What can I learn from a case citation?: Key information

Case citations tell readers some important information about the case.  While this guide does not explore all the variations, here are a few pieces of information that an experienced citation reader can tell in a glance.

• Case Name
• Case Reporter
• Jurisdiction
• Date

The template for a case citation is

 <CASE NAME>, <Vol# REPORTER Pg#>  (<JURISDICTION> <DATE>)

Case name is important because often it is the way we refer to a case.  For instance, Roe v. Wade and Brown v. Board of Education are two very famous cases.  The case name is the first thing listed in a case citation.

Case reporter is important because that is how we find the cases.  Case reporters are books that have the cases.  They are designated by a volume number, the name of the reporter, and a page number where we can find the case. The case reporter is the second thing listed in a case citation.  If you are using Nexis Uni or Westlaw, you can copy the reporter information along with the volume and page numbers, paste it into the search bar and the case will usually come right up.

Sometimes you will see multiple reporters listed.  You usually only need one of the reporters to find the case using the reporter’s citation.

If a reporter begins with an “F.” that is an indication that the case is probably in a federal jurisdiction (e.g., F. Supp, F.2d).

For a more detailed look at reporters, you could check out Georgetown Law Library's LibGuide on Case Reporters.

Jurisdiction is important because the federal government and all states each have their own set of laws.  Jurisdiction with courts is a little odd though, because a federal court will sometimes hear a state claim if the matter involves a dispute between parties from different states.  Also, there are federal circuit courts which each hear appeals from federal courts in several different states. See this map for federal courts.  Jurisdiction is usually the third thing listed in a case citation.

Jurisdictions for the highest courts are not always listed along with the date, but sometimes are instead inferred through the name of the reporter. 

If the reporter is abbreviated U.S. or S.Ct., that means that the case is from the United States Supreme Court, and the jurisdiction is not listed in the parentheses with the date.  This is true for the vast majority of U.S. Supreme Court cases. If a U.S. Supreme court case is from another reporter, then the jurisdiction may be listed next to the date with the abbreviation U.S.

When the jurisdiction is the state’s highest court, and the reporter has the same name as the state, the jurisdiction does not usually appear next to the date because it can be inferred from the reporter’s name.  See example below.  Generally, the highest court of a state is abbreviated with an abbreviation for the state (e.g., Mich., Mo., N.Y.).  The highest court for each state is usually called a supreme court, although it is worth noting that for New York, it is called the Court of Appeals.

Federal district courts often have a state’s abbreviation in them, but you can tell they are a federal court because the jurisdiction includes a “D.” before the abbreviation of the state.   For instance, two federal districts are in Michigan.  They are the Western District of Michigan (W.D. Mich.) and Eastern District of Michigan (E.D. Mich.).  Some states have only one federal district (e.g., D. Kan.).

State trial level opinions are rarely published in reporters.  When they are cited, they are usually cited using a case number instead of the reporter format.

Date is important because laws change. If you have an old case, there is a chance that the law has changed since that decision was made. For current hot topics, even a recent case may be superseded by a more recent case.  Date is the last part of the citation.

Examples of federal cases:

• Supreme Court: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).
  • Note the jurisdiction isn’t listed because this is a U.S. Supreme court case, which you can identify with a reporter abbreviated U.S. or S.Ct.
• Appellate Court: Gary B. v. Whitmer - 957 F.3d 616 (6th Cir. 2020).
  • Note the jurisdiction is listed as the 6^th Circuit.  The lack of a state abbreviation is a sign that this is a federal case.  You may find yourself becoming familiar with some of the reporter abbreviations, too, in which case the F.3d would also indicate a federal case.
• District Court: United States v. Yonkers Bd. of Educ., 624 F. Supp. 1276 (S.D.N.Y. 1985), aff'd, 837 F.2d 1181 (2d Cir. 1987)
  • Note the “D.” just before the state abbreviation, “N.Y.” in S.D.N.Y., which indicates that is in the Southern District of New York.  S.D.N.Y. in combination with F.Supp. as a reporter helps you tell it is a federal district court case.
  • The part where it says “aff’d…” indicates this District court decision was affirmed by the Second Circuit in 1987.  Not all district court opinions will be explicitly affirmed by the circuit court, but it does come up sometimes.

Examples of state cases:

• High Court: Snyder v. Charlotte Pub. Sch. Dist., Eaton Cty., 421 Mich. 517, 365 N.W.2d 151 (1984).
  • Note the jurisdiction is clearly listed in the first reporter (421 Mich. 517), and not next to the date, so that means you can infer that it comes from the highest court of Michigan.  
  • Note that there are two reporters listed here (Mich. and N.W.2d); you could find the case using either reporter.
  • Note that if the reporters didn’t indicate the state, the jurisdiction would need to be listed next to the date.  This is because you could not infer the jurisdiction from the reporter.  For instance if the first reporter weren’t listed, the citation would look more like this:
    • Snyder v. Charlotte Pub. Sch. Dist., Eaton Cty., 365 N.W.2d 151 (Mich. 1984)
• Appellate Court: Bd. of Educ. City of St. Louis v. State, 134 S.W.3d 689 (Mo. Ct. App. 2004).
  • Note that with an appellate court, the jurisdiction is included along with the date.
• Trial Court: Avila v. Berkeley United Sch. Dist., No. RG03-110397, 2004 WL 793295 (Cal. Super. Ct. Apr. 6, 2004)
  • State level trial opinions are rarely tracked in reporters.
  • Sometimes legal databases such as Westlaw and Lexis will have a tracking number for them.
  • They are generally tracked by case number, jurisdiction, and date.  For this case
    • The case number is RG03-110397
    • The Westlaw tracking number is 2004 WL 793295
    • The jurisdiction is California Superior Court (note that this is a trial level court not a supreme court)
    • The date is Apr. 6, 2004