Introduction to Cases
A case is a written decision issued by a court, often referred to as a judicial opinion or decision. Researching cases is important because of the doctrine of stare decisis or, in other words, upholding precedent. Under the principle of stare decisis, courts are bound to follow the rulings of law from previously decided cases in the same jurisdiction or a jurisdiction of higher controlling authority when facing similar cases currently before the court. For the legal researcher, reviewing cases from a court will help determine how the court will rule if given a similar factual situation.
Where to find Cases
The sets of books that publish cases are called reporters, and each one has a designated abbreviation. Reporters may be grouped into four kinds:
- Federal reporters (report federal cases)
- Regional reporters (report cases from a group of states)
- State reporters (report cases from a specific state)
- Subject reporters (report cases from various jurisdictions which deal a certain area of law, e.g., environment or patents
To find a case in a reporter, you will need to know its citation. A case citation includes the name of the case, the volume number of the reporter containing the case, the abbreviation for the reporter, the first page of the case, and the year of the decision. For example:
To find the text of this case in print, you would go to volume 532 of the United States Reports (the official reporter of the U.S. Supreme Court), then page 661. The U.S. Supreme Court decided the case in the year 2001. To find it online, you would search by the citation.
You will often see multiple citations to the same case when the case is reported in multiple reporters (called parallel citations).
Federal Reporters
- Federal Reporter (HeinOnline)This database contains coverage of cases from the late 1700s through the 1920s including the entire Federal Cases 30 book series (1894-1897) which contains more than 20,000 cases
- Federal Case (HeinOnline)This database contains coverage of cases from the late 1700s through the 1920s including the entire Federal Cases 30 book series (1894-1897) which contains more than 20,000 cases
- United States ReportsThis database includes complete coverage of the official U.S. Reports bound volumes, as well as preliminary prints, slip opinions, and books and periodicals related to the U.S. Supreme Court.
- U.S. Supreme Court Cases (Westlaw)U.S. Supreme Court Cases contain documents from the U.S. Supreme Court. A document is a case (a decision or order) decided by the court from 1790 to date
- U.S. Supreme Court Cases, Lawyers' Edition (Lexis)The United States Supreme Court file contains the full text opinions of all Supreme Court Lawyers' Edition cases since 1790.
State & Regional Reporters
- Caselaw Access Project - Regional ReportersIncludes many volumes from each regional reporter, though coverage is not complete.
| Reporter | Jurisdictions | Digests in Print |
|---|---|---|
| Atlantic Reporter – A., A.2d, A.3d | Connecticut, Delaware, D.C., Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont | Atlantic Digest, 2d, state digests (except Delaware) |
| North Eastern Reporter– N.E., N.E.2d, N.E.3d | Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio | State digests only |
|
South Eastern Reporter – S.E., S.E.2d |
Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia | South Eastern Digest, South Eastern Digest, 2d, state digests |
| Southern Reporter – So., So.2d, So.3d | Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi | Southern Digest (ceased publication in 1988), state digests |
| South Western Reporter – S.W., S.W.2d, S.W.3d | Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas | State digests only |
| North Western Reporter – N.W., N.W.2d | Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin | North Western Digest, 2d, state digests |
| Pacific Reporter – P., P.2d, P.3d | Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming | Pacific Digest, Beginning 101 P.2, Beginning 367 P.2d, Beginning 585 P.2d, state digests (except Utah and Nevada) |
| New York Supplement – N.Y.S., N.Y.S.2d | New York | New York Digest, New York Digest 2d, 3d, 4th |
| California Reporter – Cal. Rptr., Cal. Rptr.2d, Cal. Rptr.3d | California | California Digest, California Digest, 2d |
Online Federal Case Law by Court
| Court | Lexis | Westlaw |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. Supreme Court | U.S. Supreme Court, Lawyers Edition | U.S. Supreme Court |
| U.S. Court of Appeals | U.S. Court of Appeals | U.S. Court of Appeals |
| U.S. District Court | District Courts | District Court |
Using West Digests, Headnotes, and Key Numbers to Find Case Law
A digest helps you to find cases on a specific legal issue or topic. West digests use headnotes and key numbers to organize and summarize all cases by subject.
Westlaw offers a searchable key number system, which can be narrowed by topic to a list of headnotes, serving as the equivalent of a digest in print.
Lexis uses headnotes and Lexis Topics, a classification system with its own set of topics and subtopics that functions similarly to help you find cases on a specific legal issue.
What is a Headnote?
Before a case is published in a reporter, an editor at WestLaw reads the case and for each major issue of law identified the editor then writes a short description called a headnote. These headnotes are typically found at the beginning of each opinion and help the reader quickly determine the issue(s) discussed in the case.
Lexis also offers headnotes at the top of a case showing the key legal points, drawing directly from the language of the court. Because they are written by Lexis attorney-editors, Lexis headnotes are not the same as West headnotes.
What is a Key Number?
The Key Number System is a classification system provided by Westlaw that organizes cases by topic, allowing legal researchers to quickly find cases related to a particular issue. If you find a relevant case in your research, you can use the topic and key numbers from that case to search for other cases discussing the same legal issues.
The West Key Number Digest contains the complete topic and key number outline used by our attorney-editors to classify headnotes. To access the West Key Number Digest on Westlaw Edge, click Key Numbers in the Content Types tab on the Home page.
Similarly, if you're using Lexis Topics, after finding a useful headnote at the top of a case on Lexis, click into a relevant topic above the headnote, and then search or narrow by jurisdiction as needed to identify relevant cases.
Using Citators
Citators perform two functions for legal researchers. A citator will tell you if the case you've found is still "good law," (i.e. hasn't been overturned) or if subsequent decisions have weakened its authority or overruled it altogether. A citator can also provide citations to other cases and secondary sources that discuss the same legal issue as in the case you've found.
Each subscription research service has its own citator. In Lexis, the citator is called Shepard's and Westlaw's citator is called KeyCite.
Online Resources
- U.S. Courts' Court LocatorIncludes hyperlinked color Circuit Map. May also search by type of court, zip code, city and state, circuit, or area code.
- Lexis CourtLink Support and TrainingLearn how you can easily create searches and find dockets, set up alerts, and track existing dockets across Lexis CourtLink’s unmatched collection of Federal and State court materials.
Reference Appointments
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