Subject Guide - Law Cases

The most comprehensive resource available at Maag Library for retrieving law cases at the federal or state levels is Lexis-Nexis Academic.  This resource is restricted to current students, faculty and staff of Youngstown State University.

In addition to full-text court cases provided through Lexis-Nexis Academic, Maag Library has several major sets (sometimes called reporters) of court cases (Federal and Ohio). To find a case in one of these reporters you usually need a citation that looks like this: 54 US 579 (volume 54 of the U S Reports, page 579). There are several sources in which to look for a citation. Legal encyclopedias (like American Jurisprudence, KF 154.A42; or Ohio Jurisprudence, KFO 65.O35) and legal digests (see below) can assist you in finding pertinent cases relating to a legal topic.

 Other guides available are Law (General) and Ohio Legal Resources Online.

Finding Aids

Search the following digests by topic. Or, if you know the name of the case, check the Table of Cases volume(s).

KF 101.1.U5 (Floor 4A)
United States Supreme Court Digest. 1754- .
 
KF 127.M6 (Floor 4A)
Modern Federal Practice Digest. 1931-1961.
 
KF 127.W48 (Floor 4A)
West's Federal Practice Digest. 1961- .
 
KFO 57.W4 (Floor 4A)
West's Ohio Digest. 1803- .
 
Additionally, if you know the title of a case, check:
Ref. KF 385.A4J64 1992
Historic U.S. Court Cases. 1690-1990.
 
KF 90 .S52 (Floor 4A)
Shepard's Acts and Cases by Popular Names.  Arranged alphabetically by case name, e.g., Brown v. Board of Education, Roe v. Wade.
 
Federal Court Cases          
 

United States Supreme Court  (Electronic)

Free internet sources for Supreme Court cases:

Federal Print Resources          

REPORTERS (Print resources) available on Floor 4A:

KF 101.U5
United States Reports ... Cases adjudged in the Supreme Court. (US) This is the official version of the decisions.
 
KF 101.U52
United States. Supreme Court Reports. (L.Ed.) Annotated by Lawyer's Cooperative Publishing Co.

KF 132.A5

American Law Reports Annotated. (ALR). Selected appellate cases of general interest and importance. Discusses points of law based on relevant cases.

KF 101.F412

Federal Reporter: Cases Argued and Determined in the Circuit Courts of Appeals of the United States. (F2d, F3d)
 
K 345.4.F4
Federal Supplement: Cases Argued and Determined in the United States District Courts, United States Customs Courts, Special Courts .... 1931 to date.

United States Courts of Appeals (also called Circuit Courts of Appeals)

Free internet sources for U.S. Courts of Appeals/Circuit Courts of Appeals

United States District Courts

Open access web sites for U.S. District Courts

Ohio Court Cases            
Ohio Print Resources           
PRINT RESOURCES LOCATED ON FLOOR 4A

 

KF 135 .N6N63
Northeastern Reporter, Second series (NE2d) Cases from the courts of Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio.

 

Ohio Opinions. (O.O) Reports of all Ohio Courts. Superseded in 1982 by Ohio Official Reports.
[1st]  KFO 45.2 O39
2d     KFO 45.2 O392
3d     KFO 45.2 O393

 

KFO 47 .O32
Ohio Official Reports. All Supreme Court, Appellate and Miscellaneous cases since 1982. Updates in Current Periodicals.

 

Ohio State Reports.(O.S.) Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Ohio, originally published separately. 2d-3d series found in Ohio Official Reports.
[1st]             KFO 45.1 .O48
[2d]              KFO 45.1 .O48 2d ser.
[3d, v.1-61]   KFO 47 .O32
[3d, v.61- ]    KFO 47 .O325

 

Ohio Appellate Reports. (O.A.) Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Courts of Appeals of Ohio.  Now included in Ohio Official Reports.
[1st]              KFO 48 .A4
[2d,v.1-54]    KFO 45.1 .O48 2d ser. (Ohio Official)
[2d,v.55-70]  KFO 45.2 .O393 (Ohio Opin. 3d, v.9-24)
[3d,v.1-61]    KFO 47 .O32 (Ohio Official)
[3d,v.61- ]     KFO 47 .O325 (Ohio Official)

 

Per. K 15 .H5 (located on Floor 6)
Ohio State Law Journal. Gives case notes on recent Ohio cases.