Case Reporters and Statutory Law Services

by Dick Irving
Bibliographer for Political Science, Public Administration and Policy, and Law

revised by Jane Woldow

Updated: February 17, 2003

[Reporters at University Library] [Reporters at Dewey Graduate Library] [Reporters in Storage at a remote location]
[Statutory Law Series at University Library][Statutory Law Series at the Dewey Graduate Library][Abbreviations]

Case Reporters

A court's published decisions and opinions are called its reports. Reports published as directed by statute are called official reports. In addition to official court reports, case decisions can be found in unofficial reporters published by commercial publishers. Unofficial reporter series may contain either a particular court's cases, e.g., the Supreme Court Reporter covers only U.S. Supreme Court cases, or compile the decisions of a number of state or federal courts, e.g., the Atlantic Reporter publishes the decisions of the appellate courts of the states in its region. For practical purposes there is little difference in a case decision as it appears in either an official or unofficial reporter; the text of the decision is the same in both official and unofficial reporters.
Reporters at the Dewey Graduate Library and the University Library are listed on the following pages.

Reporters at the University Library

Federal Reporters

United States Supreme Court Reports. (Cited as U.S.) - 1789+. All U.S. Supreme Court decisions. LAW KF 101
United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers' Edition. (in two series, cited as L.Ed. & L.Ed. 2d) - 1790+. All U.S. Supreme Court decisions. LAW KF 101 L3; Lexis-Nexis Academic

New York State Reporter

New York Supplement. (in two series, cited as N.Y.S. & N.Y.S. 2d) - 1887+. New York Court of Appeals from 1847. All reported decisions from 1887. LAW KFN 5047 N48 (Note: volumes for 1888-1938 are in storage in the University Libraries' remote storage facility.); Westlaw Campus 1945+
State Case Law: New York. New York Court of Appeals from 1794; NY Supreme Court Appellate Division - 1896+; NY Lower Courts 1988+ Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe

Reporters at the Dewey Graduate Library

Federal Reporters

Lexis-Nexis Academic includes the lower federal court caes but lacks the summaries and headnotes found in the printed and Westlaw Campus versions.

Supreme Court Reporter. (Cited as S. Ct.) - 1885+. U.S. Supreme Court decisions. LAW KF 101 W4; Westlaw Campus
United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers' Edition. (in two series, cited as L.Ed. & L.Ed. 2nd) - 1790+. U.S. Supreme Court decisions. LAW KF 101 L3; Lexis-Nexis Academic
Federal Reporter. (Cited as F.) - 1880-1924. U.S. Court of Appeals (formerly U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals) from its organization in 1891. U.S. District Courts. U.S. Circuit Courts to 1912 when it was abolished. Commerce Court of the U.S. 1911 to 1913 when it was abolished. LAW KF 105 (Note: this series is shelved in the University Libraries' remote storage facility.); Westlaw Campus
Federal Reporter, 2d series. (Cited as F. 2d) - 1924-1993. U.S. Court of Appeals. U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals from 1929-1982. U.S. District Courts to 1932. U.S. Emergency Court of Appeals from 1942 to 1961. U.S. Court of Claims from 1960. LAW KF 105 F44xa 2d ser.; Westlaw Campus
Federal Reporter, 3d series. (Cited as F. 3d) - 1993+. U.S. Court of Appeals. U.S. Court of Claims. LAW KF 105 F44xa 3d ser.; Westlaw Campus
Federal Supplement. (Cited as F. Supp.) 1932+. U.S. District Courts. U.S. Court of Claims to 1960. U.S. Customs Court from 1956. Judicial on Multi-District Litigation from 1968, year of inception. LAW KF 120 F44xa (Note: Volumes 1-500 are shelved in the University Libraries' remote storage facility.); Westlaw Campus
Federal Rules Decisions. (Cited as F.R.D.) - 1939+. Decisions of the U.S. District Courts involving the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Decisions of the U.S. District Courts involving the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure from 1946. LAW KF 8830 F44; Westlaw Campus

