Library Collection

The law library provides students and faculty with access to legal materials necessary to learn the methodology of legal research and to conduct the research essential to legal practice and scholarship. The collection includes primary and secondary source materials.

This guide provides information for the 1Ls on the different types of law books and their location in the library collection.

For assistance with the online catalog or to locate legal materials in the collection, please contact the librarians or AsktheLibrarian@johnmarshall.edu . We look forward to providing you with assistance in your use of the legal materials.

Federal Reporters

Reporters contain opinions written by courts to explain how and why certain legal rules were used to resolve the dispute in a particular lawsuit. These rules constitute the "Common law" and are followed by courts deciding later cases with similar facts and issues so that consistency may be maintained.

United States Supreme Court Reports are reported in the United States Reports (U.S.) and United States Reports, Lawyers' Edition, first and second series (L.Ed. and L.Ed. 2d) and the Supreme Court Reports (S. Ct.).

Cases from the intermediate United States Courts of Appeals, also called United States Circuit Courts, are printed in the Federal Reporter, first, second, or third series (F., F.2d, F.3d). The Federal Supplement, first and second series (F.Supp., F.Supp.2d) contain cases from the United States District Courts. The Federal Appendix (F.App.) are reported cases not reported in F.3d.

State Reporters

State appellate court opinions are printed in official state reports. The official reporters for the state of Georgia are the Reports of Cases Decided in the Supreme Court of the State of Georgia (Georgia Reports) and the Reports of Cases Decided in the Court of Appeals of the State of Georiga (Georgia Appeals Reports).

Regional Reporters

The unofficial opinions are printed in West's regional reporters, which include the Atlantic (A. and A.2d), North Eastern (N.E. and N.E. 2d). North Western (N.W. and N.W. 2d), Pacific (P., P.2d, and P.3d), South Eastern (S.E. and S.E.2d), South Western (S.W. and S.W.2d), and Southern (So. and So.2d) Reporters. California, Illinois, and New York are printed in the California Reporter (Cal. Rptr. and Cal.Rptr.2d),  Illinois Decisions (Ill. Dec.), and the New York Supplement (N.Y.S. and N.Y.S. 2d).

Subject Reporters

Subject reporters report cases from various jurisdictions which pertain to a certain area of law.

Codes consist of statutes, regulations or ordinances, which are mandatory, meaning that courts must follow them. Codes are accessed through an index that references to a numbered section. The codes are updated periodically by supplements or pocket parts or looseleaf form.

Federal Codes

There are three federal codes: the official United States Code (U.S.C.) and the two unofficial codes including the United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.) and the United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.).

Regulations of federal agencies are contained in the Federal Register (F.R.) and the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.).

State Codes

Each state has an official code. The state of Georgia has an official code, the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.) and an unofficial code, the West's Georgia Code Annotated. These codes include the local state code, which holds the laws made by the state legislature.

Digests are helpful in finding cases. There are digests for federal, states, and several regions that correspond to the various reporters. The Decennial Digests cover all jurisdictions in 10-year increments. The West's American Digest System divides the law into topics. The topics are subdivided into principles of law which are provided "key numbers." There are Case Tables which can be used to help find case citations