Legislation: Bills / Statutes at Large / Codification / State Legislation / Subordinate Legislation
Case Law: Court System / Law Reports / Updating a Case
Secondary Sources: Digests / Legal Encyclopedias / Restatements / Periodical Indexes / Dictionaries / Words and Phrases / Legal Research Guides

The United States of America has a federal system of government that is somewhat similar to our own. As a large proportion of the Law Library's U.S. materials are Federal primary sources, this section of the Guide will concentrate on U.S. Federal law.

The two major electronic resource for U.S. legal information are Lexis and Westlaw. Both services provide fulltext case law, statutes, administrative materials and law reviews.

There are also many Internet sites providing access to both primary and secondary legal information. The major ones are:

Bills are proposed legislation introduced either in the House of Representatives or the Senate. The House of Representatives and the Senate are collectively known as Congress. Congress meets in two year periods. Each year is a session and the whole two year period is known as a Congress. Once a Bill passes through both houses and is signed by the President, it becomes law and is classified as either a public law (i.e. it affects the nation as a whole), or a private law (a law that relates to a specific individuals).

Bills can be found online via:

As laws are passed they are published individually as a slip law. At the end of each Congressional session , these slip laws are published in numerical order in bound volumes as the United States Statutes at Large (L/KG322/U1). Each volume contains a subject index. Unfortunately, publication of these volumes is usually two years or more behind the current year.

A more timely source for the law is the United States Code Congressional and Administrative News (USCCAN). This title is available at L/KG321/U5 or on Westlaw and contains the text of federal Statutes, committee reports, explanatory statements and digests of decisions. Sections of the Code are annotated with references to other publications produced by Wests. It is kept up to date with reissued volumes and annual pocket parts.

Unlike Australia, the U.S. does not publish individual Acts as reprint or consolidations. Rather, a concurrent series of Statutes that have been codified is produced. The aim of codification is to:

The United States Code (USC) was first published in 1926. It is divided into 50 Titles and a new edition is published every 6 years. Cumulative supplements are produced in the interim.

The publisher of the United States Code (the Office of Law Revision Counsel), has been directed by Congress to revise it title by title. So far, less than half the titles have been revised and 'enacted into positive law'. These are listed in the Preface. If the title you are interested in has not yet been revised, it is to be regarded as prima facie evidence of the law.

Like most Australian law libraries, UNSW Law Library does not hold the print version of the United States Code, prefering to subscribe to the United States Code annotated (USCA). This publication contains the Code itself, along with valuable annotations to other primary and secondary sources.

Free online versions of the Code are avaialable via:

This publication uses exactly the same text as the United States Code In addition it provides comprehensive coverage of each title and section's legislative history, along with references to rules and regulations, case notes, case citations and secondary sources.

The index is extremely useful, although Australian researchers should be aware of the American terminology used. It is updated annually, as with the main volumes. References are to title and section numbers. For example:

42 § 3199
42 = title number;
3199 = section number

The USCA also includes a "Popular Name Table", an alphabetical listing of Acts by their short title. A short title, named by Congress, is the title by which an Act is popularly known (e.g. Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act of 1998, Helms-Burton Act).

The USCA is kept up to date with reissued volumes, annual pocket parts and paperback booklets that update the pocket parts. It can be further updated by checking the latest United States Code Congressional and Administrative News (USCCAN) at L/KG321/U1.

The USCA and USCCAN are also available online via Westlaw. A similar service, the United States Code Service (USCS), is provided by Lexis.

As with Federal statutes, the laws of individual states are codified. These are available online via:

Congress delegates the power to issue rules and regulations to various administrative bodies and agencies. These are published in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). UNSW Law Library does not collect the print version as it is available on Lexis, Westlaw and the Legal Information Institute at Cornell University.

The Federal court system consists of the Supreme Court, 13 Circuit Courts of Appeal and 56 District Courts.

