for order of opinions).
When there is a nonparticipating justice in the Supreme Court, that justice's name is footnoted on the title page of the opinion.
An opinion that summarily disposes of the case may be designated as Per Curiam. The Per Curiam designation is also used for all lawyer discipline, Bar admission, and judicial fitness matters before the Supreme Court.
In rare circumstances, the court may be split evenly regarding the disposition of a case, in which event the case is deemed to be affirmed, although no signed majority opinion is issued.
A brief statement of the court's holding. This holding is repeated as the last line (set out as a separate paragraph) in the body of the opinion and is referred to as the "tag line." The tag line serves as the court's formal disposition of the case and also serves as further instruction to the lower tribunal(s).
The last part of a Supreme Court or Court of Appeals title page denotes the prevailing party and whether, and to whom, the court allows costs.