Case Law

							                         Paralegal
QUINCY COLLEGE           Studies Program




Legal Research & Writing
       LAW-215

      Case Law and
     Judicial Opinions
    Case Law and Judicial Opinions

   In this unit, we will learn:
       How to summarize the elements of judicial opinions.
       About the publication of cases, the elements of a
        typical court case, and the types of opinions written
        by judges.
       How to locate cases using different research
        sources.
       How to identify the elements of analyzing and
        briefing cases.
       The purpose of the National Reporter System
       Elements of a Case
   Case name
   Docket number and deciding court
   Date of decision
   Case summary or synopsis*
   Headnotes*
   Names of counsel
   Opinion
   Decision
                      *Not part of the court’s opinion
            Official v. Unofficial
            Publication of Cases
   The terms “official” and “unofficial” relate
    solely to the method of publication.
   The U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Circuit Courts
    of Appeal, and the courts of 29 states publish
    “official” reports.
   The cases of all courts are published in
    “unofficial” (i.e., commercial) reporters.
   For those jurisdictions that still publish
    “official” reports, parallel citations are
    required.
Publication of United States
  Supreme Court Cases

   United States Reports (U.S.)
   Supreme Court Reporter (S. Ct.)
   United States Supreme Court
    Reports, Lawyers’ Edition (L. Ed.)
Rapid Access to United States
   Supreme Court Cases
     Slip opinions
     Computer-assisted research
     United States Law Week
     Newspapers
     West Document Retrieval
     Internet
                Stage One

   The first stage in Legal Writing is
    formulating and outlining the applicable
    legal rule. This outline will become the
    outline of your analysis and of the
    discussion that communicates it.
   Right now, don’t worry about creating a
    document for your reader, just use your
    writing to work out your own analysis.
         West’s
National Reporter System
        National Reporter System




   “National Reporter System” refers to all the West
    case reporters – report cases from all 50 states
    and all federal courts
      7 regional reporters, e.g. North Eastern Reporter

      30 state reporters, e.g. Massachusetts Decisions

       various federal reporters
     West’s National Reporter
             System
North Western             Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota,
Reporter                  Nebraska, North Dakota,
                          South Dakota, and
N.W., N.W.2d              Wisconsin
Pacific Reporter          Alaska, Arizona, California,
P., P.2d, P.3d            Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho,
                          Kansas, Montana, Nevada,
                          New Mexico, Oklahoma,
                          Oregon, Utah, Washington,
                          and Wyoming
North Eastern Reporter Illinois, Indiana,
N.E., N.E.2d              Massachusetts, New York,
                          and Ohio
     West’s National Reporter
       System (continued)
Atlantic Reporter      Connecticut, Delaware,
A., A.2d               Maine, Maryland, New
                       Hampshire, New Jersey,
                       Pennsylvania, Rhode
                       Island, Vermont, and
                       Washington, D.C.
South Western          Arkansas, Kentucky,
Reporter               Missouri, Tennessee, and
                       Texas
S.W., S.W.2d, S.W.3d
Southern Reporter      Alabama, Florida,
So., So. 2d            Louisiana, and Mississippi
     West’s National Reporter
       System (continued)

South Eastern    Georgia, North Carolina,
Reporter         South Carolina, Virginia,
                 and West Virginia
S.E., S.E.2d
Features of West’s National
     Reporter System

    Table of cases reported
    Tables of statutes and rules
    Table of words and phrases
    List of judges
    Key number system
Introduction to a
Case in the
National Reporter
System
                                        Headnote 2
Case Headnotes
   Every case in the National
    Reporter System has at
    least one headnote.
   A headnote is a paragraph
    summary of a single point
    of law discussed in the
    case.
   Every headnote has at
    least one Topic & Key
    Number.
   Headnotes appear in the
    order the points of law are
    discussed in the case. Headnote 1
West Topic &
Key Number System
                                     Topic    Key No.

   Classification system with at least one
    topic and key number assigned to each
    point of law in each reported case
   Extensive outline of the entire body of
    case law in this country
   Index to entire National Reporter System,
    helping you locate cases with similar legal
    issues in any jurisdiction
         Key Number System

   A Key Number is a permanent number
    given by West to a specific legal subject
    as categorized by West.
   West first subdivided all possible legal
    subjects into seven main headings, then
    broke these headings into 32 subdivisions
    and approximately four hundred "Key
    Number topics."
Example of How
Legal Subjects are
Subdivided in West’s
Key Number System
Parallel Citations and Star Paging

   West’s reporters provide all parallel
    citations for the case.
   Use the National Reporter Blue Book to
    find parallel citations to unofficial
    reporters from an official citation.
   Star paging is a method of indicating
    original page numbers from the official
    reporter.
              Summary of Case Law
                  Publication
                                      Intermediate
               Highest Court                              Trial Courts
                                     Appellate Courts
Federal   United States Supreme     United States       United States
Cases      Court                    Courts of Appeal    District Court
          • United States Reports   cases are           cases are
          • Supreme Court
                                    published in        published in
            Reporter                Federal Reporter     Federal
                                    (F., F.2d, and F.3d) Supplement
          • United States
                                                         (F. Supp. and
            Supreme Court                                F. Supp. 2d)
            Reports, Lawyers’
            Edition
          • United States Law
            Week
        Summary of Case Law
         Publication (continued)
                                 Intermediate
            Highest Court                               Trial Courts
                                 Appellate Courts
State   State Supreme Courts    State Appellate        Generally,
Cases   (examples of official   Courts (examples       trial court
        sets are California     of official sets are   cases are not
        Reports and Georgia     California             published
        Reports)                Appellate Reports
                                and Georgia
                                Appeals Reports)
  End of Case Law
And Judicial Opinions