Keith Mack
When researching case law in North Carolina, there are several resources available. Duke University School of Law, for example, provides access to North Carolina case law, with briefs and records for cases filed from 1998 onwards available online. The university's library also houses North Carolina legal materials in print, including the General Statutes of North Carolina and West's North Carolina General Statutes Annotated. Additionally, Lexis+ offers access to North Carolina case law for NCCU Law School students, faculty, and staff. For those seeking an introduction to North Carolina legal research, the NCCU School of Law website offers a lesson on how to locate primary legal materials, including case law. The Campbell School of Law Library also provides resources for researching North Carolina case law, such as digests and indices of case law, as well as opinions of the North Carolina Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. Furthermore, the North Carolina Judicial Branch website allows users to search for case information and court records through the eCourts portal.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Case law sources | Lexis+, FindLaw, HeinOnline, Westlaw, Nexis Uni, Microforms Room, NCCU Law Library, Duke University School of Law Library |
| Case law coverage | North Carolina Supreme Court, North Carolina Court of Appeals, North Carolina Register, North Carolina Administrative Code, North Carolina Reporter, North Carolina Digest, Shepard's North Carolina Citations, North Carolina Session Laws, North Carolina Legislation, North Carolina General Statutes, North Carolina Jury Instructions, North Carolina Court Records |
| Case law research methods | Digests, West Key Number System, Microfiche, Online databases, Print collections |
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What You'll Learn
Using digests and the West Key Number System
The West Key Number System is a classification system of U.S. law that indexes cases into over 400 topics and more than 98,000 legal issues. It was first created by West Publishing more than 100 years ago and is now available on Westlaw.
West editors identify the legal issues in cases and discuss each issue in a headnote. These headnotes are numbered and can be used as a table of contents to navigate the text. Each headnote is then assigned one or more topics and Key Numbers. The Key Number System categorizes the law into approximately 400 topics, and each topic is further subdivided into approximately 100,000 distinct Key Numbers.
To use the West Key Number System, the first step is to find an applicable Key Number. You can do this by clicking on "Key Numbers" on Westlaw's homepage or by typing "West Key Number System" in the search bar. This will take you to a list of topics, which you can then narrow down to sub-topics and sub-sub-topics. For example, you can click on "Patents" to get to a page with the outline structure for this topic, including many sub-topics and sub-sub-topics. You can also search for Key Numbers relevant to your issue based on specific search terms.
Once you have found a relevant headnote at the top of a case on Westlaw, you can click on a relevant Key Number next to the headnote and then search or narrow by jurisdiction to identify relevant cases. If you are using Lexis Topics, you can click on a relevant topic above the headnote and then search or narrow by jurisdiction.
The West American Digest System is a system of identifying points of law from reported cases and organizing them by topic and key number. It was developed by West Publishing to organize the entire body of American law. This system includes specialty subject digests, such as the Education Law Digest and the Social Security Digest, as well as a monthly General Digest volume that incorporates classified digest notes from all reporters of the West National Reporter System. These are then cumulated into a Decennial Digest.
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Finding North Carolina case reporters
The North Carolina Judicial Branch provides information on how to obtain court records. Information about criminal cases in the North Carolina court system can be accessed by visiting a public, self-service terminal located at a clerk of court's office in any county. These terminals allow users to search for cases by defendant name, case number, or victim or witness name. Paper files for court cases may be accessed by visiting the clerk of court's office in the county where the case is located. Copies of court documents can be made for a fee.
The North Carolina Judicial Branch also offers the Remote Public Access Program, which provides information on licensing for data access and extracts. For eCourts counties, users may search the Portal online for case information and court records by name, case number, attorney, and more. The eCourts Services are now available in 87 counties, providing electronic filing and online search capabilities for court records.
Additionally, the Office of the North Carolina Appellate Reporter publishes the opinions of the Supreme Court of North Carolina and the Court of Appeals. Slip opinions, or preliminary opinions, are first published online on the filing day and may be withdrawn or corrected until a mandate issues 20 days later. After the mandate has been issued, only typographical or grammatical errors can be changed. These slip opinions are then printed with headnotes and other finding aids in soft-bound books called Advance Sheets. When the opinions are published in these books, they are given citations to the official North Carolina Reports, replacing the slip opinion citations. The Advance Sheets are then compiled and printed in the hard-bound volumes of the North Carolina Reports for the Supreme Court and the North Carolina Court of Appeals Reports for the Court of Appeals.
Official court reporters in North Carolina are certified professionals who capture a verbatim record of court proceedings and prepare transcripts for various purposes, such as appeals. Court reporters play a crucial role in ensuring accurate and reliable legal records, which are essential for legal professionals navigating the state's legal system.
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North Carolina Supreme Court records
The Supreme Court of North Carolina is the state's highest court, and there is no further appeal from its decisions on matters of state law. It holds jurisdiction over questions of law presented by cases in lower courts and proceedings in administrative agencies. The Court also developed the North Carolina Code of Judicial Conduct, which provides seven canons to guide the actions of judges throughout the state. The Code emphasizes values such as impartiality, independence, and transparency.
The Court is made up of the Chief Justice, who also serves as the head of the Judicial Branch, and six associate justices. Justices are elected in even-numbered years and chosen from candidates who are attorneys under the age of 72. Each justice serves an eight-year term.
