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University of Wyoming

Finding a Case

 

    Cases are published in sets of books called reporters.  Cases within reporters are arranged chronologically, and reporters themselves are grouped by jurisdiction.  A case citation consists of the name of the case, the volume number of the reporter, the abbreviated name of the reporter, the page on which the case begins, and the year the case was decided.

    Example:  Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, 109 S. Ct. 3040 (1989)

    You may see a “2d” or “3d” following the reporter abbreviation.  This indicates a new series.  When a new series begins, numbering of volumes starts over again at volume 1. You can easily get confused if you do not look for both the series and volume number on the spine of the reporter.

     Below are the abbreviations and names of the most common reporters, the locations of these reporters within our library, and their coverage in terms of jurisdiction.

 

Abbreviation

Name of Reporter

Location

Coverage

Federal Cases
U.S.
United States Reports
M-S-1
U.S. Supreme Court
S. Ct.
Supreme Court Reporter
M-S-1 to 2
U.S. Supreme Court
L. Ed.
Lawyers' Edition
S-N-21
U.S. Supreme Court
F.
Federal Reporter
M-S-2 to 4
U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal
F. Supp.
Federal Supplement
M-S-4 to 6
U.S. District Courts

 

State Cases
A.
Atlantic Reporter
M-S-7 to 8
CT, DE, MD, ME, NH, NJ, PA, RI, VT
N.E.
Northeastern Reporter
M-S-9 & 10
IL, IN, MA, NY, OH
N.W.
Northwestern Reporter
M-S-10 & 11
IA, MI, MN, ND, NE, SD, WI
P.
Pacific Reporter
M-S-12 to 14
AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, KS, MT, NV, NM, OK, OR, UT, WA, WY
S.E.
Southeastern Reporter
M-S-13 & 14
GA, NC, SC, VA, WV
So.
Southern Reporter
M-S-14 & 15
AL, FL, LA, MS
S.W.
Southwestern Reporter
M-S-15 & 16
AR, KY, MO, TN, TX

 

    These sets are arranged on the shelves of our reference area similar to the nation’s hierarchical court system, beginning with the federal courts.  Reporters for the U.S. Supreme Court are shelved first, followed by U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal, then U.S. Federal District Courts.  These are followed by the state decisions bound in the “regional reporters” listed above and shelved in alphabetical order.  Generally only state appellate decisions are published.

    The first series of all the regional reporters except the Pacific Reporter and some of the federal reporters is in the basement.  They are arranged on the shelves in the same order as they are on the main floor, that is, Supreme Court cases, other federal cases, then regional reporters in alphabetical order.  See basement shelving ranges B-5 through B-11.

    Sometimes a case is reported in more than one reporter.  In that case there will be a parallel citation separated by a comma.

 Example:  97 Wash. 2d 317, 646 P.2d 113 (1982)

    Usually the official state reporter appears first, followed by the regional reporter citation.  Except for United States Supreme Court cases and Wyoming cases, the Law Library does not have the state reporter that appears in the first part of the parallel citation.  Look for the case using the second part of the parallel citation (646 P.2d 113 in the example above).

 

Searching for cases by topic

    Each set of reporters has an accompanying set of digests which index the subject matter of each case and arrange them according to a subject schema.  Our digest sets for Wyoming are at M-N-1; other sets begin at M-S-20. Generally it is best to look up the subject in the Index to find where it is arranged within the set unless you have a knowledge of legal terms.  Another way to find cases about a topic is to search for articles in law journals.  A law journal article will not only explain the law and the cases, but also cite to cases in the footnotes.  These cases can then be looked up in the reporters.

 

Case Name

    If you have only the name of the case but no citation, use the Table of Cases at the end of the digest set for your known jurisdiction.  For older cases, you may have to look in both the Plaintiff-Defendant Table of Cases, which lists the Plaintiff first, and the Defendant-Plaintiff Table of Cases, which lists the Defendant first.  The digest set you use will depend on what court decided the case and the time frame of the case.  The Decennial Digest includes all published cases and is cumulated every five to ten years.  If you don’t have an idea of when your case was heard, you may have to sort through a number of sets. Digest sets are located in the Reference area, M-N-1 to M-N-3. 

    For a Wyoming case, use the Table of Cases in the Wyoming Digest located on M-N-1.  Follow the same process and remember to check the pocket part in the back inside cover of the book. 

    For very recent court cases, ask the librarian for assistance.

 

Online Resources

    Lexisnexis, available through the UW Libraries online catalog under the Articles link, has a nice collection of case law searchable by citation, case name, or subject.

    Other internet sources for cases are Findlaw, http://findlaw.com; Legal Information Institute at Cornell, http://www.law.cornell.edu; and Lexisone, http://lexisnexis.com/default.asp. Most of these sites have U.S. Supreme Court cases back to the 1800's or earlier.  However, coverage of other courts is not comprehensive, with the collection of most federal cases going back to mid-1990s.  These sites will link to state resources online for state cases.  Coverage for state cases varies widely.  For Wyoming Supreme Court cases, see http://www.courts.state.wy.us.

 

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