Primary sources in legal research constitute the actual law itself. In contrast, secondary sources offer commentary, background information, and guidance on the law, often directing researchers to relevant primary sources, though they do not themselves constitute law.
The table below provides examples of each category.
| Primary Sources | Secondary Sources |
|---|---|
|
Constitution
|
|
|
Statutes
Municipal Codes
|
|
|
Cases
|
|
|
Rules and Regulations
|
|
|
Treaties |
Manuals and Guides
|
Court Cases from Federal and state courts are published by West Group in what is known as the National Reporter System.
Federal Courts
| Court | Reporter | Abbreviation | Period Covered |
| Supreme Court | Supreme Court Reporter | S.Ct. | 1883-present |
| Federal Courts of Appeals |
Federal Reporter Federal Reporter, 2d. West's Federal Reporter, 3d |
F F,2d. F.3d |
vol. 1, 1880 - vol. 300, 1924 vol. 1, 1924 - vol. 830, 1988 vol. 1, 1988 - |
| U.S. District Courts |
Federal Supplement West's Federal Supplement, 2d |
F. Supp. F. Supp. 2d |
vol. 1, 1933 - vol. 670, 1988 vol. 1, 1988 - |
Regional Reporters
The West National Reporter System organizes state court cases by region of the country.
| Reporter | States Covered | Abbreviation | Period Covered |
| Atlantic Reporter | Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont,
Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware |
A. A.2d A.3d |
vol. 1, 1886-present |
| North Eastern Reporter |
New York, Mass, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois
|
N.E. N.E.2d |
vol. 1, 1885 - |
| North Western Reporter |
North & South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan |
N.W. N.W.2d |
vol. 1, 1879-- |
| South Eastern Reporter |
West Virginia, Virginia, North & South Carolina, Georgia |
S.E. S.E.2d |
vol. 1, 1887- |
| Southern Reporter |
Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama. Florida |
So. So.2d So.3d |
vol. 1, 1887-- |
| South Western Reporter |
Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee |
S.W. S.W.2d S.W.3d |
vol. 1, 1887-- |
| Pacific Reporter |
Oklahoma, Kansas, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii |
P. P.2d P.3d |
vol. 1, 1883-- |
The cases in thousands of print volumes of the National Reporter System created by West Group have been digitized and are searchable online, making this print system not necessary any longer. What has carried over from the National Reporter System is how you cite court cases, which is still done by the reporter abbreviation.
Nexis Uni
Nexis Uni has all of the cases that are in the Federal and Regional Reporters in the previous tab so you can perform a search on all federal and state cases at once, or limit to just federal or to a single state. You can search by keywords.
Nexis Uni divides a court case into different parts, or segments.
Below is an example of a case with all the above segments labeled in purple.
Google Scholar is set up to search for articles, but if you select Case Law, you you can search for court cases from federal courts, Texas state courts or other state courts.
