Basic Legal Research - Legal Citations
There is a standardized citation format that you will encounter for many types of legal sources. For court cases, the citation includes the names of the parties, followed by the places where that case can be found. The format begins with the volume number, followed by the abbreviation for the set of reports, followed by the page number on which the case begins, and the date of the decision.
Example: Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602 (1966).
The case called Miranda v. Arizona was printed in volume 384 of the set of court reports called the United States Reports (the official set published by the United States Government), beginning on page 436. It was also published in volume 86 of the set published by the West Publishing Company (now Thomson West) called Supreme Court Reports, beginning on page 1602. The decision was issued in 1966. You may also see another citation for this case, 16 L.Ed. 2d 694, for the case in the print set called U. S. Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers Edition, now published by LexisNexis, and the version you retrieve using LexisNexis Academic.
For information on deciphering citations see the Cleveland-Marshall Law Library guide: How to Read a Legal Citation .
For further information on citations see:
The standard legal style manual: The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (Columbia Law Review Ass'n et al. eds., 18th ed. 2005), available at the Law Library Information Services Desk KF 245 .B58. Some free sources for Bluebook information on the web are: Basic Legal Citation via LII , Bluebook Guide - Suffolk University Law School, Free Historical PDF Copies of The BlueBook: A Uniform System of Citation, 1926-1991. Note that these free web sources are not as comprehensive or up-to-date as the actual Bluebook in print.
Mary Miles Prince, Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations, KF 246 .P74 2001 (Prince's 5th ed. 2001) available at Reference is very useful for unfamiliar abbreviations. A free Internet source for legal abbreviations is Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations.
Black's Law Dictionary, 8th Ed., Reference KF 156 .B53 includes many abbreviations listed on page xxv. It also is very useful for checking unfamiliar terms. Black's defines lemon law on page 920 as "A statute designed to protect a consumer who buys a substandard automobile, usually by requiring the manufacturer or dealer either to replace the vehicle or to refund the full purchase price."