MASSACHUSETTS CASE FINDING GUIDE

The following Case Finding Guide outlines the procedures involved in finding Massachusetts State Court opinions. It begins with a brief description of the court structure. Following that is a list of official and unofficial reporters for Massachusetts opinions, organized by court. Then there is a guide to using the various finding aids, including digests, indexes, citators, annotated statutes, and secondary sources. Finally, there is a guide to finding cases online using Westlaw, LEXIS, LOIS, and the various internet sources.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Overview of court structure

Click on the court to find out where its opinions are reported

There are four basic levels of courts in Massachusetts. First are the trial courts of limited jurisdiction. These include: Juvenile court, Housing court, Land court, Probate & Family court, District court, and Boston Municipal Court. Cases from these courts can be appealed to Superior Court, a trial court of general jurisdiction. Superior court cases can be appealed to the Appeals Court, the "intermediate appellate court" in Massachusetts. Finally Appeals Court cases can be appealed to the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. Click here for a graphic outline of the court system.

Massachusetts Court Reporters

 

Supreme Judicial Court

Opinions of the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) are published in the following reporters:

Massachusetts Reports is the official reporter for the Massachusetts SJC. It is published in weekly "advance sheets," which are cumulated into bound volumes. Each volume contains a table of cases reported and a subject index. Citations to Massachusetts Reports look like: 423 Mass. 1201. Opinions in Massachusetts Reports can be found using the Massachusetts Digest.

North Eastern Reporter contains "unofficial" reports of cases from the Mass. SJC, as well as the Mass. Appeals Court. It is published approximately weekly in advance sheets, which are cumulated into bound volumes. Each volume has a table of cases reported, and a mini-digest to cases reported in the volume. Citations to the North Eastern Reporter look like: 668 N.E. 2d 738 (the "2d" denotes second series. Cases from the first series will not have this). Opinions in the North Eastern Reporter can be found using the Massachusetts Digest.

Massachusetts Decisions contains "unofficial" reports of Massachusetts SJC and Appeals Court cases as they appear in the North Eastern Reporter. It is published in advance sheets which are cumulated into bound volumes. Each volume contains a table of cases, and a mini-digest of cases reported in the volume. Citations to cases found in Mass. Decisions are citated to the North Eastern Reporter, e.g 668 N.E. 2d 738 (the N.E. cites are given for each page). Opinions in the Northeastern Reporter can be found using the Massachusetts Digest.

For more information on finding SJC cases, see the seciton on online sources.

Massachusetts Appeals Court

Massachusetts Appeals Court Reports is the offical reporter for the Massachusetts Appeals Court, published in weekly advance sheets, which are cumulated into bound volumes. Each volume contains a table of cases, and a subject index. Citations to the Massachusetts Appeals Court Reports look like: 25 Mass. App. Ct. 1. Massachusetts Appeals Court cases can be found using the Massachusetts Digest.

North Eastern Reporter contains "unofficial" reports of cases from the Mass. SJC, as well as the Mass. Appeals Court. It is published approximately weekly in advance sheets, which are cumulated into bound volumes. Each volume has a table of cases reported, and a mini-digest to cases reported in the volume. Citations to the North Eastern Reporter look like: 668 N.E. 2d 738 (the "2d" denotes second series. Cases from the first series will not have this). Opinions in the North Eastern Reporter can be found using the Massachusetts Digest.

Massachusetts Decisions contains "unofficial" reports of Massachusetts SJC and Appeals Court cases as they appear in the North Eastern Reporter. It is published in advance sheets which are cumulated into bound volumes. Each volume contains a table of cases, and a mini-digest of cases reported in the volume. Citations to cases found in Mass. Decisions are citated to the North Eastern Reporter, e.g 668 N.E. 2d 738 (the N.E. cites are given for each page). Opinions in the Northeastern Reporter can be found using the Massachusetts Digest.

For more information on finding Massachusetts Appeals Court cases, see the section on online sources.

