Summary
Database Name: Massachusetts Cases
Database Identifier: MA-CS
Coverage
Supreme Judicial Court: begins with 1804
Appeals Court: begins with 1972
District Court, Appellate Division: begins with 1990
Boston Municipal Court, Appellate Division: begins with 1990
Superior Court: begins with 1993
Land Court: begins with 2003
Content Highlights:
Massachusetts Cases has state court cases with coverage beginning in 1804.
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Contents
The MA-CS database contains documents from the Massachusetts state courts from 1804 to date. A document is a case (a decision or order) decided by the courts.
Italicized, bold, and underlined text is displayed in this database where available .
Derivation
This database includes documents released for publication in West's North Eastern Reporter beginning with 1 N.E., Massachusetts Appellate Division Reports, published by Lawyers Weekly Publications and other publications (see below), "quick opinions" (cases available online prior to West advance sheets and which do not contain editorial enhancements), and opinions that are not scheduled to be reported by West, a Thomson business.
| | Massachusetts Reports | Mass. |
| | North Eastern Reporter | N.E. |
| | North Eastern Reporter, 2nd Series | N.E.2d |
| | Massachusetts Appellate Division Reports | Mass.App.Div. |
SOURCE(S):
| | | (1) Supreme Judicial Court from 1 Mass. (1804) through 138 Mass. (1885) and continuing in 1 N.E. (1885) through quick opinions |
| | | (2) Appeals Court from 294 N.E.2d (inception, 1972) through quick opinions |
| | | (3) Appellate Division of District Courts from 1990 Mass.App.Div. 69 |
| | | (4) Boston Municipal Court from 1990 Mass.App.Div. 210 (also see NOTE) |
| | | (5) Superior Court, selected cases are obtained directly from the Massachusetts Superior Court for WESTLAW, although they are not scheduled to be reported by West, beginning 1993 through the most recently released cases |
| | | (6) Land Court, although they are scheduled to be reported by West, beginning 2003 |
NOTE: The text of the decisions in Massachusetts Appellate Division Reports, published by Lawyers Weekly Publications, has been combined with the headnotes written for West's Massachusetts Digest.
A limited number of selected opinions from trial courts may be included. Check the local court rules to find out whether or not these cases may be cited. Check with the court to find out whether there has been subsequent history.
Check court rules, statutes, and case law to determine the authoritative nature of court syllabi.
Citation Format
| | PARALLEL
CITATIONS: | CITE
AS: |
| | American Law Reports (Law. Co-op) | A.L.R. |
| | American Law Reports 2nd Series (Law. Co-op) | A.L.R.2d |
| | American Law Reports 3rd Series (Law. Co-op) | A.L.R.3d |
| | American Law Reports 4th Series (Law. Co-op) | A.L.R.4th |
| | American Law Reports 5th Series (Law. Co-op) | A.L.R.5th |
| | Americans with Disabilities Decisions (Law. Co-op) | A.D.D. |
| | Blue Sky Law Reports (CCH) | Blue Sky L. Rep. |
| | Education Law Reporter (West) | Ed.Law Rep. |
| | Employment Practices Decisions (Labor Cases) (CCH) | Empl. Prac. Dec. |
| | Environment Reporter Cases (BNA) | ERC |
| | Environmental Law Reporter (ELI) | Envtl. L. Rep. |
| | Fair Employment Practice Cases (BNA) | Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. |
| | Government Contracts Reports (Contract Cases Federal) (CCH) | Cont.Cas.Fed. |
| | Individual Employment Rights Cases (BNA) | IER Cases |
| | Labor Law Reports (CCH) | Lab.Cas. |
| | Labor Relations Reference Manual (BNA) | L.R.R.M. |
| | Massachusetts Appeals Court Reports | Mass.App.Ct. |
| | Massachusetts Law Reporter | Mass.L.Rptr. |
| | Massachusetts Reports | Mass. |
| | Medicare & Medicaid Guide (CCH) | Medicare&Medicaid Guide |
| | National Disability Law Reporter (LRP) | NDLR P |
| | Products Liability Reports (CCH) | Prod.Liab.Rep. |
| | Public Utilities Reports New Series (PUR) | P.U.R.(NS) |
| | Public Utilities Reports 3rd Series (PUR) | P.U.R.3d |
| | Public Utilities Reports 4th Series (PUR) | P.U.R.4th |
| | RICO Business Disputes Guide (CCH) | RICO Bus.Disp.Guide |
