Finding Federal Statutes & Cases

Compiled by the Saint Louis University Law Library**

Statutes

Statutes provide the law as enacted by a legislative body. Generally, statutes are a good place to begin legal research.  The annotated statutes provide additional information that aids in understanding and supporting legal positions, including cites to digest topics, regulations, articles, practice sources and case law.  Federal legislation can be found in a variety of sources:

United States Statutes at Large (Stat.) - provides a chronological listing of laws and presents the law as it was passed in Congress.  Each volume also has a subject index, popular name index (since 1991) and other tables.  Because the laws are in chronological order, amendments to laws will be in different volumes.

United States Code Congressional and Administrative News (U.S.C.C.A.N.) - published by West Publishing Company, it provides monthly pamphlets of the text of public laws.  Each pamphlet includes a subject index, and table of laws enacted, and statutes and regulations affected. The pamphlets are later replaced with bound volumes. The bound volumes also include selected legislative history documents.

United States Code (U.S.C.) - is the "official" publication.  It is divided into fifty titles, has a general index, historical notes, cross references to other sections of the U.S.C., a popular name table and other tables.  Because it is published by the government, it can be slower than commercially published sources.

Update with U.S.C.C.A.N. Table of Amendments and Repeals (cumulative and monthly)

United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.) - published by West Publishing Company, it includes all of the features of the U.S.C., plus annotations to cases and other tools to interpret a section of the Code.  U.S.C.A. also gives references to the C.F.R. (see below), Topic and Key Number references to West's publications, a general index, a Popular Name Table, regular supplements and cumulative annual pocket supplements.

Update with the pocket parts, and pamphlets at the end of the bound volumes (not cumulative) and/or U.S.C.C.A.N. Table of Amendments and Repeals (monthly)

United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.) - previously published by Lawyers' Cooperative Publishing, the current publisher is Lexis Law Publishing, it also contains all the features of the U.S.C., plus those in U.S.C.A..  Instead of citing to West Publications and Topic and Key Numbers, however, the U.S.C.S. refers to its Total Client-Service Library, law review articles and ALR annotations.

Update with pocket parts;  Later Cases and Statute Service which gives text and annotations by U.S.C.S. citation (cumulative);  U.S.C.S. Advance pamphlets which give the text of Public Laws, a Table of Code Sections Added, Amended, Repealed or Otherwise Affected, and a Table of C.F.R. Sections Affected (cumulative); U.S.C.C.A.N. Table of Amendments and Repeals (monthly)

Cases

Compilations of judicial decisions are printed in case reports or reporters.  Reporters print cases in the order they are received from the courts.  As with the statutes, there are official case reports and commercially produced reporters.  These "unofficial" reporters generally give additional editorial information and appear more quickly.  Most volumes include a table of statutes interpreted, cases decided, and other information.  Judicial decisions first appear in slip opinions, then in advance sheets found at the end of the bound volumes.

Digests are usually the best source to locate cases on a specific topic.  They are arranged by broad subjects which are further subdivided.  Digests also have a Descriptive Word Index to help find the most appropriate subject, Topic Outlines and a Case Name Table to locate a citation when you have the parties' name.  Update a digest with the pocket part or paper pamphlet next to the bound volume, or with a later digest series. 

Updating a Digest

1.  Check for supplementary pamphlets that update pocket parts.

2.  In the pocket part or supplementary pamphlet, find the "Closing Case Table" (usually on the page with the copyright date).

3.  Find the reporter set for your jurisdiction, note at which volume digest coverage ended.

4.      Go to the reporter set, beginning with that volume, check for your topic and key number in each bound volume and advance sheet. 

Supreme Court Cases (Reporters)

United States Law Week (U.S.L.W.) -BNA - Weekly publication that reports Supreme Court action.  It is the best place to find recent cases.

United States Reports (U.S.) - GPO official reporter

Supreme Court Reports (S. Ct.) - West - includes Topic and Key Number assignment.

United States Reports, Lawyers' Edition (L.Ed.) -Lexis Law Publishing,- includes summaries, headnotes, and summaries of attorneys' briefs for some cases.

Supreme Court Digests

Digest of United States Supreme Court Reports - (Lexis Law Publishing) corresponds with United States Reports, Lawyers' Edition.

Federal Cases

Federal Reporter (F., F.2d, F.3d) - Federal Courts of Appeal

Federal Supplement (F. Supp, F. Supp 2d) - Federal District Courts

Federal Rules Decisions (F.R.D.) - District Court decisions on Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure

Federal Digests, including the Supreme Court

Federal Digest - cases before 1939

Modern Federal Practice Digest - cases decided from 1939 through 1960

Federal Practice Digest 2d - cases decided from 1961 through 1975

Federal Practice Digest 3d - cases decided from 1975 through 1989

Federal Practice Digest 4th - cases decided since 1989

Cases from all Federal and State Courts

American Digest, Century Edition - cases decided from 1658-1896

Decennial Digests - each set covers 10 years, beginning with 1897 and then every 5 years starting with 1976 (9th)

General Digest - used to update from the last Decennial Digest to the present

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