|
|
Legal Research Centers of West Virginia |
|
How To Read A Legal Citation |
A citation is the place or address in a book where a person can find a case or statute. Legal resources are cited using a different format than how other types of books are cited.
The basic format for a legal citation includes the volume number, abbreviated title of the book or source, and the page or section numbers. Citations may also have a popular name.
Cases - When a dispute is taken to court it becomes a case.
For example a popular name for a United States Supreme Court case is:
Roe v. Wade
which translates as: Plaintiff versus Defendant
The official citation for this U. S. Supreme Court Decision is:
410 U.S. 113
which translates as: Volume 410 United States Reports Page 113
There are several different publishers for legal documents. Therefore, a case may appear in several sources or reporters. Each cited case has the same information, it is just reported or published in a different book. This is known as a parallel citation.
For example, the parallel citations for the case above are:
93 S.Ct. 705
which translates as: Volume 93 Supreme Court Reporter Page 705
35 L.Ed.2d 147
which translates as: Volume 35 U. S. Supreme Court Reports Page 147
Lawyer's Ed. 2d Series
Regional Reporters
A case listed in a regional reporter, a collection of cases for several states, would follow this format:
541 S.E.2d 517
which translates as: Volume 541 South Eastern Reporter Page 517
2nd Series
Codes - Codes are a collection of Federal or State laws.
Citing a section of the United States Code follows a similar format, with some variations:
18 U.S.C.A. §545 (1994)
which translates as: Title United States Code Annotated Section Date of publication
A citation from the West Virginia Code would look like this:
W.Va. Code §36-4-9a
which translates as: West Virginia Code Chapter 36, Article 4, Section 9A