Gallagher Law Library - UW School of Law

Case Law

Legal Research Guides
Updated May 2, 2000.
Prepared by Peggy Jarrett for LIS 545: Government Publications.

Case Law

The word "case" is often used interchangeably with "opinion" or "decision." It is the written resolution of the issues in dispute, written by a judge or a panel of judges. It is not a jury verdict. Juries decide facts; judges decide law.

Cases come from courts. A generic court system consists of (1) trial courts, (2) intermediate appellate courts, and (3) the appellate court of last resort, which is often called the "Supreme Court." There are also specialized federal courts (Bankruptcy, Tax, etc.).

On the state level, reported, or published, opinions generally come from the appellate courts � not the trial courts. On the federal level, some trial court cases are reported. Remember that in a jury trial, there is nothing to "report" except a verdict.

The full text of published opinions are printed in sets of books called reporters. Only those opinions that the court deems to have precedential value are published. Judges use these published cases to decide later cases involving similar facts or issues. When a court first releases an opinion, it is usually published as a single case in a pamphlet known as a "slip opinion." Multiple opinions are collected and published in soft-bound pamphlets called "advance sheets." Advance sheets are later replaced by bound volumes, known as "reports" or "reporters." The pagination in the advance sheets and the bound volumes is identical. A list of the major reporters held by the Gallagher Law Library can be found at http://lib.law.washington.edu/ref/repdig.htm.

Official reporters are published under the authority of the legislature or court, and usually printed by the government. The official reporter for the U.S. Supreme Court is United States Reports. Washington State has a pair of official reports: Washington Reports 2d (cases from the Washington Supreme Court) and Washington Appellate Reports (cases from the Washington Courts of Appeal). These are prepared by the state Reporter of Decisions, but printed and sold by a commercial publisher (West Group).

Unofficial reporters are printed by private publishers (such as West Group) with or without authority from the legislature or court. The National Reporter System, developed by West, covers both federal and state courts, and is tied in with the West Digest System, a case finding aid. There are two major unofficial reporters for the U.S. Supreme Court, and one each for the Federal Courts of Appeals and the Federal District Courts. These lower court reports are the only option for these opinions; there are no official print reporters.

Unpublished opinions can sometimes be found online or in topical newsletters or looseleaf services.

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How To Find Cases

There are several ways to find cases:

  • Use the Internet. Start with Primary Law Sources on the Web, http://lib.law.washington.edu/ref/US-Wash.html#Cases and Court Rules. Washington State cases are kept on the state courts web site for 90 days. Coverage of federal cases varies by jurisdiction.
  • Use LexisNexis Academic Universe, through the UW Libraries Research Databases, http://www.lib.washington.edu/databases/LexisNexis/. Complete coverage of federal and state case law. Includes recent slip opinions.
  • Use an annotated code. If you are researching a federal or state statute, there may be case law that interprets that statute. The Law Library has annotated statutes for all 50 states and the federal government. The federal statutes are in two sets: United States Code Annotated (USCA) and United States Code Service (USCS). The Washington State statutes are in the Revised Code of Washington Annotated (RCWA) and the Annotated Revised Code of Washington (ARCW). All current statutes are located in the 2d floor reading room. The ARCW is also available on LexisNexis Academic Universe, http://www.lib.washington.edu/databases/LexisNexis/.
  • Use KeyCite, a commercial web-based case law citation service. If you have a specific case, you can identify later court decisions that refer to or mention it. KeyCite is also used to determine if a specific case has been affirmed, overruled, or modified by a later court decision. No remote access; available on public Internet workstations outside of the Law Library Reference Office.
  • Use a digest. A digest is a print finding tool that indexes and abstracts reported cases. A list of digests in the Law Library can be found at http://lib.law.washington.edu/ref/repdig.htm.
  • Use secondary sources. Secondary sources give the framework of the law, introduce the topic, offer expert analysis, and provide references to primary authority (cases, statutes, regulations). Books, law review articles, legal encyclopedias, and attorney practice materials are examples of secondary sources. More information can be found at: http://lib.law.washington.edu/ref/secondry.htm.

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Legal Resources on the Internet

Internet Legal Resources, http://lib.law.washington.edu/research/research.html, is a list of sites that provide legal information and materials (including laws, bills, court opinions, and related documents) and/or links to legal material. Only the most important Washington State and U.S. sites have been selected. Some sites are official, some are not. Includes links to legal meta-indexes and general search engines.

Law Library Hours and Services

For Law Library hours, see http://lib.law.washington.edu/hours/hours.html.

The Law Library is open to the public. General information about services can be found on the Law Library�s homepage, http://lib.law.washington.edu/.

The Law Library Reference Office phone number is 543-6794.

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