Trial Courts

There are no official reports of the decisions of any department of the trial court. Decisions from the Superior Court, Land Court, and Housing Court can be found on the Massachusetts Administrative Law Library, published by the Social Law Library database on the Law Library home page under research databases. For more on searching the Administrative Law Library, see the section on Online Sources.

Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly

Each week, MLW publishes brief descriptions of cases from the Superior Court, the Probate and Family Court, the Land Court, the District Courts and teh Appellate Division of the District Court, and Juvenile Court. The full text of the opinions can be ordered from Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly by phoning them at 1-800-WEEKLY4 (1-800-933-5594). Twice a year, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly publishes an index, including a table of cases, for the cases it makes available.

There are several unofficial reporters for many trial court decisions. The are as follows, arranged by court:

Superior Court

Massachusetts Law Reporter reports selected Superior Court decisions, from 1993 to the present. It is published in monthly advance sheets, cumulated into annual hardbound volumes. Each volume contains a table of cases reported, and a subject index. Citations to the Massachusetts Law Reporter look like: 3 Mass. Law Rptr 25.

Superior court cases can also be found using online sources.

Massachusetts Appellate Division

Massachusetts Appellate Division Reporter reports decisions of the Appellate Division of the Massachusetts District Court, and since 1992, decisions of the Boston Municipal Court. It is published in montly advance sheets, and cumulated into annual volumes. Each volume has a table of cases and subject index. Citations to the Appellate Division Reporter look like: 1998 Mass. App. Div. 25. Opinions in the Appellate Division Reporter can be found using the Massachusetts Digest

Massachusetts Appellate Division Reports can also be found using online sources.

Land Court

Land Court Reporter publishes unofficial versions of the decisions of the land court. It began in 1993. It is published looseleaf format, in montly advance sheets, which are cumulated into looseleaf volumes. Each volume contains a table of cases reported, and a subject index.

Land court decisions can also be found using online sources.

Finding cases using the Massachusetts Digest

Overview

The Digest is a multi-volume subject index, which breaks the entire body of law into 404 broad topics. Each topic is further divided into subjects, and subdivided into smaller subjects. These divisions are assigned "key numbers," which are used to look up case annotations. For example, in the table of contents under the broad topic "Equity" one will find the broad subject heading "I. Jurisdiction, principles and maxims" beneath which is "(B) remedy at law and multiplicity of suits," beneath which is "45. Adequacy of legal remedy." The "topic and key number" for this subject is Equity K 45. In the digest, then, under the topic Equity, find the "key" number 45. Cases annotated under this key number will deal with this issue.

The digest also contains a table of cases, a descriptive word index (DWI) and a multi-volume "words and phrases" section. Many digests also contain a defendant-plaintiff table, which lists cases in alphabetical order by defendant. Finding a case by Case Name:

The table of cases is arranged alphabetically by plaintiffs name, i.e. Romeo v. Juliet would be listed under Romeo. You will get a citations to unofficial and offical versions of the cases, where both are available. NB: Be sure and check the supplement; the bound volume is always at least a year out of date.

Many digests have a defendant plaintiff table , which lists cases alphabetically by defendant's name. This is helpful when you do not have the plaintiff's name, or when the plaintiff's name would result in several citations, e.g., Commonwealth of Massachusetts, look up the case by the name of the defendant to get a citation. (Commonwealth v. Romeo, Juliet, et al. would be listed under Romeo, Juliet, et al, Commonwealth v.)