Also known as trial courts and courts of first instance, the decisions from these courts are rarely published. Appeals level are made to a Circuit Court of Appeal (an intermediate appellate court). Appeals from decisions regarding constitutional matters are sent directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Circuit Courts of Appeal review the decisions of District Courts that fall within their geographical jurisdiction. There are twelve such circuits.

The exception is the Court of Appeal of the Federal Circuit which hears appeals nation-wide regarding, patents, copyright, contract, internal revenue, cases where the U.S. government is defendant and appeals from several specialist courts and tribunals.

The thirteen Circuit Courts of Appeal are generally courts of last resort, with appeals to the Supreme Court being rare. It is important to note that hey do not necessarily follow each other's precedents.

The Supreme Court is the highest authority on federal and constitutional matters. Because of the narrow jurisdiction of this court, established in Article III, section 2 of the US Constitution, there are few appeals from lower courts. The Supreme Court's jurisdiction differs from that of Australia's High Court, in that the High Court also has a general appellate jurisdiction.

Nearly all of the state court systems follow the three-tiered Federal structure. The names given to these courts varies from state to state. State courts hear the bulk of cases. Those involving Federal laws can be appealed to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

United States Reports
These are the official reports.
Print: L/KG362/U1

Wests' Supreme Court Reporter
Availavle in Westlaw in the "Supreme Court Cases after 1944" database.
Print: L/KG364/S1

United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers edition
Also available on Lexis.
Print: L/KG363/L2

United States Law Week
Contains the most recent decisions. It is also available on Westlaw.
Print: LQ/K1/U457

Supreme Court decisions are also available online from 1893 on Findlaw.

Federal Cases
Print: L/KG352/F11 1789-1880

Federal Reporter
Also available on Westlaw in the "U.S. Court of Appeals Cases, Reported" database.
Print: L/KG352/F21/1 1st Series 1880-1924
Print: L/KG352/F21/2 2nd Series 1924-1993
Print: L/KG352/F21/3 3rd Series 1993-

American Law Reports, ALR Federal
Held: L/KG359/A1 1969-1988

Federal Rules Eecisions
This series reports decisions regarding Federal court rules and procedure. Also available on Westlaw in the "U.S. District Courts Reported Cases" database.
Print: L/KG352/F41/1

There is no authorised report series for the Circuit Courts of Appeal.

Fedral Circuit Courts of Appeal decisions are also available on Findlaw.

Federal Supplement
Contains selected decisions of Federal District Courts. Also available on Westlaw in the "U.S. District Courts Reported Cases" database.
Print: L/KG352/F31/1 1st Series 1933-1998
Print: L/KG352/F31/2 2st Series 1998-

This series of annotated reports contains selected appellate court decisions. They are decisions that the editors consider raise previously undiscussed points of law, or that alter the law. This series differs from other law reports, as each decision has been annotated with a short article that summarises and analyses significant legal points.

There are two series for this title, one for state decisions and one for federal cases.

As this title is published by the Lawyers' Cooperative, references and footnotes are to their publications, rather than to West's reports.

American Law Reports
Print: L/KG357/A1 1st series
Print: L/KG357/A6 2nd series
Print: L/KG357/A11 3rd series
Print: L/KG357/A13 4th series
Print: L/KG357/A14 5th series
Print: L/KG359/A1 Federal series

Also available on Lexis.

Decisions of state courts are available from the West's regional reporters on Westlaw. Go to: U.S. State Materials > Case Law > West's Regional Case Reporters.

The different regional titles are the Atlantic Reporter, North Eastern Reporter, North Western Reporter, Pacific Reporter, South Eastern Reporter, South Western Reporter and Southern Reporter.

Unreported state cases are available on both Lexis and Westlaw.

To find the subsequent history of a use either Shepard's Citations (in print or on Lexis) or KeyCite on Westlaw.

There are a number of different Shepard's services in print. Search the Library Resources Database to locate the one that covers the law report title your citation appears in. The Library continues to receive print copies of the following services:

Shepard's Federal Citations
Covers Federal reporter, Federal supplement, etc.
Print: L/KG352/F23

Shepard's United States Citations
Covers United States reports, Supreme Court reporter and United States Supreme Court reports, Lawyers' edition.
Print: L/KG365/S1

In practice, it is best to use Shepard's on Lexis or KeyCite on Westlaw. With both services you can find a case and then update it, or search for a specific citation.

