Shepard's Citators
A. Definition: Shepard's Citators list where certain legal authorities or documents (cases, statutes, rules/regulations, law review articles, Restatement sections, etc.) have been cited by subsequent legal authorities and documents.
B. Use Shepard's to:
1. Determine the status of an authority (i.e., to see if it is still "good law"). There is the constant possibility of change in legal authority. For example, a case which establishes a rule of law might be reversed, modified, or vacated on direct appeal.
2. Determine the treatment of a "cited" authority in subsequent "citing" authorities (i.e., has it been cited often? followed? criticized?). The treatment of a case by later decisions may have as an important impact on its precedential value as a direct reversal or affirmance.
3. Find other cases on point. Generally, case digests or other secondary sources (encyclopedias, law reviews, etc.) are best for finding cases on a specific topic. However, if you already have one case on point, try Shepardizing it to see what later cases might have cited it. These later cases may deal with the same issue as the case in hand. This method of case finding works best if you can narrow your search to points of law contained in particular headnotes.
4. Find parallel citations
a. Usually, the first entry for a cited case, in parentheses, is the parallel citation to another series of reports.
b. A parallel citation is usually included the first time a case appears in a Shepard's volume or pamphlet, and it is not repeated in later supplements.
C. Most Shepard's volumes are located following their respective reporters. Topical Shepard's are shelved against the wall, on one side of the treatise section.
1. Be sure to choose the proper one (i.e., one that includes the case, statute, rule, or article which you wish to find cited in other sources). Sometimes you will want to check your reference in more than one set of Shepard's, since the sources used to find citing cases may vary from one Shepard's set to the next (e.g., compare a state Shepard's with the regional reporter Shepard's for the same state, if the library you are in, has both regional and state).
2. Shepard's citators exist for: each state, each regional reporter, specific court reports, selected subject areas (tax, labor, immigration), law reviews and other selected publications.
How to Use Shepard's Citators
1. Make sure you have all the necessary volumes from the set (find the bound volume in which your citation first occurs and all supplementation which updates that volume). Skipping volumes means running the risk of missing a citation to a decision which affects the authority of your case. It is essential to check the legend "What Your Library Should Contain" on the cover of the latest pamphlet to verify that you have every part you need.
2. Find your citation in the volume. First, look for the section of the Shepard's volume containing citations to your case reporter. Many Shepard's volumes contain citations to more than one reporter, so make sure you are looking in the correct section (look for the appropriate reporter and volume number at the top of the page).
3. Go down the columns until your page reference is located (in boldface). If there is no entry for your case, then you may assume that during the period covered by that Shepard's volume no references were made to you case. Go on to the next volume.
4. Under the page reference (following any parallel citation(s) which will be in parentheses) is a list of citing cases. The sources from which citing authorities are taken are listed at the front of the volume.
5. The next citations listed after parallels (if there are any) indicate the history of the case. They can be distinguished from treatment citations by the abbreviations used (a, r, s, cc, etc.) These are followed by cases indicating treatment of the case in other courts. These citations are also distinguishable by the abbreviations used (f, q, d, j, o, etc.). Finally, law review articles, annotations, and texts citing to the case are listed. All abbreviations are decoded in the front of each volume. CAUTION: Beware of similar abbreviations; always refer to the front of each Shepard's volume. "S 2d" in the Pennsylvania unit refers to the New York Supplement and not to the Southern Reporter, as one might think.
6. The superior numbers listed within the citations indicate the headnotes of the cited case to which the citing cases are referring.
7. Shepardizing parallel citations
a. Remember: to get complete information you should Shepardize all parallel citations.
b. If a case can be found in both the official reports and a West regional reporter, the results of Shepardizing will differ, depending on which citation is Shepardized.
c. For example, an Oregon case could be found in both the Pacific Reporter and in Oregon Reports. Shepardizing the Oregon Reports citation provides Oregon cases, law review articles, and Attorney General opinions that cite your case. Shepardizing the Pacific Reporter citation, on the other hand, furnishes cases from all states citing your case but would not include law review articles.
- Time Lag: Shepard's may be 4-6 months out of date in the paper copy. If you have access to WESTLAW or LEXIS You will need to go online to bridge this gap.
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