Finding a case using the Descriptive Word Index

If you do not have the name of a case, consult the Descriptive Word Index . Look up words in the DWI associated with the situation. For example, if you were interested in cases dealing with relief granted to plaintiffs for a physician's failure to properly diagnose a condition and prescribe correct care, you could examine the cases and look up the following in the DWI:

  1. Parties Involved, e.g. Physician or doctor
  2. Places and Things, e.g. Drug, prescription
  3. Acts/Omissions: Basis of Action, e.g., Failure to properly prescribe/diagnose
  4. Defenses to action,e.g., statute of limitations
  5. Relief, e.g., monetary damages, punitive damages

In this example, if you began with "Failure to Properly Prescribe/Diagnose," you really don't find much. Move on to "Doctor" and it tells you to see "Physicians and Surgeons." Under this heading, under Drugs, there is "Sale of, unlawful practice" - not on point. There is nothing under "Failure to Diagnose..." There is, however, a subheading "Negligence" which is even further broken down - including a key number for Diagnosis - Phys15(7) . Go to this topic (Physician) in the main digest volumes, and within it, look up the key number 15(7) to find relevant cases.

One of the more helpful things about the digest is that the topic/key number system remains the same. The key number you find in the Massachusetts Digest will apply to the Federal Practice Digest, the Education Law Digest, and even to Westlaw.

Finding cases using words and Phrases. All digests now contain a several volume "Words and phrases" section. In essence, Words and Phrases is a judicial dictionary which provides case abstracts and citations defining specific legal terms. It is an excellent source to discover how certain courts have construed specfic terms.

Finding cases using other print sources

Annotated Statutes

If you have a citation to a Massachusetts statute, you can find cases on point by using either Massachusetts General Laws Annotated (MGLA), or the Annotated Laws of Massachusetts (ALM). Annotations to cases follow the law itself. Where there are many cases that interpret a statute, there is a short index of decisions, serving as a guide to the decisions. NB : Don't forget to check the pocket part. Even if the statute hasn't been updated, if there are recent cases that interpret your statute, you will find annotations to them in the pocket part.

Encyclopedias and Treatises

Massachusetts Practice is currently the only Massachusetts Specific legal encyclopedia. It is divided into topics, and has a two volume comprehensive index. It provides brief explanations or summaries of legal doctrines, as well as footnotes to primary authority, including case citations. Other treatises that cover Massachusetts law will also provide citations to primary authority -e.g. Handbook of Massachusetts Evidence is a great place to go to find primary source documents on evidentiary law in Massachusetts. Use our online catalog to locate relevant treatises to find cases this way.

Annotations (ALR)

Use the index to Annotation volumes, or one of the ALR digests to identify an annotation on your subject. Annotations in ALR include many references to cases from other jurisdiction. Also, they include an index of decisions by jurisdiction.

Law Reviews

Law reviews can be a very good source of case citations. Find a law review that deals with your case, and follow the annotations. Use Shepard's Law Review citations to find other law reviews that treat the topic, which may also have citations to cases.

Using Electronic Sources

There are a variety of electronic sources that can be used to find Massachusetts Cases. The decision as to which source you will use depends on what you have access to, and what you want to find.

Westlaw

Westlaw has all cases from the Massachusetts SJC 1885-present, the Appeals Court 1972-present, and selected cases from the Superior Court (1993-present), Boston Municipal Court (1990-present), and the Appellate Division of the District Court (1990-present). Westlaw cases include West Headnotes, and can be searched using the digest Topic and Key Number.

To find a case by citation , click on the Find & Print in the toolbar. You can enter the citation you have, e.g. 400 Mass. 1. NB: you don't need to pay any attention to punctuation or capitalization - i.e. 450 N.E.2d 149 will retrieve the sam results as 450ne2d149.

To search for Massachusetts Cases , first select the database MA-CS. This is database includes state cases only, i.e. it does not include first circuit cases. You do either a natural language search, typing in a query as a question (e.g. "I'm looking for a case that deals with censorship in school libraries"), or a terms and connectors serach using boolean operators (e.g. ("censorship" or "first amendment" /s "school librar!"). For more on searching westlaw, see our online guide, ask a reference librarian, or phone 1-800-WESTLAW.

LEXIS

Lexis has all cases from the Massachusetts SJC from 1804-present, the Appeals Court 1972-present, and selected cases from the Superior Court (1993-present). LEXIS also includes the Massachusetts Jury Verdict Review and Analysis from 1985-present. This is a very good tool for researching trial court awards. LEXIS cases do not include West headnotes, however they include LEXIS headnotes, Core Concepts, Core Terms, and Case Summaries.

