1. Provide details on Westlaw (what’s in it)
Review the organization of WestLaw in order to learn how to navigate our way around.
Review and dissect a case from the Supreme Court (become efficient at evaluating the relevance of a case and how to find additional information based on cases)

2. Federal Court Structure
U. S. Supreme Court
U. S. Court of Appeals
U. S. District Courts
Agency Rulings (FCC, EPA, etc.)
State Courts

3. Court Reporters U. S. Supreme Court U. S. Court of Appeals
United States Reports (U.S.), and others
U. S. Court of Appeals
Federal Reporter (F. 3d and F. 2d)
U. S. District Courts
Federal Supplement (F. Supp)
Agency Rulings (FCC, EPA, etc.)

4. F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation, 438 US 726 (1978)
Legal Citations
The basic form of a legal citation is:
438 U.S. 726
Where:
U.S
volume source page
Typically, you will also see the name of the case:
F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation, 438 US 726 (1978)

5. Legal Citations (cont.)
The format will be the same no matter if it is a statute:
18 U.S.C.A. § 1464
(title 18, United States Code Annotated, section 1464)
or journal article:
46 FCLJ 267
(volume 46, Federal Communications Law Journal, page 267)

6. F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation
Parallel Citations
Parallel citations are multiple citations for the same case, each one pointing to a different source (called reporters).
F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation
438 U.S S.Ct MLR 2553
(United States Reports) (Supreme Court Reporter) (Media Law Reporter)

7. Parallel Citations (cont.)
While each reporter will give the complete decision of the court, those published by private publishers provide additional/editorial materials (added value) in addition to the court decision.
F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation
438 U.S S.Ct MLR 2553
(Government Printing Office) (West Publishing) (BNA)
(Official Version) (Private Publisher) (Private Publisher)

8. Keyword Searching in Westlaw
Find federal court cases dealing with the right of a high school to censor its school newspaper

9. Keyword Searching in Westlaw
Find federal court cases dealing with the right of a high school to censor its school newspaper censorship AND “high school newspaper” searching All Federal Cases = 70 Cases