Research Guides: Law: Federal Laws

What do Federal Laws Cover?

STATUTES are the laws passed by Congress (the legislative branch).

REGULATIONS are the rules passed by the various federal departments and agencies (the executive branch) to enforce the statutes.

CASE LAW refers to the opinions or decisions by judges (the judicial branch) interpreting the constitution, statutes, regulations and prior case law.

Due to federalism, federal laws only apply to federal issues and federal courts typically only hear cases involving federal issues such as:

federal laws or regulations (for example: tax, Social Security, broadcasting, civil rights)
interstate and international commerce, including airline and railroad regulation.
securities and commodities regulation, including takeover of publicly held corporations.
international trade law matters.
patent, copyright, and other intellectual property issues.
rights under treaties, foreign states, and foreign nationals.
bankruptcy matters.
disputes between states.
habeas corpus actions.
crimes under statutes enacted by congress.

To learn more visit the United States Courts website at :

http://www.uscourts.gov/EducationalResources/FederalCourtBasics/CourtStructure/JurisdictionOfStateAndFederalCourts.aspx.

Finding Federal Statutes, Rules or Regulations

Federal laws are published in different places. See the links below for selected sources.

Slip Laws
The slip laws are entered chronologically in U.S. Statutes at Large and by the Session number of Congress (also called "Session Laws").
U.S. Statutes at Large
The United States Statutes at Large, typically referred to as the Statutes at Large, is the permanent collection of all laws and resolutions enacted during each session of Congress.
United States Code
The United States Code is the codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States. It is divided by broad subjects into 51 [UPDATE TO 53/bs] titles and published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Code of Federal Regulations
The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) annual edition is the codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the departments and agencies of the Federal Government. It is divided into 50 titles that represent broad areas subject to Federal regulation.
Federal Register
Federal Register is the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents.

What does "shepardizing" a case mean?

Lawyers never want to cite any case law that has been overturned or is outdated. To make sure this doesn't happen, attorneys "Shepardize" every case they cite. This means that they look for any cases that have cited the case(s) they are relying on.

"Shepard's Citations" is the tool used to "Shepardize" a case and it is available through Nexis Uni.

See the following Nexis Uni tutorial on how to use this tool:

Shepard's Citations

How the Federal Courts are Structured

(image from USCourts.gov)

Finding Federal Case Law [LEXIS NEXIS LINKS ARE OUT OF DATE, AS IS NAME. FIRST THREE LINKS BELOW LINK TOO LEXIS NEXIS. SUBSTITUTE AVAILABLE?/bs]

Federal case law includes decisions by any of the Federal Courts - the U.S. Supreme Court, one of the Appellate Courts or one of the Trial Courts (see Federal Court Structure box).

Most case law can be accessed electronically through the courts or through NexisUni.

U.S. Reports
This is the official reporter for decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Federal Reporter (F., F.2d & F.3d)
This is the official reporter for decisions of the Federal Appellate Courts.
Federal Supplement (F.Supp., F. Supp. 2d)
This is official reporter for decisions of the Federal trial courts.

How do you decode a legal citation?

A legal citation includes:

the volume number
the name of the publication in abbreviated format
the page number

For example:

45 U.S. 239 means you will find the case in volume 45 of the United States Reports on page 239
26 U.S.C. 98 means you will find this statute in Title 26 of the United States Code on page 98
13. N.Y. City L. Rev. 34 means you will find this law review article in volume 13 of the New York City Law Review on page 34.