National Reporter System in the United States

Sets of volumes that contain state supreme court decision. The National Reporter System publishes these decisions on a regional basis. For example, decisions from Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio appear in the North Eastern Reporter. Cases can be found in the North Eastern Reporter, now in its second series, by citation numbers that identify both volume and page number. The citation abbreviation for the North Eastern Reporter is N.E.2d. The other regional reporters are: Atlantic Reporter (abbreviated A.2d and including Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont); North Western Reporter (N.W.2d.; Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin); Pacific Reporter (P.2d.; Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming); South Eastern Reporter (S.E.2d.; Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia); Southern Reporter (So. 2d.; Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi); and the South Western Reporter (S.W.2d.; Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas). The National Reporter System also has sets of volumes for federal court decisions and a digest for each of the regions.

Practical Information

The published opinions of the federal courts and the courts of every state, those of several states being published in the same bound volume. This system of reports, published by West Publishing Company, covers the entire United States. Some of the reporters are designated “Second Series.” The designation is for numbering purposes and indicates that the numbers of the volume have started over with 1.

These reporters, which are “unofficial” reports of the courts’ opinions, are published much sooner than the official reports (in U.S. law), especially those in some states. Some states have discontinued the publication of state reports and use the appropriate reporter of the National Reporter System as the official report.

Before the opinions are published in bound volumes of the National Reporter System, they are published in weekly pamphlets known as Advance Sheets. (Some official reports also have advance sheets.) Thus the lawyer is informed immediately of the decisions of courts in which he or she is interested. The page numbers in the advance sheets correspond with the page numbers that will appear in the bound volumes.
(Revised by Ann De Vries, 1982)

The nine reporters, together with West’s federal court reporters, comprise a uniform system that is tied together by the key number indexing and digesting scheme.

Name of Report with Abbreviation and Jurisdictions Covered:

• Atlantic Reporter (A. and A.2d): District of Columbia, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsyvania, Rhode Island and Vermont
• Northeastern Reporter (N.E. and N.E.2d): New York (Court of Appeals), Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts and Ohio
• Northwestern Reporter (N.W. and N.W.2d): Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin
• Pacific Reporter (P. and P.2d): Alasaka, Arizona, California (limited), Colordao, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming
• Southeastern Reporter (S.E. and S.E.2d): Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia
• Southern Reporter (So. and So.2d):  Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi
• Southwestern Reporter (S.W. and S.W.2d): Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas
• New York Supplement (N.Y.S.): New York supreme and intermediate appellate courts
• California Reporter (Cal. Rptr. and Cal Rptr.2d): California supreme and intermediate appellate courts.

Analysis and Relevance

The National Reporter System contains the decisions of state appellate courts. While some states publish these decisions, the system has come to be the official reporter for decisions in many states. The system is a comprehensive and authoritative source for those engaged in legal research on state law.

What is National Reporter System?

For a meaning of it, read National Reporter System in the Legal Dictionary here. Browse and search more U.S. and international free legal definitions and legal terms related to National Reporter System.

Resources

Notes and References

1. Definition of National Reporter System from the American Law Dictionary, 1991, California

See Also

• Citator (Judicial Effects and Policies)
• United States Reports (Judicial Effects and Policies).

National Reporter System in the Context of Law Research

The Thurgood Marshall School of Law Library defined briefly National Reporter System as: The network of reporters published by West Group, which attempt to publish and digest all cases of precedential value from all state and federal courts.Legal research resources, including National Reporter System, help to identify the law that governs an activity and to find materials that explain that law.