What is what does it mean to shepardize a case?

Shepardizing a case, often shortened to "Shepard's," refers to using the Shepard's Citations service (now integrated into LexisNexis) to determine the subsequent history and treatment of a legal case. Essentially, it's a way to see what other courts have said about a particular case after it was decided.

Here's what it involves:

• Finding the Shepard's Report: This involves using the case citation (e.g., volume number, reporter abbreviation, and page number) to locate the corresponding Shepard's report on LexisNexis.

• Analyzing the Case History: The report will show the direct history of the case, including appeals, reversals, and subsequent hearings. This helps you track whether the case is still good law.

• Identifying Citing References: The heart of Shepardizing is identifying other cases, statutes, law review articles, and other legal sources that have cited your target case. These "citing references" indicate how the case has been interpreted, applied, distinguished, or criticized by later authorities.

• Understanding Treatment Indicators: Shepard's uses a system of symbols and abbreviations to indicate the treatment the case has received from citing references. Common indicators include:

  • Followed: The citing case applies the principles of the Shepardized case.
  • Distinguished: The citing case explains why the Shepardized case does not apply to the current facts.
  • Overruled: The Shepardized case is no longer good law.
  • Criticized: The citing case expresses disagreement with the Shepardized case's reasoning or holding.

• Determining the Case's Current Validity: Based on the history and treatment, you can determine whether the case is still good law for the proposition you want to cite. A case that has been frequently followed is stronger authority than one that has been criticized or distinguished. If a case has been overruled, it should not be cited as precedent.

In summary, Shepardizing is a crucial step in legal research to ensure that the authority you rely on is still valid and to understand how it has been interpreted by the courts. Here is the data in markdown format as you request:

Shepardizing a case, often shortened to "Shepard's," refers to using the Shepard's%20Citations service (now integrated into LexisNexis) to determine the subsequent history and treatment of a legal case. Essentially, it's a way to see what other courts have said about a particular case after it was decided.

Here's what it involves:

• Finding%20the%20Shepard's%20Report: This involves using the case citation (e.g., volume number, reporter abbreviation, and page number) to locate the corresponding Shepard's report on LexisNexis.

• Analyzing%20the%20Case%20History: The report will show the direct history of the case, including appeals, reversals, and subsequent hearings. This helps you track whether the case is still good law.

• Identifying%20Citing%20References: The heart of Shepardizing is identifying other cases, statutes, law review articles, and other legal sources that have cited your target case. These "citing references" indicate how the case has been interpreted, applied, distinguished, or criticized by later authorities.

• Understanding%20Treatment%20Indicators: Shepard's uses a system of symbols and abbreviations to indicate the treatment the case has received from citing references. Common indicators include:

  • Followed: The citing case applies the principles of the Shepardized case.
  • Distinguished: The citing case explains why the Shepardized case does not apply to the current facts.
  • Overruled: The Shepardized case is no longer good law.
  • Criticized: The citing case expresses disagreement with the Shepardized case's reasoning or holding.

• Determining%20the%20Case's%20Current%20Validity: Based on the history and treatment, you can determine whether the case is still good law for the proposition you want to cite. A case that has been frequently followed is stronger authority than one that has been criticized or distinguished. If a case has been overruled, it should not be cited as precedent.

In summary, Shepardizing is a crucial step in legal research to ensure that the authority you rely on is still valid and to understand how it has been interpreted by the courts.