UNITED STATES CODE (U.S.C.)

U.S.C. is the official collection of federal statutes. U.S.C. is published by the federal government.

Now, as a beginning researcher, you might think that it would be better to research within the official instead of the unofficial publications. You would be wrong.

The unofficial publications contain not only the complete code, but more importantly, they contain fantastic research sources and references. The official contains only the statutes.

Now, even if you have been researching within one of the unofficial publications, and even if you find a statute in one of those sets, you would still CITE TO THE OFFICIAL! For example, assume you had been researching in U.S.C.S. (the unofficial by Lawyer's Cooperative), and that you located a statute you wanted to cite. That statute is:

42 U.S.C.S. §1205

When you write a brief or memo, cite to the official code. Simply drop the "S." Thus we now have an official citation:

42 U.S.C. §1205

Thus, when researching, use U.S.C.A. or U.S.C.S.

But when writing, always cite to the official: U.S.C.

UNITED STATES CODE ANNOTATED (U.S.C.A.)

U.S.C.A. is published by West Publishing Company. This set of books refers to the Key Number System, a research system by that publisher. Begin your research in the multi-volume index (usually found at the end of the set).

Each statute is usually followed by research references and case notes (which are similar to headnotes) that lead the resarcher to cases that have actually applied the preceding statute.

Before leaving any statute in the main volumes, make sure to check the pocket part (supplement) for any updates.

UNITED STATES CODE SERVICE (U.S.C.S.)

U.S.C.S. is published by Lawyer's Cooperative Publishing Company. This set of books is part of the Total Client Service Library, a research system by that publisher. Begin your research in the multi-volume index (usually found at the end of the set).

Each statute is usually followed by research references and case notes (which are similar to headnotes) that lead the resarcher to cases that have actually applied the preceding statute.

Before leaving any statute in the main volumes, make sure to check the pocket part (supplement) for any updates.

OFFICIAL REPORTS

There are over a hundred digests by West. There are also a few other digests out there that, although they do not utilize the Key Number System, are accessed in a very similar fashion. For instance, Lawyer's Cooperative publishes the U.S. Supreme Court Digest, Lawyer's Edition, and the A.L.R. Digest, which leads only to cases annotated within American Law Reports.