BUSI 3312: Business Law   Tags: articles, business, course guides, law, pre-law, research  

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Need Help?

Contact Carolyn Ottoson

   (651-2204) cottoson@wtamu.edu 

   Govt Docs Dept on the 2^nd floor

Connecting From Home

To connect to databases from home, you will need to use Buff Advisor login.  Example:

     js123456

     Buffalo3s

 What is a Citation?

To search for a case, the citation is:

     ● volume number

     ● name of book (the “case reporter”—often abbreviated)

     ● first page number of the case

          ◘  Example:   542 U.S. 1

          ◘  Example:   124 S. Ct. 2301

          ◘  Example:   159 L. Ed. 2d 98

     ● 542 U.S. 1 is a U.S. Supreme court case.  It is printed in

           volume 542 of United States Reports.  Page 1 in the book

           happens to also be the first page of the case.

     ● TIP:  All the above citations are for the same case, but printed

           In different books by different publishers!

What to “Brief” – U.S. Supreme Court Case:

► Syllabus – written by Supreme Court employee, not judge.

Has summary & holdings.  Not the “Opinion.”  Do not brief it.

► Opinion – appears after Case Summary, Headnotes, Decision,

Summary, Syllabus, Counsel, Judges.  Any information before

Opinion (except syllabus) is written by the publisher and could be

incorrect, so do not rely on it.  Brief the Opinion.  Do not brief the

information before the Opinion.

► Concurring or dissenting opinions – IF written for a case, will

have the heading “CONCUR” or “DISSENT”. These are printed

after the Opinion of the case, so may appear to be part of the text

of the opinion.  But not the Opinion. However you may want to brief.

► Footnotes – sometimes easier to read a case by penciling

an “X” through every footnote. Then read the case. Next, go

back to read the footnotes.

PDF: LexisNexis Academic

     Some recent Supreme Court cases have links to PDFs!

or text to: (806) 337-0808

Sample Basic Citations

(Ask your instructor if case names should be underlined or in italics.)

Contains:

Name of the case

Published source

Parenthetical indicating the court and year of decision

U.S. SUPREME COURT:

Meritor Sav. Bank v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57 (1986).

FEDERAL COURT OF APPEALS:

Envtl. Def. Fund v. EPA, 465 F.2d 528 (D.C. Circ. 1972).

United States v. Jardine, 364 F.3d 1200 (10^th Circ. 2004).

FEDERAL DISTRICT COURTS:

W. St. Group LLC v. Epro, 564 F. Supp.2d 84 (D. Mass. 2008).

Harris v. Roderick, 933 F. Supp. 977 (D. Idaho 1996).

STATE HIGH COURTS:

People v. Armour, 590 N.W.2d 61 (Mich. 1999).

Chaudhary v. Gen Motors Corp., 649 P.2d 224 (Cal. 1982).

OTHER STATE COURTS:

Kaplan v. Ziff, 530 N.W.2d 807 (Minn. Ct. App. 1995).

Campbell v. Sellers-Morris Corp., 82 Cal.Rptr. 2d 202 (Ct. App. 1999).