The J.P. Coleman Collection consists primarily of 4,256 case files from his tenure on the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals between 1965 and 1984. Although the contents may duplicate in part the official court records of the cases (such as motions, briefs, and opinions), these chambers papers represent the private files of a single judge. Case files can provide valuable insight into court deliberations and the internal workings of the judiciary since they may include material created prior to the issuance of a judicial decision, such as case notes, draft memoranda and opinions, correspondence with colleagues, and research.
