Shepard's Citations
Encyclopedia
In legal research
, Shepard's Citations is a citator
, a list of all the authorities citing a particular case, statute, or other legal authority. The verb Shepardizing refers to the process of consulting Shepard's to see if a case has been overturned, reaffirmed, questioned, or cited by later cases. Although the name is trademarked, it is also used informally by legal professionals to describe citator
s in general—for example, Westlaw
's similar tool called Key Cite.
(1848–1902) in 1873, when Shepard began publishing these lists in a series of books indexed to different jurisdiction
s. Initially, the product was called Shepard’s Adhesive Annotations. The citations were printed on gummed, perforated sheets, which could be divided and pasted onto pages of case law. Known as “stickers,” these were literally torn to bits and stuck to pertinent margins of case reporters.
By the early 20th century, the Frank Shepard Company was binding the citations into maroon volumes with Shepard’s Citations stamped in gold on their spines, much like the ones still found on library shelves.
Under the leadership of William Guthrie Packard
, the company endured the Great Depression
and continued to grow. It moved to Colorado Springs in 1948; in 1951, it adopted the name Shepard's Citations, Inc.
In 1996, Shepard's was purchased by LexisNexis
(a subsidiary of Reed Elsevier
since 1994). After this acquisition, LexisNexis engaged in a "multi-million-dollar Citations Redesign (CR) project" which "redesigned the way we process case law and citations."
Shepard's paper format consists of long tables of citations (with full case titles omitted) preceded by one or two-letter codes indicating their relationship to the case being Shepardized. Before Lexis became widely available, generations of lawyers (and law clerks and assistants) had to manually locate the Shepard's entry for a case, decipher all the cryptic abbreviations, then manually retrieve all the cases which were marked by Shepard's as criticizing or overruling a particular case, to determine whether the later cases had directly overruled that particular case on the specific issue for which one was interested. In many jurisdictions in the U.S., it is still possible to cite a case as good law even though it has been overruled, as long as it was overruled on another issue and not the specific issue for which it is being cited.
In 2004, market research by LexisNexis indicated that most attorneys and librarians conduct the majority of their research online, but "that there are a number of experienced attorneys, principally in smaller firms, who still prefer print and who are extremely unlikely to change their ways."
The company representative added that:
The report indicates exactly how later cases cited the case being Shepardized with plain English
phrases like "followed by" or "overruled" rather than by using the old abbreviations. Additionally, the report shows the full case title (that is, the names of the plaintiff and defendant) and full citation for each of the later cases. This is important because lawyers can usually distinguish criminal from civil cases by looking at the title. Criminal cases (with the exception of habeas corpus
cases) are always titled "People v. [defendant]" or "State v. [defendant]." Often, a criminal case may cite a civil case for a point of law which a civil litigator does not care about, and vice versa.
Finally, the online report has the convenience of allowing the user to simply click on the hyperlink
for any listed case to retrieve it instantly (if it is within the user's access plan), whereas users of Shepard's print version had to dash through long law library aisles to retrieve heavy legal reporter
volumes, one for each case (and then someone had to put all those volumes back).
developed Science Citation Index
(SCI), which he later expressly acknowledged was heavily influenced in several ways by Shepard's Citations. SCI indexes scientific journal articles, and shows what other articles they have been cited by. SCI also counts the number of citations each article gets, thus forming a citation index of the most-cited articles and journals. In turn, SCI inspired several other scientists to research the possibility of developing superior citation indexes. Among those, a method developed by Gabriel Pinski and Francis Narin in 1976 was a major influence upon the PageRank
link analysis algorithm created by Sergei Brin and Larry Page
, which became the heart of the Google
search engine.
Legal research
Legal research is "the process of identifying and retrieving information necessary to support legal decision-making. In its broadest sense, legal research includes each step of a course of action that begins with an analysis of the facts of a problem and concludes with the application and...
, Shepard's Citations is a citator
Citator
In legal research, a citator is a citation index of legal resources, one of the best-known of which in the United States is Shepard's Citations. Given a reference of a legal decision, a citator allows the researcher to find newer documents which cite the original document and thus to reconstruct...
