Finding Cases

Cases are published in volumes called "case reports", "report(s)" or "reporter(s)". Every reported (published) case has a unique citation. As long as you have the citation, you can find any case published in a standard case reporter. A case citation usually contains the case name, the name of the reporter(s) where the case is published, the volume number(s) of the reporter(s), the page number, the year the case was decided. The following is an example of a case citation:

Ways to locate the citation

There are several ways to locate the citation of a case. The following are often used by a librarians:

1. Citations in the encyclopedias
   Encyclopedias are a good place to start to get case information on a specific topic. Includes general legal encyclopedias:
   • American Jurisprudence abbreviated Am. Jur. (Available in print through 1997 at REF/KF105.A53 and kept up to date on CD-ROMS located at the workstation near the reference desk)
   • Guide to American Law (REF/KF156. G77 kept up to date with yearly supplements)
   • Corpus Juris Secundum, abbreviated C.J.S. (REF/KF105.C6 1936) ceased with volume 101 and
   • West's Encyclopedia of American Law (REF/KF154.W47). The citations of the cases are given under the relevant entry (most of them in footnote form). These encyclopedias are compiled in an alphabetical order, you may start searching with the index and remember to try terms under different synonyms.
2. Case notes that follow statutes
   If you are searching a case that has interpreted a relevant statute, summaries which contain a case citation are given at the end of the entry of the state's code (Code of Alabama 1975 REF KFA 30 1975) or the United States Code Annotated version (United State Annotated, CD-ROM).
3. Case Digest
   Digest is a publication reprinting in a subject arrangement. The summaries are grouped under alphabetically arranged topics and the topic-related case(s) and the citations are given. Several digests are available in our library. These digests are:
   • West's Federal Practice Digest (2d, 3d, & 4th REF KF 127.W48)
   • Southern Digest (REF.KF 135.S81S64)
   • West's Alabama Digest 2d (REF KFA47.1A2) and
   • West's Federal Digest (CD-ROM Edition).
4. Shepard's case citators
   Shepard's case citators are often used by researchers to study and verify the current authority of decisions relevant to their research.  Citations to the case may look like this:

   -473- -------------------------------- Page Number
   In re Pierce
   v. Alabama-------------------------- Case Name
   1974--------------------------------- Year of the decision

   (296So2d218)----------------------- Parallel Citation

   s419US1130
   s42LE830-----------------------------History references and citations
   s95SC816

   292Ala467
   j293Ala776
   f294Ala664
   e294Ala671--------------------------Other treatment citations by the Alabama Courts
          
           
           
   Cir. 10
   649FS1018------------------Other treatment citation by the federal courts

   36Law55
   64VaL408-------------------Citations in articles in legal periodicals
   

Case Sources

You can find cases in print or CD-ROM format in our library, you can also find cases through the Internet. Details of the print/CD-ROM sources and the URL of the case finding web sites are give below (for more abbreviations, please see Black Law's Dictionary REF KF 156 .B53)

1. Print/CD-ROM Sources in Houston Cole Library:
   a. United States Reports (U.S.): KF 101 .U5 (10th Floor, Reference Section)
   • Official Supreme Court reports. Covering cases and decisions from the year 1790 to present. Compiled chronologically. Decisions first appear in slip opinion form, then on an official advance sheet (called the "preliminary print"), and finally the bound U.S. Reports column.
   • Library Has: Vol. 259- Present (print)
   • Librarian's Suggestion: Good place to look up Supreme Court cases from year 1921.
   b. United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyer's Edition (L.Ed.): KF 101 .U52 (10th Floor, Reference Section)
   • Commercial Supreme Court reports. Covers all Supreme Court decisions since the court's inception in 1790. Compiled chronologically.
   • Library Has: Vol. 1- Vol. 67 (print)
   • Librarian's Suggestion: Good place to find supreme court cases from 1790 to 1922.
   c. United States Supreme Court Reporter (S.Ct.): KF 101 .S9 (10th Floor, Reference Section)
   • Commercial Supreme Court reports. Covers Supreme Court cases since 1882. Compiled chronologically.
   • Library Has: Vol.52-Vol.110A (print)
   • Librarian's Suggestion: Good place to find cases between Oct. 1931 to Oct. 1989.
   d. Federal Supplement (F. Supp.): KF 120. F4 (10th Floor, Reference Section)
   • U.S. District Court cases and decisions. Includes decisions of the U.S. Court of International Trades cases. Compiled chronologically under each district court.
   • Library Has:  F. Supp.: Vol. 176-Vol.949 (print), Vol.475-Vol.999 (CD-ROM), F.Supp.2d.: Vol.1-Vol.118 & Table of Cases (CD-ROM)
   • Librarian's Suggestion: Good place to find district cases and international trade case.
   e. Federal Reporter Second Series/Third Series (F.2d/F3d): KF 105 .F42 (10th Floor, Reference Section)
   • Lower federal cases and decisions of the U.S. Courts of Appeals from 1880. More emphasis on the U.S. temporary emergency at present.  Compiled chronologically under each circuit court.
   • Library Has: F.2d: Vol. 176-Vol.999 (print), Vol.604-999 (CD-ROM), F.3d: Vol. 1- Vol. 104 (print), Vol.1-Vol.228 & Table of Cases (CD-ROM)
   • Librarian's Suggestion: Good place to find appeals cases of the lower federal courts.
   f. Alabama Reporter (Ala): KFA 45 .A22(10th Floor, Reference Section)
   • Report cases argued and determined in the Supreme Court of Alabama. Compiled chronologically.
   • Library Has: Vol. 97-Vol. 687 (print), So.: Vol.1- Vol. 200 (CD-ROM), So.2d: Vol. 1- Vol. 762 (CD-ROM)
   • Librarian's Suggestion: Good place to find Alabama supreme court cases.
   g. Alabama Appellate Court Reports (Ala.App.): KFA 47 .A2 (10th Floor, Reference Section)
   • Report cases argued and determined in the court of appeals of Alabama. Compiled chronologically.
   • Library Has: Vol. 16-Vol. 57
   • Librarian's Suggestion: Good place to find Alabama appeal court cases.
2. Internet Resources
   FindLaw
   • http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html (supreme court cases)
   • http://www.findlaw.com (state court cases)
   The Metaindex for U.S. Legal Research
   • http://gsulaw.gsu.edu/metaindex/ (supreme court cases)
   FedWorld/FLITE Supreme Court Decision 1937-1975
   • http://www.fedworld.gov/supcourt/index.htm
   InfoSynthesis---
   • http://www.usscplus.com/(supreme court cases)
   Legal Information Institute
   • http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/index.php (supreme court cases)
   Selected History Decisions
   • http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/cases/historic.htm(supreme court cases)
   • http://www.law.cornell.edu/states/index.html (state court cases)
   Oral Arguments
   • http://oyez.nwu.edu (supreme court cases)
   National Federation of Paralegal Associations
   • http://paralegals.org/LegalResources/(state court cases)
   Finding newest cases by keyword search in the following sites:
   • Yahoo: http://www.yahoo.com
   • FindLaw's Law Crawler: http://www.findlaw.com
   • Altavista: http://www.altavista.com
   • VersusLaw: http://www.versuslaw.com
   • Law News Network:http://www.lawnewsnetwork.com
   • Court TV: http://www.courttv.com

Comments & Suggestions, please contact Hanrong Wang