LEGAL CITATIONS

Legal citations are sometimes confusing to beginning legal researchers. However, once you understand how they are put together, you can find just about any published case in our collection without any assistance.

In short, every reporter citation has three component parts which are always given in the same order:

265
Volume Number

U.S.
Name of Reporter Title
274
Beginning Page Number

Reporters are simply books which publish court cases or opinions in serial fashion (i.e. in an ongoing series of volumes). To assist legal researchers in locating court opinions, most legal publishers will give you citations to all the standard sources:

For example: 93 S.Ct. 705, 410 U.S. 113, 35 L.Ed. 2nd 147
Or for state cases: 45 Ohio St. 2d 107, 341 N.E. 2d 576

You only need to look at one of these cites since they include the same opinion on the same case when they are strung together in this manner. In the first example, you could look at any one of three books. In the second, either one of two books.

Below is a list of abbreviations for most of the standard reporters found in the Reference Law Collection.
Law Tools/Reporters Collection
1st Floor, East Wing
Abbreviation Name Call Number
A Atlantic Reporter Try Lexis Nexis Academic
or the MSU College of Law Library
ALR American Law Reports Available at the MSU College of Law Library
ALR Fed American Law Reports, Federal Available at the MSU College of Law Library
Cal. Rptr. West's California Reporter Try Lexis Nexis Academic
or the MSU College of Law Library
F Federal Reporter Try Lexis Nexis Academic
or the MSU College of Law Library
FRD Federal Rules Decisions Try MSU College of Law Library
F.S. or F.Supp. Federal Supplement Try Lexis Nexis Academic
or the MSU College of Law Library
L.Ed. U.S. Reports, Lawyers' Edition KH .U558 S82
Mich Michigan Reports Try Lexis Nexis Academic
or the MSU College of Law Library
MichApp Michigan Appeals Reports Try Lexis Nexis Academic
or the MSU College of Law Library
N.E. Northeastern Reporter Try Lexis Nexis Academic
or the MSU College of Law Library
N.W. Northwestern Reporter Try Lexis Nexis Academic
or the MSU College of Law Library
N.Y.S.2d New York Supplement, 2d Series Try Lexis Nexis Academic
or the MSU College of Law Library
P Pacific Reporter Try Lexis Nexis Academic
or the MSU College of Law Library
S Southern Reporter Try Lexis Nexis Academic
or the MSU College of Law Library
S.C. or S.Ct. Supreme Court Reporter Try Lexis Nexis Academic
or the MSU College of Law Library
S.E. Southeastern Reporter Try Lexis Nexis Academic
or the MSU College of Law Library
S.W. Southwestern Reporter Try Lexis Nexis Academic
or the MSU College of Law Library
U.S. United States Reports KH .U558 S82



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Last revised 01/04/6

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