Article: The correct citation includes the reporter, volume and page number. You will also need the year it was decided. For example, if your case is from the Pacific Reporter, you will need to locate the set of Shepard's Citations that corresponds to the Pacific Reporter. Once you have the set of Shepard's Citations that matches your case's reporter, you will need to identify which volumes within the set are necessary for Shepardizing your case. Within your set of Shepard's Citations, look for the most current softbound supplement. The front cover of this supplement will contain a list entitled "What Your Library Should Contain." This is the complete list of volumes and supplements you will need to review in order to Shepardize your case. Gather all of the volumes and soft-cover supplements in this list, from the most recent all the way back to the date your case was decided. Begin with the most recent volume or supplement on the list. Scan the pages of the particular volume or supplement in search of the reporter, volume number and initial page number that correspond to your case. The reporter and volume number appear at the top of each page, with the reporter in the center and the volume number on the left. The initial page numbers are listed in order on each page. Once you have found the right page, the case name and decision date should appear next to the initial page number for your case. If you do not see your case, it means it is not referenced in that particular volume or supplement and you can move on to searching for it in the next one on your list. For each volume or supplement in which your case appears, you will find a list of citations and authorities that have cited your case. This list appears beneath the case name. At the top of the list, you may find citations in parenthesis. These are called parallel citations and indicate that your case has been cited in other reporters. You will need to Shepardize each of these citations to obtain a comprehensive result. After parallel citations, you will find a list of cases that have cited your case. This is the list of cases you will need to review to determine whether your case is still good law. At the end of the column of citations, you will find secondary authorities citing your case. They have no negative or positive effect on the authority of your case, but they will lead you to articles that could help you interpret your cases. The abbreviations next to the cases will alert you to whether your case has been reversed, overruled or denied. The full list of abbreviations can be found in the Table of Abbreviations in each volume of Shepard's. References to cases are organized by jurisdiction and court, with the highest court listed first. Be particularly wary of negative history by cases from higher courts as these decisions are binding on cases from lower courts. If you find a case with an abbreviation that indicates the court reversed, overruled or denied your case, take note of the citation. You MUST look it up to determine how exactly the ruling affected the law in your case. Note that the citations are to the specific pages of other cases that have cited your case. Think carefully about the proposition of law for which you wish to cite the case and consider whether in fact the more recent case affected the validity of that particular proposition. If the proposition for which you had hoped to cite your case is no longer valid, you will not be able to use it in support of your argument. In that scenario, you will need to start over with your legal search and find a new case that supports your argument. " Work in order from the most recent to the earliest reference. Even the most recent published supplement from Shepard's lacks coverages from the previous two months. To learn whether any relevant cases have been decided during those two months, call the toll-free number on the back cover of the most recent Shepard's supplement. A publisher's representative will check for as-yet unpublished citations of your case.
What is a summary of what this article is about?
Obtain the correct citation for the case you wish to Shepardize. Locate the set of Shepard's Citations that matches your case's reporter. Gather all of the volumes necessary to Shepardize your case. Check each of the volumes and supplements gathered for references to your case. Identify the list of cases that have referenced your case. Carefully review the list of cases that have cited your case for any negative history. Read all cases with abbreviations that indicate negative treatment. Repeat this process for each bound volume and supplement listed in "What Your Library Should Contain. Complete the process by obtaining the most current information directly from the publisher.