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Legal resources are cited using a different format from other bibliographic citations. The case citation provides several critical pieces of information, including:

  1. The name of the case

  2. The physical volumes where the case can be found, and

  3. The year the case was decided.

Let's look at the citation for a well-known Supreme Court case:


Roe v. Wade 410 U.S. 113, 93 S.Ct. 705, 35 L.Ed 2nd 147 (1973)

If we break down this complete citation into parts, we can decode it easier.

  1. Roe v. Wade - this is the popular name of the case, presented in plaintiff v. (defendant) format. We now know that Roe was the plaintiff in this case, while Wade was the defendant.

  2. 410 U.S. 113 - this is the official citation of the Supreme Court decision,which tells us that the first page of the decision can be found in volume 410 of the United States Reports on page 113. The fact that this decision can be found in United States Reports tells us that the case was decided by the Supreme Court.

    Court decisions may are published by several different publishers, but an individual library usually carries only one version. (Here at BHCC we subscribe to the Supreme Court Reporter). These publishers are referred to in what are called parallel citations for each case. The parallel citations for this case are:

  3. 93 S.Ct. 705 - you can also find this case at page 705 of volume 93 of the Supreme Court Reporter, or

  4. 35 L.Ed 2nd 147 - in volume 35 of U.S. Supreme Court Reports, Lawyer's Edition, 2nd series, on page 147.

    Now that online versions of decisions are becoming common place, you will see parallel citations to those online versions as well.

  5. (1972) - shows the year of the opinion. Taken together, all of these separate elements give us the complete citation shown above.

    A Sample Legal Citation:
    Roe v. Wade 410 U.S. 113, 93 S.Ct. 705, 35 L.Ed 2nd 147 (1972)

Roe V. Wade 410 U.S.113 93 S.Ct.705 35 L.Ed 2nd 147 1972
Popular case Name
Plaintiff v.
Defendant format		 Supreme Court Decision Official citation.
Volume 410 of U.S. reports, page 113 		Supreme Court Reporter
Volume 93, Page 705		 U.S. Supreme court reports
Volume 35, Page 147		 Opinion Year