New York State Reporter

New York Supplement. (in two series, cited as N.Y.S. & N.Y.S. 2d) - 1887+. New York Court of Appeals from 1847. All reported New York decisions from 1887.LAW KFN 5047 N48 (Note: volumes for 1888-1938 are in storage in the University Libraries' remote storage facility.); Westlaw Campus 1945+
State Case Law: New York. New York Court of Appeals from 1794; NY Supreme Court Appellate Division - 1896+; NY Lower Courts 1988+ Lexis-Nexis Academic

Selected Cases with Annotations

American Law Reports, 2d series, American Law Reports, 3d series, American Law Reports, 4th series, American Law Reports, 5th series, and American Law Reports, Federal series are all available through Westlaw Campus.

American Law Reports. (Cited as ALR) - 1919-1948. Selected cases from federal courts and state courts of highest appeal. LAW KF 105 A41x

American Law Reports, 2d series. (Cited as ALR 2d) - 1948-1965. Selected cases from federal courts and state courts of highest appeal. LAW KF 105 A42x

ALR Federal. (Cited as ALR Fed.) - 1969+. Selected cases from federal courts. LAW KF 105 A54

Reporters in Storage at a remote location

Print volumes of the following reporters - through the year 2001 - are available from the remote storage facility . Access to cases published in these reporters is also available through Lexis-Nexis Academic (all years) or Westlaw Campus (coverage from 1945 onward). Lexis-Nexis Academic does not include the summaries and headnotes found in the printed versions or on Westlaw Campus.

Atlantic Reporter. (in two series, cited as A. & A. 2d) - (1885-2001). Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, & D.C. Municipal Court of Appeals. LAW KF 135 A171
North Eastern Reporter. (in two series, cited as N.E. & N.E. 2d) - (1885-2001). Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, New York, & Ohio. LAW KF 135 N161
North Western Reporter. (in two series, cited as N.W. & N.W. 2d) - (1897-2001). Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, & Wisconsin. LAW KF 135 N71
Pacific Reporter. (in three series, cited as P., P. 2d and P. 3d) - (1883-2001). Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Washington, & Wyoming. LAW KF 135 P21
South Eastern Reporter. (in two series, cited as S.E. & S.E. 2d) - (1887-2001). Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, & West Virginia. LAW KF 135 S61
South Western Reporter. (in three series, cited as S.W., S.W. 2d and S.W. 3d) - (1886-2001). Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, & Texas. LAW KF 135 S71
Southern Reporter. (in two series, cited as S. & S. 2d) - (1887-2001). Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, & Mississippi. LAW KF 135 S81.
California Reporter. (Cited as Cal. Rptr.) - (1960-1991). All reported California decisions. LAW KFC 50 W47
California Reporter, 2d. (Cited as Cal. Rptr 2d) - (1991-2001). All reported California decisions. LAW KFC 50 W47 2d Ser.

Statutory Law Series

Statutory law is "that body of law created by acts of the legislature in contrast to law generated by judicial opinions and administrative bodies" (Black's Law Dictionary, 7th ed., p. 1424). Statutory law series may contain either individual acts of a legislature or a body of acts which are collected and arranged according to subject. The latter type series is commonly referred to as a code. On the following pages are listed the statutory series at the University Library and at the Dewey Graduate Library. The United States Code Service and the New York Consolidated Law Service are also available online through Lexis-Nexis Academic. Alternatively, the United States Code Annotated and McKinney's Consolidated Laws of New York are also available online through Westlaw Campus. In instances where there are several versions of the code for a jurisidction, e.g. the United States Code, United States Code Service, United States Code Annotated, the text of the law wil be identical in all versions. The difference is in supplemental material added by the publisher.