Cases in the American Digest System are classified according to a "key number" that denotes a particular area of law. Key numbers are used in all West's products including Corpus Juris Secundum and their law report series. There is a "descriptive-word" index to help users find the appropriate key number, as well as a table of cases.

The Digest is comprised of a Century Digest (digesting cases up until 1896) and subsequent "decennial" digests covering 10 year periods. Because of an increase in the volume of cases being reported, the Tenth Decennial Digest and the Eleventh Decennial Digest are published in two five year parts (e.g. the Eleventh Decennial Digest, Part 1 covers 1996-2001).

Century Digest
Print: L/KG382/A10 1656-1896

First Decennial Digest
Print: L/KG382/A11 1897-1906

Second Decennial Digest
Print: L/KG382/A12 1907-1916

Third Decennial Digest
Print: L/KG382/A13 1916-1926

Fourth Decennial Digest
Print: L/KG382/A14 1926-1936

Fifth Decennial Digest
Print: L/KG382/A15 1936-1946

Sixth Decennial Digest
Print: L/KG382/A16 1946-1956

Seventh Decennial Digest
Print: L/KG382/A17 1956-1966

Eighth Decennial Digest
Print: L/KG382/A18 1966-1976

Ninth Decennial Digest
Print: L/KG382/A21 1976-1986

Tenth Decennial Digest
Print: L/KG382/A22 1986-1996

Eleventh Decennial Digest
Print: L/KG382/A23 1996-2001

The key number system is also used in the US case law libraries on Westlaw.

The first of two American legal encyclopedias, Corus Juris Secundum is arranged alphabetically by subject. A multi-volume "General Index and a Table of Cases" are republished every year, while the main volumes are updated by pocket-parts. As Corus Juris Secundum is published by West, references to cases are to West's law report series.

Available online via Westlaw.
Print: L/KG382/C7 (in the Digest Area)

American Jurisprudence is more selective in the cases it cites, unlike CJS, which aims for a comprehensive coverage of American law. It is arranged by topic and provides researchers with references to the American Law Reports.

This title is updated by pocket parts, while the volumes containing 'federal taxation' are replaced annually. There is a separate volume containing a "Table of statutes" and "Rules cited" and a multi-volume general index.

Available on Lexis).
Print: L/KG382/A3 (in the Digest Area)

Since 1923, the American Law Institute has produced a subject-based series entitled Restatement of the Law on . . .. These are written by academics on various topics with each volume being approved by members of the Institute before publication.

A comparison between the text in the Restatements and of state court decisions revealed that there was little difference from the common law as found in the Restatements. It has been suggested that the Institute has gone some way to attaining its goal of a uniform common law throughout the U.S.

The Law Library holds a number of the Restatement titles. They are catalogued according to the subject covered (search the LRD).

Also available on Lexis.

Indexes legal periodicals and books published in common law jurisdictions, focussing on the U.S. It can be searched by subject, keyword, author, article title, journal title, cases, statutes and book reviews. The online version covers from 1981 onwards.

Print: LREF/K28/I5 1926-1994

Covering from 1980 onwards, this index is similar to ILP (its main competitor).

Black's Law Dictionary
Print: LREFK127/B6/6
Also available on Westlaw. Go to: Directories and Reference Materials > Dictionaries > Black's Law Dictionary, 7th edition.

Garner B, Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage
Print: LREF/K128/G1/2
Also available on Lexis.

Words and Phrases
Print: LREF/K128/W3/1
Contains all judicial constructions and phrases by the State and Federal Courts from 1658 onwards.

Statsky WP, Legal Research and Writing: Some Starting Points
Print: LQ/KL155/S3/5 [Check LRD]

Jacobstein J & Mersky R, Fundamentals of Legal Research
Print: L/KL155/J2/7 [Check LRD]