Legal Research: How to Find & Understand the Law by Attorneys Stephen Elias & Susan Levinkind (Nolo)

Author:Attorneys Stephen Elias & Susan Levinkind (Nolo) [Elias, Attorneys Stephen & Levinkind, Susan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-01-08T05:51:17.856000+00:00

Volume Number

A case citation provides the volume number of the reporter

in which the case is located. the volumes of each separate

reporter are numbered consecutively.

Citation Form

Name of Reporter

obviously a citation wouldn’t be much help without the

Citations often take slightly different forms. For

name of the reporter. that information comes immediately

example, it is not uncommon to see the date

after the volume number. in the Lukhard case, the full name immediately following the case name or different

of the reporter is U.S. Supreme Court Reports: Lawyer’s

abbreviations that designate the reporter. A

Edition.

nationwide system of citations is contained in a

examples of abbreviations for other reporters:

book titled A Uniform System of Citation, 18th ed.

• “A.” ( Atlantic Reporter)

(colloquially called the “Harvard Blue Book”). It has

• “P.” ( Pacific Reporter)

been developed primarily for law school use, but

• “U.S.” ( United States Reports)

is used in federal courts and most state courts. We

• “F. Supp.” ( Federal Supplement)

follow it here for the most part.

• “F.” ( Federal Reporter)

Most reporters have been published in two or more

series. For example, the Lukhard case is pub lished in the CHAPTER 9: FINDING CASES

163

second series of the l. ed. reporter (l. ed. 2d). Cases

Parallel Citations

decided in the nineteenth and early twentieth century were

As mentioned in Chapter 8, cases are often found in more

published in the first series (l. ed). in litigious states like

than one reporter. For example, u.S. Supreme Court cases

California, the case reporters are up to their fourth series.

can be found in three separate reporters. When you see a

For instance, a citation for a recent California case is Arroyo u.S. Supreme Court case referred to (that is, “cited”), you

v. State of Calif., 34 Cal. App. 4th 755 (1995).

will often see three citations following the case name.

Do not worry about memorizing all of these

Example: Lukhard v. Reed

ab breviations. Virtually every legal research tool

• 481 U.S. 368

that you’ll be using contains a table of abbreviations for the

United States Reports

various case reports. Also, as you do research within your

• 95 L. Ed. 2d 328

own state, you’ll quickly get to know the most commonly-

Lawyer’s Edition, 2d Series

used abbreviations. If you are ever in doubt, law librarians

• 107 S. Ct. 1807 (1987)

will come to the rescue.

Supreme Court Reporter

these three citations are known as parallel citations

The Page Number

because they parallel each other (that is, refer to the same

case).

you have undoubtedly already figured out what the next

item of a citation is for. it provides the page number the

Citations to Advance Sheets

case starts on.

Advance sheets are numbered and paginated in ac cord with

Year of the Decision

the rest of the reporter and serve as the re porter until a

new hardcover reporter is produced. For example, a 1991

Citations also carry the year the case was decided. this

u.S. Supreme Court advance sheet (for U.S. Supreme Court

information can be helpful because old law tends to be bad

Reports, Lawyer’s Edition) is labeled vol. 113 l. ed. 2d., law. When you’re doing research, you usually want to first

no. 2. one of the cases reported in this advance sheet is

check the most recent cases re lating to your problem.

Columbia v. Omni Outdoor Advertising, on page 382. the

now you know that the citation Lukhard v. Reed, 95 l.

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