1. First Amendment: Legal Sources September 29th

2. What is a Case? Case = decision = opinion = judgment Issued in writing by a court of law Resolves a controversy

3. How a Case Begins? Lawsuit filed with a court In writing 98+ % of lawsuits filed settle out of court Very small percentage goes to trial

4. Trial Court A judge presides Jury may be present – Typical in criminal cases Evidence introduced – Witnesses testify – Documents introduced Many trial court decisions not published

5. Appellate Court Judge presides, usually at least 3 Hears appeal from trial court No jury; judges and attorneys only No additional evidence or legal issues presented Decisions frequently published, but not always Can overturn trial court or lower appellate court decisions

6. U.S. Court System U.S. District Courts – trial courts U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal – intermediate appellate courts U.S. Supreme Court

7. Case Reporters U.S. District Courts – Federal Supplement (F. Supp., F. Supp. 2d) U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal – Federal Reporter (F., F.2d, F.3d)

8. U.S. Supreme Court Case Reporters United States Reports (U.S.) – Published by U.S. government United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers’ Edition (L.Ed., L.Ed.2d) – Published by LexisNexis Supreme Court Reporter (S.Ct.) – Published by West

9. Case Citation Form Gonzales v. Williams, 192 U.S. 1, 24 S.Ct. 177, 48 L.Ed. 317 (1904). First number = volume of case reporter Second number = page number of first page of decision

10. Anatomy of an Opinion Caption – Names of parties – Court – Date of decision Headnotes Syllabus by Court Reporter Opinion of the Court Concurring and Dissenting Opinions

11. How to Find a Specific Case Citation – use Westlaw Campus Identify the jurisdiction Identify a party’s name (plaintiff or defendant) Identify a fact from the case and a relevant legal concept; then run a search

12. Why Can’t I Find the Case? Trial court decisions – small % published – State trial court decisions rarely published (except New Jersey and Pennsylvania) Case settled – no opinion Jury trial – jury verdict form only; not published Unpublished opinion – Written opinion but judge decides not to publish; copy available at courthouse

13. US Supreme Court Briefs Landmark Briefs and Arguments of the United States Supreme Court Records and Briefs of the Supreme Court of the United States (microfiche) LexisNexis Academic Westlaw Campus Findlaw Supreme Court Center

14. Case Digests Organized by legal subject West key number Includes abstract of case and citation to case reporter Multivolume descriptive word index Federal Practice Digest Atlantic Digest

15. Electronic Legal Sources for Cases LexisNexis Academic / Legal Research Westlaw Campus LexisNexis (commercial version) Findlaw

16. Verifying Law is Current Shepard’s – Shepardizing – By LexisNexis KeyCite – By Westlaw

17. Shepard’s and KeyCite as a Research Tool Citations to all cases mentioning the principal case Citations to law review articles and certain treatises that mention the principal case

18. Legal Research Guides How to Find the Law Fundamentals of Legal Research Legal Information: How to Find It, How to Use It Law Librarians’ Exchange – www.llrx.com www.llrx.com