Research skills

How US case law and citations are organized - reporters, courts and publication

By LegiMatch Research Team · Published October 14, 2026 · 4 min read

Short answer: A case citation such as 81 S.W.3d 812 (Tex. 2002) gives the volume (81), the reporter (South Western Reporter, Third Series), the first page (812), and the court and year. State appellate decisions are mostly published in seven regional reporters that group several states. Federal decisions have their own reporters. Some state court names are misleading. In New York, for example, the "Supreme Court" is a trial court.

Reading a citation

Part	Example	Meaning
Volume	81	Volume number of the reporter
Reporter	S.W.3d	South Western Reporter, Third Series
First page	812	Page where the opinion starts
Pinpoint	812, 815	The page you're relying on
Court and year	(Tex. 2002)	Supreme Court of Texas, decided 2002

The court is left out of the parentheses when the reporter already makes it clear. For example, U.S. reports only Supreme Court cases.

The regional reporters

West's National Reporter System groups state appellate decisions by region:

Reporter	Abbreviations	States
Atlantic	A., A.2d, A.3d	Conn., Del., D.C., Me., Md., N.H., N.J., Pa., R.I., Vt.
North Eastern	N.E., N.E.2d, N.E.3d	Ill., Ind., Mass., N.Y., Ohio
North Western	N.W., N.W.2d	Iowa, Mich., Minn., Neb., N.D., S.D., Wis.
Pacific	P., P.2d, P.3d	Alaska, Ariz., Cal., Colo., Haw., Idaho, Kan., Mont., Nev., N.M., Okla., Or., Utah, Wash., Wyo.
South Eastern	S.E., S.E.2d	Ga., N.C., S.C., Va., W. Va.
South Western	S.W., S.W.2d, S.W.3d	Ark., Ky., Mo., Tenn., Tex.
Southern	So., So. 2d, So. 3d	Ala., Fla., La., Miss.

California and New York also have their own large reporters: the California Reporter (Cal. Rptr.) and the New York Supplement (N.Y.S.). Many states also publish an official state reporter, and local rules may require a parallel citation to it.

Federal reporters

Court	Reporter
US Supreme Court	United States Reports (U.S.), the official reporter; also S. Ct. and L. Ed.
Courts of appeals	Federal Reporter (F., F.2d, F.3d, F.4th)
Unpublished appellate decisions (2001-2021)	Federal Appendix (F. App'x)
District courts	Federal Supplement (F. Supp., F. Supp. 2d, F. Supp. 3d)

State court names that trip people up

New York: the Supreme Court is the general trial court. The Appellate Division is the intermediate appeals court. The Court of Appeals is the highest court.
Maryland: in December 2022 the Court of Appeals was renamed the Supreme Court of Maryland, and the Court of Special Appeals became the Appellate Court of Maryland. Older cases use the old names.
Texas and Oklahoma: each has two courts of last resort, a Supreme Court for civil cases and a Court of Criminal Appeals for criminal cases.
Massachusetts and Maine: the highest court is the Supreme Judicial Court.

Public-domain (vendor-neutral) citations

Some states assign citations that don't depend on any publisher, such as 2010-Ohio-1234 or 2015 WI 12. They identify the decision by year, court and sequence number, and use paragraph numbers for pinpoints. Where a state has adopted them, its rules usually require them.

Published and unpublished opinions

Federal: Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 32.1 lets parties cite unpublished federal appellate opinions issued on or after January 1, 2007. Whether they bind is left to each circuit's rules, and most circuits treat them as non-precedential.
States vary widely. California, for example, generally bars citing unpublished Court of Appeal opinions (California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115). Other states allow citation for persuasive value. Always check the local rule.

Frequently asked questions

What does "2d" or "3d" mean in a citation?

It's the series of the reporter. When volume numbers get high, the publisher starts a new series at volume 1. A.3d is the third series of the Atlantic Reporter.

Why do some cases have more than one citation?

The same opinion may be published in an official state reporter and a regional reporter. These are "parallel citations". Court rules say which to use.

Is a decision from another state binding?

No. Decisions from other states are persuasive only. Within a state, decisions of its highest court bind lower courts. How binding intermediate appellate decisions are varies by state.

Can I cite an unpublished opinion?

In federal courts of appeals you can cite unpublished opinions issued on or after January 1, 2007, under FRAP 32.1, subject to circuit rules. In state courts it depends on the state's rules.

Sources

Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 32.1
California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115
Maryland Constitution, as amended effective December 14, 2022 (renaming of the appellate courts)
New York State Unified Court System, court structure (nycourts.gov)
Texas Judicial Branch, court structure (txcourts.gov)
Harvard Law School Library, Caselaw Access Project (case.law)

This article is general information about legal research, not legal advice. Verify every authority before relying on it.

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