, a list of all the authorities citing a particular case, statute, or other legal authority. The verb Shepardizing refers to the process of consulting Shepard's to see if a case has been overturned, reaffirmed, questioned, or cited by later cases. Although the name is trademarked, it is also used informally by legal professionals to describe citator
Citator
In legal research, a citator is a citation index of legal resources, one of the best-known of which in the United States is Shepard's Citations. Given a reference of a legal decision, a citator allows the researcher to find newer documents which cite the original document and thus to reconstruct...
s in general—for example, Westlaw
Westlaw
Westlaw is one of the primary online legal research services for lawyers and legal professionals in the United States and is a part of West. In addition, it provides proprietary database services...
's similar tool called Key Cite.
History
The name derives from a legal service begun by Frank ShepardFrank Shepard
Frank Shepard , a salesman for a Chicago legal publisher, invented the Shepard's legal citation system.-Invention of citation system:...
(1848–1902) in 1873, when Shepard began publishing these lists in a series of books indexed to different jurisdiction
Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...
s. Initially, the product was called Shepard’s Adhesive Annotations. The citations were printed on gummed, perforated sheets, which could be divided and pasted onto pages of case law. Known as “stickers,” these were literally torn to bits and stuck to pertinent margins of case reporters.
By the early 20th century, the Frank Shepard Company was binding the citations into maroon volumes with Shepard’s Citations stamped in gold on their spines, much like the ones still found on library shelves.
Under the leadership of William Guthrie Packard
William Guthrie Packard
William Guthrie Packard owned Shepard's Citations and served the company for 51 years rising to the position of President and Chairman of the Board. He is the namesake of Packard Stadium, the home of Arizona State University collegiate baseball.- Life and career :Packard was born in Oxford, New...
, the company endured the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and continued to grow. It moved to Colorado Springs in 1948; in 1951, it adopted the name Shepard's Citations, Inc.
In 1996, Shepard's was purchased by LexisNexis
LexisNexis
LexisNexis Group is a company providing computer-assisted legal research services. In 2006 it had the world's largest electronic database for legal and public-records related information...
(a subsidiary of Reed Elsevier
Reed Elsevier
Reed Elsevier is a publisher and information provider operating in the science, medical, legal, risk and business sectors. It is listed on several of the world's major stock exchanges. It is a FTSE 100 and FT500 Global company...
since 1994). After this acquisition, LexisNexis engaged in a "multi-million-dollar Citations Redesign (CR) project" which "redesigned the way we process case law and citations."
Decline of print usage
In March 1999, LexisNexis released an online version of the Shepard's Citation Service. While print versions of Shepard's remain in use, their use is declining. Although learning to Shepardize in print was once a rite of passage for all first-year law students, the Shepard's Citations booklets in hard copy format are extremely cryptic compared to the online version, because of the need to cram as much information about as many cases in as little space as possible.Shepard's paper format consists of long tables of citations (with full case titles omitted) preceded by one or two-letter codes indicating their relationship to the case being Shepardized. Before Lexis became widely available, generations of lawyers (and law clerks and assistants) had to manually locate the Shepard's entry for a case, decipher all the cryptic abbreviations, then manually retrieve all the cases which were marked by Shepard's as criticizing or overruling a particular case, to determine whether the later cases had directly overruled that particular case on the specific issue for which one was interested. In many jurisdictions in the U.S., it is still possible to cite a case as good law even though it has been overruled, as long as it was overruled on another issue and not the specific issue for which it is being cited.
In 2004, market research by LexisNexis indicated that most attorneys and librarians conduct the majority of their research online, but "that there are a number of experienced attorneys, principally in smaller firms, who still prefer print and who are extremely unlikely to change their ways."
The company representative added that:
Given the ripe old ages at which many lawyers continue to practice their profession, we don’t see the market for Shepard’s in print disappearing any time soon. Clearly, subscription lists for Shepard’s products are declining as online usage grows. Attrition has been steepest in large law firms, where relatively junior associates conduct a great deal of citations research online. Attrition has been less steep in libraries and small firms where attorneys who prefer print continue to do their research. For many years, attrition in academic law libraries was relatively low. Many law school libraries continued to retain relatively substantial collections of Shepard’s in print. In recent years, attrition has increased—especially in law schools that no longer teach their students how to Shepardize in print. But because many law school libraries are open to the public (or at least to graduates of the school), including practicing attorneys in the communities they serve, a typical law school library continues to retain at least a basic collection of Shepard’s print products.
...
