Appendix to Chapter 1Appendix to Chapter 1

FindingFindingand Analyzingand Analyzing

the Lawthe Law

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Finding Statutory and Finding Statutory and Administrative LawAdministrative Law

Federal statutes Are found in the United States Code (U.S.C.).State statutes Are found in state statutes or codes such as:

13 Pennsylvania consolidated statutes section 1101.

California Commercial Code Section 1101.Federal regulations Are compiled in the Code of Federal

regulations (C.F.R.).

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Example Statutory Example Statutory and Other Citationsand Other Citations

18 U.S.C. Section 1961(1)(A)UCC 2-206(1)(b)17 C.F.R. Section 230.505

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Finding Case LawFinding Case LawIn order to understand how to find case law, one must first understand the basic organizational structure of the court system.In the U.S. there are two types of courts: Federal courts State courtsBoth systems consist of trial courts, appellate (reviewing) courts, and supreme courts.

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State Court DecisionsState Court DecisionsMost state trial court decisions are not published.Written decisions of appellate, or reviewing, courts are published in volumes called reports or reporters.The most commonly used reporters are those of the national reporter system, which divides the states into geographic areas.

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State Court DecisionsState Court Decisions

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Federal Court DecisionsFederal Court DecisionsFederal district court decisions are published in the federal supplement (F. Supp.).Federal circuit courts of appeals decisions are published in the federal reporter (F., F.2d, or F.3d).United States Supreme Court decisions are published in one of three sources: United States reports (U.S.) Supreme Court reporter (S.Ct.) Lawyer’s edition of the Supreme Court

reports (L.Ed.)

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Reading and Reading and Understanding Case LawUnderstanding Case LawCase law is critical to decision making in the business context because businesses must operate within the boundaries established by law.The first step in analyzing any case is to carefully read the facts to identify each party. Beware! Although at the trial level, the

plaintiff is usually listed first (Adams v. Jones), it is often impossible to distinguish the plaintiff from the defendant in the title of a reported appellate court decision.

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Case Titles and Case Titles and TerminologyTerminology

Plaintiffs and DefendantsAppellants and AppelleesJudges and JusticesDecisions and OpinionsAbbreviations

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Diagramming Case Diagramming Case ProblemsProblems

You may find it helpful to diagram the facts of a case or problem using symbols and arrows to show who is suing whom.Common symbols include: to represent the plaintiff to represent the defendant

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Example Case Citations:Example Case Citations: State Courts State Courts

256 Neb. 170, 589 N.W.2d 318 (1999)75 Cal. App. 4th, 89 Cal. Rptr.2d 146 (1999)85 N.Y.2d 549, 650 N.E.2d 829, 626 N.Y.S.2d 982 (1995)236 Ga.App. 582, 512 S.E.2d 27 (1999)

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Example Case Citations: Example Case Citations: Federal CourtsFederal Courts

__ U.S. __, 119 S.Ct. 1961, 144 L.Ed.2d 319 (1999)177 F.3d 114 (2d Cir. 1999)38 F.Supp. 2d 1233 (D.Colo. 1999)

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