Skip to Main Content
Paul L. Boley Library
Lewis & Clark Law School

Cite Checker's Guide: Case Reporters

Helpful tips for law review cite checking assignments.

Step 1: Identify the right case reporter

The first step for cite checking cases is to determine which reporter to cite to. Cases are often published in multiple reporters, so the Bluebook will tell you which is the most authoritative. Check Table 1 at the back of the Bluebook to verify which case reporter you should be looking for. 

For example, this excerpt from the Bluebook indicates which California Court of Appeal reporter to cite to (depending on the date):

Step 2: Check Westlaw and Lexis

Once you have determined which case reporter to cite to, check Westlaw and Lexis for PDF scans of the reporter. Whether these services have a PDF scan of the exact reporter you are looking for will depend on the jurisdiction. The coverage tends to be better for more recent cases.

 

On Westlaw, you can find PDFs of reporters at the top of a case:

 

On Lexis, you can find reporter images under the heading "About This Document" on the right-hand sidebar.

Note that in these two examples, Westlaw and Lexis provide scans of different case reporters.

Step 3: Check the Case Law Access Project

Harvard's Caselaw Access Project is a free resource with a comprehensive collection of scanned case reporters. This is often the best place to look for reporters not on Westlaw and Lexis (except for recent cases from the last couple years). Select a jurisdiction to see a list of viewable reporters.

Step 4: Check HeinOnline and LLMC Digital

HeinOnline and LLMC Digital are particularly useful resources for historical case reporters.

Resources on HeinOnline include:

Resources on LLMC Digital Include:

Step 5: Check our print collection

The library has a limited collection of case reporters in print and on microfilm. Most of our print reporters are no longer updated. They are also mostly available online. The print collection includes:

Federal Regional State
  • United States Reports (through v. 577)
  • Supreme Court Reporter (through v. 134)
  • Federal Reporter (through 3d v. 694)
  • Federal Supplement (through  2d v. 863)
  • North Eastern Reporter (through 2d v. 973)
  • North Western Reporter (through 2d v. 820)
  • Pacific Reporter (current)
  • South Eastern Reporter (through 2d v. 732)
  • South Western Reporter (through 3d v.384)
  • Southern Reporter (through 3d v. 97)
  • California Reports (through 4th v. 42)
  • California Appellate Reports (through 4th v. 161)
  • Oregon Reports (current)
  • Washington Reporter (through 2d v. 162)

You can search for reporters by name in our catalog.

Tips:

  • Run an advanced search for the reporter. Try searching by title and forcing the catalog to search for the exact name of the reporter.
  • After running a search in our catalog, you can use the right-hand sidebar to filter by location. Most of our reporters are located in our Federal collection, our State collection, our Regional collection, our Microfilm and Microfiche collections, or in storage. Try limiting to these locations.

What if I still can't find it?

The library cannot order case reporters via ILL. If you have gone through these steps and still aren't finding the case, please reach out to a librarian to discuss your options.

Research Help

We're here to help. Contact a research librarian for help with an assignment, project, or resource. 

Hours:
Mon-Fri, 11am-3pm
503-768-6688
lawlib@lclark.edu

Reference Hours