Statutory Law Series at the University Library

Federal

United States Statutes at Large. (Cited as Stat. at L.) - 1789+. LAW K U57
United States Code Congressional and Administrative News Service. (Cited as U.S. Code Cong. & Ad. News) - 1963+. LAW KF 48
United States Code. (Cited as U.S.C.) - Current. LAW K U583
United States Code Service. (Cited as U.S.C.S.) - Current. LAW KF 62 1972 L38

New York State

McKinney's Session Laws of New York. (Cited as N.Y. Laws) - 1952+. LAW KFN 5025
Laws of New York. (Cited as N.Y. Laws) - 1900+. LAW KFN 5026
Laws of the Legislature. (Cited as N.Y. Laws) - 1777-1899. LAW KFN 5025.2 1777
McKinney's Consolidated Laws of New York. (Cited as N.Y. (subject) Law §x (McKinney 19xx)) - Current. LAW KFN 5030 M34
New York Consolidated Law Service. (Cited as N.Y. (subject) Law §x) - Current. LAW KFN 5030 A28x 1976

Statutory Law Series at the Dewey Graduate Library

Federal

United States Code Congressional and Administrative News Service. (Cited as U.S. Code Cong. & Ad. News) - 1964+. LAW KF 48
United States Code Annotated. (Cited as U.S.C.A.) - Current. LAW KF 62 1964 A3

New York State

McKinney's Session Laws of New York. (Cited as N.Y. Laws) - 1960+. LAW KFN 5025
McKinney's Consolidated Laws of New York. (Cited as N.Y. (subject) Law §x) - Current. LAW KFN 5030 M34

Other States and District of Columbia
Codes for all states and the District of Columbia are available to University of Albany students and faculty through Lexis-Nexis Academic, Westlaw Campus, or State Capital Universe.

Abbreviations

Abbreviation	Series Title	Page Ref.
A.	Atlantic Reporter	3
A. 2d	Atlantic Reporter, 2d Series	3
ALR	American Law Reports	2
ALR 2d	American Law Reports, 2nd Series	2
ALR 3d	American Law Reports, 3rd Series	2
ALR 4th	American Law Reports, 4th Series	2
ALR 5th	American Law Reports, 5th Series	2
ALR Fed.	ALR Federal	2
Cal. Rptr.	California Reporter	3
Cal. Rptr. 2d	California Reporter, 2d Series	3
F.	Federal Reporter	2
F. 2d	Federal Reporter, 2nd Series	2
F. 3d	Federal Reporter, 3rd Series	2
F. Supp.	Federal Supplement	2
F.R.D.	Federal Rules Decisions	2
L. Ed.	United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers' Edition	1
L. Ed. 2d	United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers' Edition, 2nd Series	1
N.E.	North Eastern Reporter	3
N.E. 2d	North Eastern Reporter, 2nd Series	3
N.W.	North Western Reporter	3
N.W. 2d	North Western Reporter, 2nd Series	3
N.Y. (Subject) Law	McKinney's Consolidated Laws of New York or New York Consolidated Law Service	4
N.Y. Laws	McKinney's Session Laws of New York or Laws of New York	4
N.Y. S.	New York Supplement	1&2
N.Y.S. 2d	New York Supplement, 2nd Series	1&2
P.	Pacific Reporter	3
P. 2d	Pacific Reporter, 2nd Series	3
P. 3d	Pacific Reporter, 3rd Series	3
S.	Southern Reporter	3
S. 2d	Southern Reporter, 2nd Series	3
S.Ct.	Supreme Court Reporter	2
S.E.	South Eastern Reporter	3
S.E. 2d	South Eastern Reporter, 2nd Series	3
S.W.	South Western Reporter	3
S.W. 2d	South Western Reporter, 2nd Series	3
Stat. at L.	United States Statutes at Large	3
U.S.	United States Supreme Court Reports	1
U.S. Code Cong. & Ad. News	United States Congressional and Administrative News Serivce	4
U.S.C.	United States Code	4
U.S.C.A.	United States Code Annotated	4
U.S.C.S.	United States Code Service	4

This page is maintained by Dick Irving
Comments to rirving@uamail.albany.edu