U.S. Supreme Court
The United States Supreme Court - U.S. Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court reports its opinions in United States Reports, which is the official publication of the Court.
Lexis publishes U.S. Supreme Court Reports Lawyer’s Edition.
West (a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters) publishes the Supreme Court Reporter (KF101 .A322 - Law Library, Reference). These are unofficial. Many people rely on the latter two for citations as they will appear in print long before the Court’s official publication, which can lag from one to two years from the release of an opinion.
U.S. Federal Court of Appeals -- Federal Reporter (now in its 3rd Series)
U.S. Federal Appellate Courts - U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals (North Carolina is in the territorial jurisdiction of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals)
The Federal Courts are broken into 13 Circuits. They comprise the 1st through 11th Circuit Courts of Appeals, the Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The latter has specialized jurisdiction in patent appeals, trade disputes and other specific causes.
Other than the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the federal appellate court system is organized geographically. North Carolina is in the 4th Circuit, which includes the states of Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Most federal appellate opinions are reported in the Federal Reporter, (now in its third series - KF105 .F432 S.3d - Law Library Reference). The exception to this statement is described in the section on unpublished opinions.
U.S. Federal District Court Cases -- Federal Supplement (now in its 3rd series)
U.S. Federal District Courts (High Point is in the Middle District of North Carolina)
Middle District of North Carolina - U.S. District Court
States may have one or more Federal District Courts, depending on how Congress has organized the federal courts of an individual state.
North Carolina has three districts – the Western, Middle, and Eastern Districts. Virginia, by contrast, has two, Western and Eastern.
Trial judges in the Federal District Courts do issue opinions, and many (but not all) are collected in the Federal Supplement.
United States Reports (Official) & West's Supreme Court Reporter (unofficial)
West's Federal Reporter (now in its 3rd series) -- U.S. Federal Court of Appeals Cases
West's Federal Supplement (now in its 3rd Series) - U.S. Federal District Court Cases
