Appendix to Chapter 1 Finding and Analyzing the Law

2 Finding Statutory and Administrative Law Federal statutes  Are found in the United States Code (U.S.C.). State statutes  Are found in state statutes or codes such as:  13 Pennsylvania consolidated statutes section  California Commercial Code Section Federal regulations  Are compiled in the Code of Federal regulations (C.F.R.).

3 Example Statutory and Other Citations 18 U.S.C. Section 1961(1)(A) UCC 2-206(1)(b) 17 C.F.R. Section

4 Finding Case Law In order to understand how to find case law, one must first understand the basic organizational structure of the court system. In the U.S. there are two types of courts:  Federal courts  State courts Both systems consist of trial courts, appellate (reviewing) courts, and supreme courts.

5 State Court Decisions Most state trial court decisions are not published. Written decisions of appellate, or reviewing, courts are published in volumes called reports or reporters. The most commonly used reporters are those of the national reporter system, which divides the states into geographic areas.

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7 State Court Decisions

8 Federal Court Decisions Federal district court decisions are published in the federal supplement (F. Supp.). Federal circuit courts of appeals decisions are published in the federal reporter (F., F.2d, or F.3d). United States Supreme Court decisions are published in one of three sources:  United States reports (U.S.)  Supreme Court reporter (S.Ct.)  Lawyer’s edition of the Supreme Court reports (L.Ed.)

9 Reading and Understanding Case Law Case law is critical to decision making in the business context because businesses must operate within the boundaries established by law. The first step in analyzing any case is to carefully read the facts to identify each party.  Beware! Although at the trial level, the plaintiff is usually listed first (Adams v. Jones), it is often impossible to distinguish the plaintiff from the defendant in the title of a reported appellate court decision.

10 Case Titles and Terminology Plaintiffs and Defendants Appellants and Appellees Judges and Justices Decisions and Opinions Abbreviations

11 Diagramming Case Problems You may find it helpful to diagram the facts of a case or problem using symbols and arrows to show who is suing whom. Common symbols include:  to represent the plaintiff  to represent the defendant

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17 Example Case Citations: State Courts 256 Neb. 170, 589 N.W.2d 318 (1999) 75 Cal. App. 4th, 89 Cal. Rptr.2d 146 (1999) 85 N.Y.2d 549, 650 N.E.2d 829, 626 N.Y.S.2d 982 (1995) 236 Ga.App. 582, 512 S.E.2d 27 (1999)

18 Example Case Citations: Federal Courts __ U.S. __, 119 S.Ct. 1961, 144 L.Ed.2d 319 (1999) 177 F.3d 114 (2d Cir. 1999) 38 F.Supp. 2d 1233 (D.Colo. 1999)

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