Business Law 101 / Legal Research- Shepard’s Citations

By Albert L. Kelley, Esq.

When doing legal research, lawyers will often find cases that say exactly what you want to see. And sometimes they say just the opposite. But as we have discussed, cases get reversed and sometimes what the Court said in the past is no longer the law. How do you know? There is a set of books titled Shepard’s Citations that lets us know what cases are still valid. Shepard’s is little more than a book full of numbers and abbreviations, but those abbreviations tell what the current status of a case is. For this reason, Shepard’s is one of the most important research tools available. Shepard’s Citations lists every case that has been reported in Southern Reporters (all three series) and then lists every subsequent case that has mentioned that case, indicating which portion of the first case was discussed, whether it was in the main opinion or a dissenting opinion, whether the original case was followed or overruled, and which other Courts have addressed the case. Without showing you the books, it is difficult to describe, but I will make an effort.

Referring to the case Smetal Corp. v West Lake Inv. Co., 172 So. 58 (Fla. S.Ct. 1936). This is a very old case and has been mentioned at some point by every appellate court in Florida. Under Shepard’s Citations, I looked this case up, first based on its book and page number. Occasionally, there will be two cases published on the same page, and Shepard’s will indicate this as well. In my example case, it was the only case on that page. Shepard’s then lists by book and page number all of the cases that cited Smetal, starting with those cases from the Supreme Court, then the Florida Appellate Courts in numerical order (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th), and then the Federal Circuit Courts in numerical order. Next to some of the cases will be a letter. These letters tell how the following court referenced the cited case. The letters are as follows: a (affirmed), cc (connected case), D (dismissed), m (modified), r (reversed), s (same case), S (superseded), v (vacated), c (criticized), d (distinguished), e (explained), f (followed), h (harmonized), j (dissenting opinion), L (limited), o (overruled), p (parallel), and q (questioned). These letters are crucial as a case that has been reversed or overruled may no longer be good law. Also a case cited in a dissenting opinion may conflict with the controlling decision. In the Smetal case, 8 court decisions had distinguished the case, two had followed it, and one had mentioned it in a dissenting opinion. Also next to the listed cases may be a comment such as “note 1″. This refers to the “Headnote”. At the beginning of the cases as published in the Reporters, you will see a group of small numbered paragraphs, summarizing the major points of the case. These are the headnotes. The reason for headnotes isn’t simply to give you a summary of that case, but to allow you to find other cases that address the same issue. Each headnote is preceded by a topic and what is referred to as a “key number”. Key numbers are assigned to each topic and subtopic, to group cases together that cover the same points. Key numbers are issued by the West Publishing Company. Often, you will only be interested in one particular point of the case. Shepard’s lets you see which cases referred specifically to that headnote, so you don’t have to look up other cases that are irrelevant to your issue. The Smetal case had over 24 headnotes. Every case that is looked up should be Shepardized, if for no other reason than to ensure that it has not been overruled.

Al Kelley is a Florida business law attorney located in Key West and previously taught business law, personnel law and labor law at St. Leo University. He is also the author of “Basics of Business Law” “Basics of Florida’s Small Claims Court” and “Basics of Florida’s Landlord-Tenant Law” (Absolutely Amazing e-Books). This article is being offered as a public service and is not intended to provide specific legal advice. If you have any questions about legal issues, you should confer with a licensed Florida attorney.

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