Winning Research Skills - Westlaw

Fundamentals of Case Law
Case Name or Title
The name, or title, of a case (also referred to as its style or caption) includes the names of the
parties. Most cases are named for the parties involved (usually two) to indicate who is suing
whom, e.g., Bergman v. United States. Some cases may have only one name with a Latin phrase
attached (e.g., In re Seiferth). In a criminal case, since the state brings the action, the first party
will often be the state itself (e.g., State v. Birditt).
When a case begins in the trial court, the first name is the plaintiff, or the party bringing the suit,
and the name after the v. is the defendant. On appeal, the name of the petitioner or appellant
will be listed first; the name of the respondent or appellee will be listed second. Therefore, if the
defendant in the trial court brings an appeal, his or her name will be listed first in the appellate
case.
When you read a case in a print reporter or on Westlaw, you will often find several plaintiffs,
defendants, or cross-complainants. Correct citation form requires that only the first-named
plaintiff and the first-named defendant be listed.
The case name that appears at the top of each page in the reporters is not in correct citation
format and should not be followed as an example of Bluebook or ALWD Citation Manual
format. For example, the following appears at the top of the page for the case at 441 F.2d 1061:
Local 13, Int. Longshoremen’s & W.U. v. Pacific Mar. Ass’n
The correct Bluebook format for the case name would be
Local 13, Int’l Longshoremen’s & Warehousemen’s Union v. Pac. Mar. Ass’n
The correct ALWD Citation Manual format for the case name would be
Local 13, Intl. Longshoremen’s & Warehousemen’s Union v. P. Mar. Assn.
Docket Number
When a case is filed with the court clerk, it is assigned a docket number (or action number) that
remains with the case and is used to keep track of documents filed in the course of the litigation.
Docket number format varies across state and federal jurisdictions. Typically, a docket number
includes numbers indicating the year that the case was filed.
Date
A case in a reporter or on Westlaw will include the exact month, day, and year that it was
decided.
Synopsis
Attorney-editors at West write a synopsis or brief description of each case published by West.
Most synopses contain the following information:
■ the facts of the case
■ the name and holding of the lower court judge
■ the holding of the court
■ the name of the judge writing the opinion
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