The general rules for citing a case can be found in Bluebook Rule 10. Litigation materials such as briefs, court filings, and transcripts have a special case citation form under Rule 10.8. Table T1 lists the preferred reporter source for cases in both federal and state courts.
While most reporters are published fairly quickly after opinions are released by commercial publishers, it takes approximately five years for Supreme Court cases to appear in the formally published version of the United States Reports. Preliminary versions of US Reports citations and pages can be found within a few months and can even be found on Westlaw and Lexis. However, until a volume is formally published, it is usually still better to cite to Supreme Court opinions in another reporter.
Generally, cite-checking relies on looking at the original page numbers in the cited reporter, not just the star pagination in Westlaw or Lexis. The LRC does have some older reporters in our print collection but scans of original reporter images can often be found on Westlaw or Lexis.
In Westlaw, the "Download original image (PDF)" button is usually at the top left of the page, underneath the KeyCite tabs.
In Lexis, you can find a link with a PDF image and the citation in the Shepard's panel on the right.
The LRC will not request scans of reporter pages through ILL.
Court filings, orders, and other litigation documents are most easily found in a case's docket. A case will have separate dockets at each appellate level and appellate dockets will include briefs filed by the parties and amici.
The LRC's most extensive access to dockets is through Bloomberg Law, though some dockets and appellate briefs can be found on Westlaw and Lexis. The LRC can request docket materials not available on Bloomberg from the court when needed for cite-checking.
