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Case
Law refers to decisions that are made by a court and are published as
judicial decisions. When
using the case study method, students are encouraged to carry out the
following steps:
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Review
the background information and the facts in the case.
-
Determine
the main issue in the case.
-
Examine
alternative arguments on the issue in the case.
-
Consider
the decision (both majority and dissenting opinions) and legal
reasoning in the case.
For
a thorough understanding or how to interpret legal citations you can go
to "Introduction
to Basic Legal Citation." For a brief introduction to reading court decisions, go to the following
web links:
Deciphering a
Case:
When you access case
law you can expect to see a set of notations that may be new to you.
Here is an introduction
to deciphering cases that you might find useful:
A citation to a court
case includes the elements shown in the following example:
Roe
v. Wade, 93 S.Ct. 705 (1973).
Roe v. Wade
= These are the names of the parties in the case. The first name
listed is the plaintiff, the party bringing the suit. The second
name is the defendant. If the defendant loses in the trial court and
appeals the court's decision, the defendant's name may be listed
first in the appellate case.
93 = "93" indicates the volume number of
the case reporter which contains the full text of the court's
decision.
S.Ct. = This is the abbreviation for the case
reporter, Supreme Court Reporter, which contains the full text of
the court's decision.
705 = "705" is the first page of the
case.
1973 = "1973" is the year that the case
was decided.
Frequently Used
Reporter Abbreviations:
United
States Supreme Court Decisions
U. S. = United
States Reports
S. Ct. =
Supreme Court Reporter
L. Ed. = United
States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyer's Edition (also L. Ed.
2d, second series)
Lower
Federal Courts
F., F.2d, F.3d = Federal
Reporter (three different series)
F. Supp. = Federal Supplement
F.R.D. = Federal Rules Decisions
State
Courts and Regional Reporters
A., A.2d = Atlantic
Reporter, Atlantic Reporter second series
Cal.Rptr., Cal.Rptr.2d = California Reporter, California
Reporter second series
N.E., N.E.2d = Northeastern Reporter, Northeastern Reporter
second series
N.W., N.W.2d = Northwestern Reporter, Northwestern Reporter
second series
N.Y.S., N.Y.S.2d = New York Supplement, New York Supplement
second series
P., P.2d = Pacific Reporter, Pacific Reporter second series
S.E., S.E.2d = Southeastern Reporter, Southeastern Reporter
second series
So., So.2d = Southern Reporter, Southern Reporter second
series
S.W., S.W.2d = Southwestern Reporter, Southwestern Reporter
second series
To determine the
meaning of other legal abbreviations, consult the most recent edition
of Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations :Reference Guide for
Attorneys, Legal Secretaries, Paralegals and Law Students. Mary
Miles Prince ed., 4th ed. [Reference: KF246 .B46 1993].
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