To retrieve a case by citation , click on "Get a document." Click on the button to tell LEXIS that you're looking for "a case, law review, irs materials.." Then enter the citation, e.g. 400 Mass. 1. NB: LEXIS does require proper citation & spacing - e.g. 450ne2d149 will not find anything, however 450 NE2d 149 (or 450 N.E.2d 149) will work. To search for Massachusetts cases , first get to the appropriate database on LEXIS on the web. Click on: States Legal - U.S. , then Massachusetts : Cases and Court Rules . You can search cases either by court, or by area of law. To search for Jury Verdicts, click on "Jury Verdicts" instead of "Massachusetts : Cases and Court Rules."

As with Westlaw, can do either a natural language search, typing in a query as a question (e.g. "I'm looking for a case that deals with censorship in school libraries"), or a terms and connectors serach using boolean operators (e.g. ("censorship" or "first amendment" /s "school librar!"). For more on searching LEXIS, see our online guide, ask a reference librarian, or phone 1-800-45-LEXIS (1-800-455-3947).

LOIS

LOIS, the Law Office Information System, provides access to SJC and Appeals Court decisions, Appellate Division and Superior Court decisions, and Workers Comp. Decisions. To Access Lois, use Loislawschool.com. See a reference librarian for access.

To retrieve a case by citation , you need to use the official citation. The official citation for the SJC is: vol Mass. page . A citation to the North Eastern Reporter will not work! Also, as with LEXIS, to search by citation, you must pay attention to proper citation format.

To search for a case in LOIS, check off which court you want to search. At the search screen, you will have several boxes, one for each available field. Fill in the terms you wish to search. The mechanics of searching LOIS are a bit different from searching Westlaw & LEXIS. To search for a phrase, simply type the phrase, e.g. child custody, rather than putting it in quotes. The boolean operators work the same way (i.e. and, or, not) . The proximity operators are a bit different. In Westlaw and LEXIS, child /4 custody retrieves child within four words of custody . In LOIS, the same search is written: child near/4 custody. NB: you cannot do "natural language" searching in LOIS.

Massachusetts Administrative Law Library Online("Social Law")

The Massachusetts Social Law Library has assembled databases for Massachusetts caselaw, as well as Massachusetts Administrative Decisions, Massachusetts Statutes and the Code of Massachusetts Regulations. All of these can be searched from the Social Law Library database under Research Databases on the Suffolk Law Library home page.

When you arrive at the Social Law list of databases, select which one you want to search. The Massachusetts courts included are: The SJC, the Appellate Court, the Superior Court, Housing Court, and Land Court. In addition, you can search any number of administrative decisions, including the Massahcusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) and the Appellate Tax Board.

To retrieve a case by citation , put the volume and page number in the appropriate boxes, and click {search}. This searches only the official cite, e.g. 400 Mass. 1, and can search both the SJC and Massachusetts Court of Appeals at the same time.

To search for a case , you can enter search terms into the appropriate boxes on the search template. The search syntax is quite different from seaching on Westlaw or LEXIS. The following table illustrates the search syntax using the Massachusetts Administrative Law Library databases:

Connector	Example	Searches for
And	Child Custody, Child and Custody	Child and Custody in the same document
Or	Child | Custody, Child or Custody	Child or custody in the same document
"A Phrase"	"Child Custody"	The exact phrase "Child Custody"
Unordered proximity	"Child custody"@4	Child within four words of Custody
Ordered proximity	"Child custody"/4	Child preceeding Custody by up to 4 words
Wild Card	Child*	Child, Child's, Children, Childhood, etc.
Thesaurus	Child$	Child, Youth, Teenager, Juvenile

Last Updated: May 20, 2009 .

Prepared by Ellen Delaney
Reference Librarian

To contact with questions or suggestions: edelaney@acad.suffolk.edu, Reference Librarian.