SHEPARDS

WHAT IS SHEPARDS?

A legal citation system that allows attorneys to make sound conclusions about their legal research.

WHY SHEPARDIZE? -- Shepards can be used for ....

  1. Verification
  2. Expanding research
  3. Susequent history
  4. Parallel Cites

SHEPARD'S CITATION SYSTEM

  1. Shepard's is available in 3 different formats

    1. Print
    2. CD-Rom
    3. Lexis-Nexis

  2. Shepard's Citations Cover

    1. Case Law
    2. Statutory Law
    3. Regulations
    4. Constitutions
    5. Court Rules
    6. Restatements
    7. Agency Decision
    8. Topics, such as: Bankruptcy, Intellectual Property, Labor & Tax

USING SHEPARDS IN PRINT

HYPOTHETICAL:
In a brief you are writing, you plan to rely heavily on the following case: Commonwealth v. Zettlemoyer, 500 Pa. 16, 454 A.2d 937 (1982), cert denied, 461 U.S. 970 (1983)

STEP #1

  • Select the correct citator
    • Select the citator that corresponds to the reporter or jurisdiction of the case you are using.
    • There are 2 citators available for the case:
      • Pennsylvania Citations
        The state citator provides the best coverage of state cases and secondary research sources.
      • Atlantic Reporter Citations
        The regional citator provides coverage of cases in states found in the regional reporter.
  • Consult the "What Your Library Should Contain" box on the most recent pamphlet for the citator set you have chosen.
    • Make sure you have all the bound volumes and supplements listed.

    • STEP #2

  • Understand the format and arrangement of your citator.
    • Each citator is formatted differently
    • Entries vary depending upon the type of citation you are looking up -- cases, statutes, regulations, etc.

    • STEP #3

  • Find your citation -- 500 Pa. 16 -- in each of the publications listed under "What Your Library Should Contain"

    • STEP #4

  • Shepardize all parallel citations to ensure complete coverage.