Lawyers point to cases with citations, compact addresses that tell you where to find the opinion in a printed series of books called a reporter. Learning to read one takes a minute and saves hours. It builds on case names.
Key idea
In Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954): 347 is the volume, U.S. is the reporter (United States Reports, the Supreme Court's official reporter), 483 is the first page of the opinion, and 1954 is the year of decision.
| Reporter | Abbreviation | Which courts |
|---|---|---|
| United States Reports | U.S. | Supreme Court (official) |
| Supreme Court Reporter; Lawyers' Edition | S. Ct.; L. Ed. | Supreme Court (unofficial, often cited alongside, as parallel citations) |
| Federal Reporter | F., F.2d, F.3d, F.4th | U.S. courts of appeals (F.3d ran from 1993 to 2021; F.4th since 2021) |
| Federal Supplement | F. Supp., F. Supp. 2d, F. Supp. 3d | U.S. district courts (since 1932) |
Why it works
Before databases, the only way to find an opinion was by its book and page, and the system still works the same way online. The order is always volume, reporter, page. A citation to a specific passage adds a pinpoint page after a comma: Brown, 347 U.S. at 495, points to page 495, where the Court held that separate schools are inherently unequal. For lower courts, the parentheses also name the court, because the reporter alone does not say which circuit or district decided the case: "(9th Cir. 2018)" or "(S.D.N.Y. 2019)". The earliest Supreme Court volumes were named for their private reporters, so Marbury v. Madison is cited 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137 (1803): volume 5 of the U.S. Reports, which is volume 1 of Cranch's reports.
Worked example: Read it aloud
What does "Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560 (1992)" tell you?
- Volume 504 of the United States Reports, so a Supreme Court case.
- The opinion begins on page 555.
- The 560 is a pinpoint: the passage cited is on page 560.
- Decided in 1992.
Answer: A 1992 Supreme Court case in volume 504 of U.S. Reports, starting at page 555, citing page 560.
Worked example: Which court?
An invented citation: "Park v. Lane, 41 F.4th 210 (7th Cir. 2022)." Which court decided it?
- F.4th is the Federal Reporter, Fourth Series: the U.S. courts of appeals.
- The parenthetical names the Seventh Circuit.
Answer: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, in 2022.
Common mistake
Reading the first number as a case number or a page. The number before the reporter is the volume; the number after it is the first page. Check: a citation like "347 U.S. 483" never means page 347. Also, the year in parentheses is when the case was decided, not when it was filed.
This is an educational course, not legal advice.