Legal history trivia

The Justices of the U. S. Supreme Court did not start issuing written opinions until 1834. Prior to that, decisions were announced orally from the bench. Unofficial and unpaid reporters in the courtroom took notes of what they heard and wrote the opinions as best they could. They were compensated by selling printed volumes of the opinions.

See: Draft article: The (Non)Finality of Supreme Court Opinions 
128 HARV. L. REV. ___ (forthcoming 2014)

Professor  Lazarus has a sense of humor.

"NOTICE: The final version of this article, here only in draft form as of May 21, 2014, is scheduled for publication by the Harvard Law Review in December 2014. The editors of the Harvard Law Review have not yet subject the current draft to their normal process of technical review, including cite-checking, editing, and proofing, to which all their articles, essays, and notes are subject prior to final publication. The editing and review process will occur over the summer. Fully aware of the inevitable irony, given this article’s topic, readers of this draft who identify any “typographical or other formal errors” in the manuscript are encouraged to notify my assistant . . . . "

Neither Kentucky Court of Appeals nor Supreme Court opinions are final upon initial public release.

See: Quirks of Researching Kentucky Appellate Decisions

WARNING: Everything I think, say or write is subject to revision at any time without notice.
Why? Because I screw up frequently and sometimes I realize it. 

Tom Fox, J. D.
Southern Specialty Law Publishing Company
Louisville, Kentucky

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This is not legal advice and I am not a lawyer.