You may also want to try the Current Law Index , which covers over 850 legal periodicals. Case law Basically, a statute will set forth what the law is as determined by the legislature. Each time a statute is applied to a specific factual situation, the court's opinion may slightly modify the statute's original meaning. So essentially, it is the statute and the case law that define what the law really is. If a statute governs a certain situation or area of law, it should definitely be referred to along with the case law, but if there is no statutory guidance on a certain topic, then it will be the case law that dictates.
Case law is compiled in case reporters.
Federal cases are reported in three different reporters. U.S. Supreme Court cases are reported in several publications. The official reporter for the U.S. Supreme Court is the U.S. Reports . The cases are also reported in U.S. Supreme Court Reports, Lawyer's Edition , The Supreme Court Reporter , and a weekly periodical entitled The United States Law Week . More recent New Jersey cases are reported in two reporters.