After Shepard’s became a part of LexisNexis, we totally redesigned the way we process case law and citations. The
multi-million-dollar Citations Redesign (CR) project was intended to eliminate duplication and allow us to deliver current, accurate
information unmatched by our competition. The ability to produce Shepard’s print pages quickly and efficiently was built into the CR requirements—another factor contributing to the continuing viability of Shepard’s in print.
Online
Today, LexisNexis users can Shepardize citations online; all cases displayed on LexisNexis bear a "Shepardize" link in their header and nearly always show an icon in the upper left corner of the Web page indicating the status of the case as citable authority. The icon itself, when clicked, brings up a full Shepard's report for the case.The report indicates exactly how later cases cited the case being Shepardized with plain English
Plain English
Plain English is a generic term for communication styles that emphasise clarity, brevity and the avoidance of technical language – particularly in relation to official government communication, including laws.The intention is to write in a manner that is easily understood by the target...
phrases like "followed by" or "overruled" rather than by using the old abbreviations. Additionally, the report shows the full case title (that is, the names of the plaintiff and defendant) and full citation for each of the later cases. This is important because lawyers can usually distinguish criminal from civil cases by looking at the title. Criminal cases (with the exception of habeas corpus
Habeas corpus
is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...
cases) are always titled "People v. [defendant]" or "State v. [defendant]." Often, a criminal case may cite a civil case for a point of law which a civil litigator does not care about, and vice versa.
Finally, the online report has the convenience of allowing the user to simply click on the hyperlink
Hyperlink
In computing, a hyperlink is a reference to data that the reader can directly follow, or that is followed automatically. A hyperlink points to a whole document or to a specific element within a document. Hypertext is text with hyperlinks...
for any listed case to retrieve it instantly (if it is within the user's access plan), whereas users of Shepard's print version had to dash through long law library aisles to retrieve heavy legal reporter
Law report
Law reports or reporters are series of books that contain judicial opinions from a selection of case law decided by courts. When a particular judicial opinion is referenced, the law report series in which the opinion is printed will determine the case citation format.The term reporter was...
volumes, one for each case (and then someone had to put all those volumes back).
Influences upon Science Citation Index and Google
In 1960, Eugene GarfieldEugene Garfield
Eugene "Gene" Garfield is an American scientist, one of the founders of bibliometrics and scientometrics. He received a PhD in Structural Linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1961. Dr. Garfield was the founder of the Institute for Scientific Information , which was located in...
developed Science Citation Index
Science Citation Index
The Science Citation Index is a citation index originally produced by the Institute for Scientific Information and created by Eugene Garfield in 1960, which is now owned by Thomson Reuters. The larger version covers more than 6,500 notable and significant journals, across 150 disciplines, from ...
(SCI), which he later expressly acknowledged was heavily influenced in several ways by Shepard's Citations. SCI indexes scientific journal articles, and shows what other articles they have been cited by. SCI also counts the number of citations each article gets, thus forming a citation index of the most-cited articles and journals. In turn, SCI inspired several other scientists to research the possibility of developing superior citation indexes. Among those, a method developed by Gabriel Pinski and Francis Narin in 1976 was a major influence upon the PageRank
PageRank
PageRank is a link analysis algorithm, named after Larry Page and used by the Google Internet search engine, that assigns a numerical weighting to each element of a hyperlinked set of documents, such as the World Wide Web, with the purpose of "measuring" its relative importance within the set...
link analysis algorithm created by Sergei Brin and Larry Page
Larry Page
Lawrence "Larry" Page is an American computer scientist and internet entrepreneur who, with Sergey Brin, is best known as the co-founder of Google. As of April 4, 2011, he is also the chief executive of Google, as announced on January 20, 2011...
, which became the heart of the Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
search engine.
Further reading
- "Mastering The Lawless Science Of Our Law: A Story Of Legal Citation Indexes." Patti Ogden, Law Library Journal Winter 1993 (85 Law Libr. J. 1)
- Origins of bibliometrics, citation indexing, and citation analysis: The neglected legal literature. Fred R. Shapiro.
External links
- Shepard's Citations Service information
- Illustration of how to use the index from the University of Delaware library
- 'Lectric Law Library page on how to Shepardize from printed Shepard's Citations
- One More Look at Shepard's Citation Service: A Private Law Librarian's Perspective (review of the LexisNexis online Shepard's Citation Service)