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Researching Virginia Law: Case Law

CASE LAW

In the United States, courts interpret statutory law, but they also create their own law, called case law. When deciding cases, courts must look to precedent, previously decided cases that are relevant to the issues at hand.

IMPORTANT RESOURCES:

COURT
WHERE YOU FIND SLIP OPINIONS ONLINE
WHICH CASE REPORTER YOU USE
Supreme Court of Virginia
Virginia Reports or South Eastern Reporter
Court of Appeals of Virginia
Virginia Court of Appeals Reports or South Eastern Reporter
Circuit Courts
N/A
Virginia Circuit Court Opinions(*)
*Virginia Circuit Court Opinions is a selective reporter; most Circuit Court decisions are not published.


The Courts
The Virginia Judicial System has three levels of courts.

The Supreme Court of Virginia is Virginia's court of last resort – the highest court in the Commonwealth. It is a discretionary court, which means that it can decide which appeals it will accept. Its decisions are binding on itself and on all courts below it.

The Court of Appeals of Virginia is the Commonwealth's intermediate appellate court. The Court of Appeals must hear all appeals that it receives. This court's decisions are binding on itself and on trial courts, but not on the Supreme Court.

The Circuit Courts and the District Courts are Virginia's trial courts. Only decisions from the Circuit Courts are published, and even then only a small percentage. Trial court decisions do not have much value as precedent.


How Cases are Published
A case is first published as a slip opinion. This is a pamphlet that contains only one decision. Paper slip opinions are not available at the Law Library, but you can browse for opinions for free online at the Virginia Judicial System's web site at http://www.courts.state.va.us/. Opinions are available for the Supreme Court from June 9, 1995, to the present, and for the Court of Appeals from May 2, 1995, to the present.

Next, cases are compiled in paperback advance sheets. Advance sheets are the first phase of publication in a case reporter, which is a system that published court decisions. When a case is published in an advance sheet, it is given a volume and page number for that reporter system. These volume and page numbers remain the same when the case is published in the final, bound version of the reporter.

Finally, advance sheets are compiled in a bound volume. This is the final version of a case reporter volume.


DEMONSTRATION

The case of Motley v. Virginia State Bar, Record No. 000392, is handed down on September 15, 2000 as a slip opinion. You could look this opinion up on the Virginia Judicial System's web site.

NEXT,

Motley is compiled as part of an advance sheet for Virginia Reports, the case reporter for the Supreme Court of Virginia. This case is given the citation 260 Va. 243 (page 243 of volume 260 of the Virginia Reports).

FINALLY,

The advance sheet is compiled into a bound volume. Motley's citation is still 260 Va. 243.

The Case Reporters
There are several different case reporters; each reporter covers different courts. There are two types of reporters:

Official reporters are authorized by the court. They are important to know because courts will often require the citation from the official reporter when you mention a case.

Unofficial reporters are published by private companies. West Group is the major publisher of unofficial case reporters. The text of the decision itself is that same as in official reporters, but unofficial reporters often add editorial interpretations of the case to the beginning.


Finding a Case by Citation
If you have the citation to a case, it will be easy to locate. Refer to the Law Library's online guide on "How to Find a Case With the Citation" at http://www.wm.edu/law/lawlibrary/research/howto/citation.shtml for more details.


Finding a Case Using the Code of Virginia
The Code of Virginia 1950 and West's Annotated Code of Virginia are annotated codes. The most valuable aspect of an annotated code is that some code sections will have entries listing cases that have been decided which related to that code section. Each case entry is a paragraph that summarizes what the case had to do with the code section you are reading, followed by a citation to the case.
NOTE: The version of the Code of Virginia available on the Commonwealth's web site is not an annotated code. To take advantage of this, you must use the book versions of the Code.


Finding a Case by Party Name
If you only have the name of a party or parties involved in the case, there are several resources you can use to get a citation for the case.

Shepard's Virginia Case Names Citator [Shepard's area] allows you to determine a case's citation by looking up the name of either party. Be sure to check the supplement if you are looking up a newer case.

The Table of Cases volumes from reporter digests are another way to look up a citation using a party's name. Digests are a type of indexing system for case reporters (more on them below in "Finding a Case by Topic"), and they contain volumes at the end called the "Table of Cases" that allows you to look up a case's citation by using the name of the parties involved. Be sure to check the pocket part at the back of the book, or paperback supplements, if you are researching a newer case. Two Tables of Cases cover Virginia state courts:
    • Virginia and West Virginia Digest (Call # KFV2460 .V5 [Virginia Collection])

    • South Eastern Digest and South Eastern Digest, 2d Series
The Cumulative Index to the Virginia Circuit Court Opinions also has a Table of Cases Reported. This table only lists cases reported in the Virginia Circuit Court Opinions service.


Finding a Case by Topic
If you are searching for cases that relate to a particular topic, digests are the best place to look. Digests are the indexing system used for cases, and they are primarily published by West Group. Digests are usually located at the end of the reporters they cover. Two digest services cover Virginia:
    • Virginia and West Virginia Digest (Call # KFV2460 .V5 [Virginia Collection])

    • South Eastern Digest and South Eastern Digest, 2d Series
West's digest system breaks the law down into a number of Key Topics, such as Bankruptcy, Contracts or Corporations. These Key Topics are further divided into Key Numbers. Each Key Number represents a very specific part of a Key Topic – for example, Key Number 37 of the Key Topic Criminal Law is Entrapment.

West's digest system also acts as an outline of the law; similar Key Numbers are placed together under broader topic sections. For example, Criminal Law Key Number 37 is part of the category Defenses In General.

There are two ways you can search for topics using the digest system:
    • The index method: At the beginning or end of a digest, you will find a set of volumes called the Descriptive Word Index. You can look up a term in this index, and it will tell you what Key Number in the digest to search under. A Table of Abbreviations is at the beginning of each volume. For example, looking up "Entrapment" under "Criminal Law" results in an entry for "Entrapment as defense to prosecution", which directs you to "Crim Law 37". The phrase tells you the Key Topic to use, and the number is the Key Number within that Topic to search under.

    • The outline method: The beginning of each digest volume has an "Outline of the law" that shows all the Key Topics used in that digest. The beginning of each Key Topic section has another outline that lists the Key Numbers contained in that Topic. Browsing through the Key Topics and Numbers can help to get a feel for the issues that may be related to the one you are searching, and can give you an idea for several Key Numbers you may wish to search under.
The digests are organized alphabetically by Key Topic, then numerically by Key Number. Each Key Number is followed by a list of paragraph-long summaries of cases. Usually, these outlines will only describe what a case has to do with the Key Number you are researching. If you decide you want to read the entire case, the case citation is located after the summary. If you want to use a case, be sure to read the whole case first; do not just rely on the summary.

Be sure to check the back of the volumes for pocket parts or paperback supplements that will list the most recent cases. Also remember that the Virginia and West Virginia Digest and the South Eastern Digests cover more than one state; if you are researching Virginia law, make sure you have a Virginia case.

NOTE: Virginia Circuit Court Opinions has a separate topical index in its Cumulative Index volume.


Updating a case
Shepard's Citations is the service used to update cases. Shepard's Virginia Citations updates cases from Virginia courts, and works with all the case reporters listed above. The beginning or inside cover of a volume has a page that explains the abbreviations Shepard's uses.

Shepard's comes in multiple volumes; check the front cover of the newest supplement under "What your library should contain" to find out all the volumes you must check to completely update a case.


» Introduction   » Secondary Sources   » Statutes
» Legislative History   » Cases   » Administrative Law
» References

 


 
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