Getting Started Guide: U.S. Law: Cases

• What is a case citation?

A case citation provides the information needed to locate a particular case.

• What does a case citation look like?

  Names of parties Volume of Reporter Name of Reporter Page Number (Year)

Example: Brown v. Board of Education 347 U.S. 483 (1954)

This citation leads to a case named Brown v. Board of Education in Volume 347 of United States Reports on page 483 decided in 1954.

• How do I know that U.S. stands for the Reporter United States Reports?

Court Reporters are usually abbreviated.

See the Abbreviations tab of this guide for some common abbreviations.

Consult The Bluebook :  A Uniform System of Citation (Reference KF245 U55 2005)