4.8 Updating Current Authority

• Library: A Guide to Legal Research in Virginia (Virginia CLE) (2017 Ed.)

4.8 UPDATING CURRENT AUTHORITY

4.801 In General. Before relying on a reported case, the researcher must ensure that it is still valid authority for the legal proposition in question. It is critical to determine whether a case has been reversed, overruled, superseded, or withdrawn, and often it is important to be aware of other instances in which the court has reconsidered issues in the case that are pertinent to the researcher's inquiry. Finally, the researcher should determine

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wheather the case at hand has been followed in a more recent decision that is actually more pertinent to the point of law in question. A citator—a compilation of citations to cases and other materials that have cited the case whose authority is being checked—is the most effective tool for answering these questions. Traditionally, researchers relied on print citators. Electronic citators now dominate. Both formats are addressed below.

4.802 Shepard's Citation in Print. The best-known and most heavily relied upon national citator in print is Shepard's Citations. In fact, because of the...