The Supreme Court Library in Raleigh offers access to North Carolina case law. The library provides preliminary and final publications of the North Carolina Reports, including opinions with headnotes. Since December 2014, users have been able to search headnotes of legal topics in the opinions of the Supreme Court.
To research North Carolina case law, you can use online databases such as FindLaw and Justia, which offer searchable records of Supreme Court decisions, opinions, and cases. FindLaw's database covers decisions since 1974, while Justia provides summaries of new opinions delivered to your inbox. Lexis+ is another resource for accessing North Carolina case law, although it is restricted to NCCU Law School users.
When using online sources, it is important to verify the accuracy and currency of the information. Court opinions on these sites may not be the official published versions, and you should refer to local court rules before citing them.
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North Carolina Court of Appeals records
The North Carolina Court of Appeals hears appeals from cases heard in the 50 divisions of the North Carolina Superior Courts. The North Carolina Supreme Court and the North Carolina Court of Appeals make available selected court filings for cases from 2000 to the present. These can be accessed through the NC Appellate Courts Electronic Filing website, which allows users to search by case number, party name, attorney name, case title, date, and court.
Records and briefs for most cases heard by the North Carolina Court of Appeals since its inception in 1968 are also available in the law library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Access is available to UNC-Chapel Hill Law School students and faculty with a personal ID. Off-campus access is available for UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty, and staff, as well as UNC Hospitals employees and UNC-Chapel Hill-affiliated AHEC users.
Another resource for North Carolina Court of Appeals records is Lexis+, which has access to North Carolina case law as well as case law from the 4th Circuit and district courts sitting in North Carolina. However, access to Lexis+ is only available to NCCU Law School students, faculty, and staff.
Additionally, the website NorthCarolinaCourtRecords.us provides access to some North Carolina public records. It offers general information on the hierarchical structure of the North Carolina Judicial system and insights into the state's court system. Under the North Carolina Public Records Act, residents can review and inspect non-exempt public government records by contacting official record custodians.
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North Carolina legal research guides and online portals
North Carolina's legal system can be confusing to navigate, but there are many resources available to help you conduct legal research. These include online portals and research guides, which can be a great way to access information and gain a better understanding of the law.
Research Guides
The Library of Congress has a Guide to Law Online, which includes links to free online legal resources regarding North Carolina. This guide covers the state's constitution, executive, legislative, and judicial branches, as well as legal guides and general sources. It also includes an online form to ask a librarian for help. The Law Library of Congress contains the world's largest collection of law books and legal resources, with around three million volumes. It provides legal reference, research, and analysis services to the North Carolina General Assembly, legislative staff, legislative committees, and the public.
The Campbell School of Law Library also provides reference, research, and information services to the North Carolina General Assembly and the public. Their website includes a research guide with a focus on the structures and sources of legal authority in North Carolina.
Online Portals
The North Carolina State Bar website provides legal assistance for military personnel, with a list of legal research resources. This includes books such as "Shepard's North Carolina Citations", "Brandis & Broun on North Carolina Evidence", and "Strong's North Carolina Index 4th".
The North Carolina Legislative Library website offers legal help, with links to federal and state laws and regulations, as well as articles offering guidance on specific legal topics. They also provide access to various North Carolina legal forms and an attorney network that answers questions at no charge.
Additionally, the North Carolina Capital in Raleigh has an online portal with free online legal materials and resources. While not an exhaustive list, it covers all relevant research areas, including full texts of laws, regulations, and court decisions, as well as commentary from lawyers.
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Frequently asked questions
North Carolina case law can be accessed through the following:
- The North Carolina Alcove at Duke University School of Law, which houses print materials.
- The General Collection and the Reserve Collection at Duke University School of Law, which offer additional titles.
- The NCCU Law Library at North Carolina Central University School of Law, which provides access to Lexis+ for NCCU Law School students, faculty, and staff.
- The eCourts Portal, which allows online searches for case information and court records.
- The Administrative Office of the Courts' website, which provides opinions of the North Carolina Supreme Court and Court of Appeals from 1998 onwards.
- The North Carolina Register and the North Carolina Administrative Code, which are available online from the state Office of Administrative Hearings.
- HeinOnline’s Session Laws Library, which digitizes earlier session laws from colonial times to the present day.
- Westlaw, which offers access to North Carolina Pattern Jury Instructions for Criminal Cases and North Carolina Pattern Jury Instructions for Motor Vehicle Negligence.
Useful resources for researching North Carolina case law include:
- Digests, which are topically organized indices of case law published by West using the West Key Number System.
- The North Carolina Reporter, which contains North Carolina cases from the South Eastern Reporter.
- The South Eastern Digest, which indexes cases in the South Eastern Reporter and is broken down into series covering different date ranges.
- FindLaw, which offers informational articles and a directory of attorneys.
- Secondary resources, which provide commentary on the law written by legal professionals or legal publishers and are useful for background information and citations to primary resources.
North Carolina case law from colonial times to the present day can be accessed through HeinOnline’s Session Laws Library, which digitizes earlier session laws. Additionally, the North Carolina Alcove at Duke University School of Law houses official North Carolina case reporters and the North Carolina Reporter, which contains North Carolina cases from the South Eastern Reporter.
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