Cases, also called opinions or decisions, are found primarily in casebooks such as Reports and Reporters.  As a general rule, reports are the official publication of the case.  Examples of Reports include:

• N.C. Reports (Official reports of the North Carolina Supreme Court)
• United States Reports (Official reports of the U.S. Supreme Court)
• California Appellate Reports (Official Reports of the California Court of Appeals)

Reporters are the unofficial publication of the exact same cases by a private publisher.  The major (but not the only) private publisher of cases is West Publishing Company.  West publishes all of the regional reporters, which contain state supreme and appellate court cases.  West also publishes the federal cases.  Examples of reporters:

• Pacific Reporter, Second Series (P.2d)
• Southern Reporter, Second Series (So.2d)
• Southwestern Reporter, Second Series (S.W.2d)
• South Eastern Reporter, Second Series (S.E.2d)
• North Western Reporter, Second Series (N.W.2d)
• North Eastern Reporter, Second Series (N.E.2d)
• Atlantic Reporter, Second Series (A.2d)
• Federal Reporter (F., F.2d, F.3d) (U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals cases)
• Federal Supplement (F. Supp.) (U.S. District Court)
• Supreme Court Reporter (S. Ct.) (U.S. Supreme Court Cases, West Publication)
• U.S. Supreme Court Reports, Lawyer's Edition (U.S. Supreme Court Cases, Lawyer's Co-op. Publication)