gweedoh Posted May 2, 2007 Report Share Posted May 2, 2007 I have a (dumb) question. When citing case law, I see this:Mahon v. Credit Bur. of Placer County, Inc., 171 F.3d 1197, 1200 (9th Cir. 1999)I get the "Mahon v. Credit Bur. of Placer County, Inc." part, but can someone break down what the "171 F.3d 1197, 1200" is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
direred Posted May 2, 2007 Report Share Posted May 2, 2007 171 is the volume.F.3d is the series it was published in.1197 and 1200 are page numbers. The front matter starts on 1197, the real meat of the case on p. 1200.See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Case_citation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gweedoh Posted May 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2007 Cool, thanks!So then are the volumes grouped so that all of 171 would be related somehow or are the cases just placed sequentially? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
direred Posted May 2, 2007 Report Share Posted May 2, 2007 Sequentially, generally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gweedoh Posted May 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2007 Got it. Thanks for the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MountainDude Posted May 2, 2007 Report Share Posted May 2, 2007 Don't be afraid to go to a legal library (courthouse, lawschool, government agency) and ask for help. Legal Librarians (librarians in general) go to school to help people understand their system. I believe that showing the citizens their system of cataloging their information is a big chunk of why they wake up and go to work every day.j Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nascar Posted May 2, 2007 Report Share Posted May 2, 2007 I have a (dumb) question. When citing case law, I see this:Mahon v. Credit Bur. of Placer County, Inc., 171 F.3d 1197, 1200 (9th Cir. 1999)I get the "Mahon v. Credit Bur. of Placer County, Inc." part, but can someone break down what the "171 F.3d 1197, 1200" is?Like Dire said, the case starts on page 1197. The reference to page 1200 is inserted to direct you to the page that contains the quote you are citing. Some opinions can be forty, fifty or more pages. It's very helpful if you know exactly what page to go to.And yes, opinions are published chronologically. That's one thing that's really cool about doing actual book research in the library. You can be looking for info on a case about Landlord/Tenant relationships, turn the page and find something totally different like a high profile murder case or something. It's real easy to get side-tracked, but GREAT fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
direred Posted May 2, 2007 Report Share Posted May 2, 2007 Doh, of course 1200 would be the relevant page. What was I thinking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gweedoh Posted May 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2007 Don't be afraid to go to a legal library (courthouse, lawschool, government agency) and ask for help. Legal Librarians (librarians in general) go to school to help people understand their system. I believe that showing the citizens their system of cataloging their information is a big chunk of why they wake up and go to work every day.jI'm afraid to go because, as Nascar pointed out, I'd sit down to look for one thing and 12 hours later be no closer on my case, but have found a lot of really interesting stuff on other cases. Out of curiosity, what's a set of published law books cost, anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
direred Posted May 3, 2007 Report Share Posted May 3, 2007 Trust me, you can't afford them. There's hundreds of physical volumes. Remember: that 171 is the volume F.3d means Federal Reporter, 3rd series (meaning there were two sets of several-hundred volumes prior). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gweedoh Posted May 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2007 Trust me, you can't afford them. There's hundreds of physical volumes. Remember: that 171 is the volume F.3d means Federal Reporter, 3rd series (meaning there were two sets of several-hundred volumes prior).Yeah, I figured. I wasn't in the market but I was curious if anyone could post a ballpark to stash away as one of those eclectic bits of trivia I like to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MountainDude Posted May 3, 2007 Report Share Posted May 3, 2007 I'm afraid to go because, as Nascar pointed out, I'd sit down to look for one thing and 12 hours later be no closer on my case, but have found a lot of really interesting stuff on other cases. Yeah, that's the way it goes sometimes, but a good librarian will help you find what you need. They are usually very helpful.j Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samsam Posted May 4, 2007 Report Share Posted May 4, 2007 Out of curiosity, what's a set of published law books cost, anyway?The price of your isp. Try FindLaw. There are also other online free legal libraries, including the courts themselves. If all else fails, just google the cite. But, be careful that the case has not been overruled and actually stands for what you say it stands for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samsam Posted May 4, 2007 Report Share Posted May 4, 2007 Also, if you do go to the law library, there are many how to books on how to prove/try certain type of cases with the necessary legal authority. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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