Legal Research & Case Law Guide
The following guide contains selected library resources for Legal Research.
- Court Structure
- Searching for Legal Cases
- Understanding Legal Citations
- Print Resources
- Online Databases
- Internet Resources
- General Reference Books
- Wisconsin State Law Library & Brown County Law Library
There are three levels to the U.S. court system:
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Trial Courts (Courts of First Instance) are the first level. Trial courts make determinations of law and fact in both civil and criminal cases. Juries are generally involved in these cases.
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Circuit Courts (Courts of Appeal) are the second level. Appellate courts examine cases for errors in the law in the records of the lower courts. Decisions are made by judges, no juries are involved.
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Supreme Court (Court of Last Resort) is the highest appeals court. A loser in an appellate court case can appeal the case to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court can refuse to hear a case.
Searching for a legal case is generally done one of two ways:
- The first way is with a legal citation already in hand [e.g. Roe v. Wade 410 US 113 (1973)]. When you already have a citation, use the appropriate Reporter to find the case.
- The second way is to research a specific topic to find appropriate legal citations. For this you will generally begin with a Digest.
A Reporter is a collection of court decisions for a particular court or group of courts. A Digest is used to locate cases on a particular subject. Digests provide summaries of and citations to cases, but do not provide access to the cases themselves. To access the cases, refer to the appropriate Reporter.
Legal Citations are generally made up of five parts:
- Name of the case (usually name vs. name)
- Volume number where the case appears
- Abbreviation of the title of the set of books reporting the case (Reporter)
- Page number
- Year
The example citation show above is Roe v. Wade 410 U.S. 114 (1973)
| Roe v. Wade | 410 | U.S. | 114 | 1973 |
| Name | Volume # | Title | Page # | Year |
Note on Title Abbreviations: Publications where the names of cases appear (Reporters) have standard abbreviations used throughout case law. Some of the abbreviations you may run across in the Cofrin Library include:
| Abbreviations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Am Jur 2nd | American Jurisprudence 2nd Set | Ref KF 154 .A42 |
| U.S. | United States Reports | Ref GVP U.S. Ju 6.8/A |
| USC | United States Code | Ref GVP U.S Y 1.2/5-3x |
| USTC | U.S. Tax Cases | Ref HJ 3251 .A39 C6 |
| ELR | Environmental Law Reporter | Ref KF 3775 .A6 E5 |
| Wis | Wisconsin Reports | Ref GVP Wis Cou.1 |
| Wis 2d | Wisconsin Reports 2nd Series | Ref GVP Wis Cou.1 2nd Ser. |
A complete Table of Abbreviations is available in the Black's Law Dictionary Ref KF 156 I56 B53 1990 (the Library also has the 1999 edition)
| Print Resources | |
|---|---|
| American Jurisprudence (Reporter) | REF KF 154 .A42 updated by pocket parts in the back of volume |
| Environmental Law Reporter (ELR) | REF KF 3775 .A6 E5 |
| U.S. Reports (U.S.) | REF GVP/US Ju 6.8 |
| U.S. Supreme Court Digest | REF GVP/US Ju 6.8/x |
| U.S. Tax Cases (USTC) | REF HJ3251 .A39 C6-Remote Storage, check with Reference Librarian for assistance |
| Callaghan's Official Wisconsin Reports (State Supreme Court) (Wis & Wis 2d) | REF GVP/WI Cou.1 and REF GVP/WI Cou.1 2nd Ser. |
| West's Wisconsin Key Number Digest (State Supreme Court) | REF GVP/WI Z.5/5 |
| Opinions of the Attorney General of the State of Wisconsin | REF GVP/WI ATT.1 |
| Online Databases | |
|---|---|
| Academic Universe-Legal Research (Federal and Wisconsin Information) & Law Review Articles | Available from the How Do I Find Articles page under Online Databases. |
| CCH Tax Research Network | Available from the How Do I Find Articles page under Online Databases. This database is available off campus. |
| Internet Resources | |
|---|---|
| Federal Court Locator | http://www.law.emory.edu/FEDCTS/ |
| FindLaw-General Legal Information | http://www.findlaw.com |
| State Court Locator | http://www.ncsconline.org/D_KIS/info_court_web_sites.html |
| WISBAR Legal Resources-Wisconsin State Supreme Court Decisions; Same as Callaghan's Official Reports | http://www.wisbar.org/legalres/ |
| Wisconsin Circuit Court Access-Circuit Court Decisions, no transcripts. | http://wcca.wicourts.gov/index.xsl |
| Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)-Under Litigation: Commission Opinions, Administrative Proceedings & other information | http://www.sec.gov/ |
| General Reference Books | |
|---|---|
| American Jurisprudence | REF KF 154 .A42 |
| American Law Dictionary | REF KF 156 .R46 1991 |
| Black's Law Dictionary | REF KF 156 .B3 1999; 1990 edition contains the list of title abbreviations |
| Dictionary of International and Comparative Law | REF JX 126 .F69 1992 |
| Encyclopedia of Modern Legal Usage | REF KF 156 .G367 1987 |
| Encyclopedia of the American Judicial System: Studies of the Principal Institutions and Processes of the Law | REF KF 157 .E53 1987 |
| Find the Law in the Library: A Guide to Legal Research | REF KF 240 .C63 1989 |
| How to Find the Law | REF KF 40 .C538 1983 |
| Index to Legal Periodicals and Books | 3rd Floor Index Shelves 1967-1996 |
| Legal Information: How to Use It, How to Find It | REF KF 240 .O365 1999 |
| Legal Research in a Nutshell | REF KF 240 .C54 2000 |
| Real Life Dictionary of the Law | REF KF 156 .H55 1995 |
Wisconsin State Law Library & Brown County Law Library
For complicated law reference questions, call the Wisconsin State Law Library toll-free number at: (800) 322-9755
The Brown County Courthouse Law Library is located at 100 S. Jefferson Street in Downtown Green Bay (920) 448-4114. Note: This library is not staffed by a librarian. It is strictly a self-help environment.