| | Social Security Reporting Service (West) | Soc.Sec.Rep.Ser. |
| | Uniform Commercial Code Reporting Service (Callaghan) | UCC Rep.Serv. |
| | Uniform Commercial Code Reporting Service 2nd Series (Callaghan) | UCC Rep.Serv.2d |
| | Wage and Hour Cases (BNA) | Wage & Hour Cas. |
| | Wage and Hour Cases, 2nd Series (BNA) | Wage & Hour Cas.2d |
Star Paging coverage for the documents in this database includes the bound volumes and advance sheets of the following reporters:
| | North Eastern Reporter (N.E.) | Vol. 1 - 200 | (1885 - 1936) |
| | North Eastern Reporter (N.E.2d) | Vol. 1 - current | (1936 - current) |
| | Massachusetts Reports (Mass.) | Vol. 1 - current | (1804 - current) |
| | Massachusetts Appeals Court Reports (Mass.App.Ct.) | Vol. 1 - current | (1972 - current) |
Tip: To view a document with a known citation, access Find a Document and type the citation, e.g., 500 N.E.2d 1320 or 1991 Mass.App.Div. 178. Parallel citations, e.g., 398 Mass. 709 may also be used.
Searching and Fields
In this database you may choose the Terms and Connectors search method or the Natural Language search method.
With a Terms and Connectors search, you enter a query, which consists of key terms from your issue and connectors specifying the relationship between those terms. With Natural Language, you can retrieve documents by simply describing your issue in plain English.
For more information on using one of these search methods, see online Help.
Browsing Headnotes
When browsing the headnotes of an opinion, you can display the portion of the opinion discussing the point of law summarized in a headnote by clicking the headnote number, which appears in brackets. You can return to the headnote by clicking the same number in the opinion.
You can view images online when you access Westlaw via westlaw.com. A link to the image is displayed in documents that contain viewable images. To view an image, click the link; the image will be displayed in a separate browser window.
You can choose to have images in a document displayed automatically. Access your Options Directory and select Automatically display images inline during search result browsing . You may incur a charge when an image is displayed (automatically or when you click the link) depending on your subscription agreement.
Tip: To offline print all information except the synopsis and the DIGEST field, type f ft and press ENTER , and type pr d and press ENTER.
Tip: Use a date restriction in your query to retrieve documents issued on a specific date or during a specific range of dates, e.g., da(aft mm/dd/yyyy & bef mm/dd/yyyy).
The abbreviations for the fields in this database are:
| | CO | COURT | An abbreviation for the court of decision. |
| | SY | SYNOPSIS | A summary of the case prepared by West, a Thomson business, another publisher, or the court. The BG and HG fields, when available, are part of this field. |
| | DI | DIGEST | Combined TOPIC and HEADNOTE fields. |
| | BG | BACKGROUND | A summary of the nature of the case and party designations. This field, when available, is included in the SYNOPSIS field. |
| | HG | HOLDING | Summary of the major holdings in the case. This field, when available, is included in the SYNOPSIS field. |
| | WP | WORDS-PHRASES | Legal terms and phrases defined within headnotes. This field is based on West's Words and Phrases publication. |
| | TO | TOPIC | West editorial classifications, including the number and title of Digest topics and Key Number information. |
| | HE | HEADNOTE | Editorial descriptions of legal rules and principles discussed in the case. E.g., to retrieve headnotes referencing Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 308, use HE(308) in TX-CS. |
| | JU | JUDGE | Name of the judge writing the principal opinion. |
| | AT | ATTORNEY | Names of counsel. |
| | OP | OPINIONS | Opinions and the names of the judges. |
| | FT | FULL-TEXT | All information except West's synopsis and the DIGEST field. This field is useful for browsing and printing. |
| | LE | LEAD | Text of lead opinions, which includes majority and plurality opinions and opinions by equally-divided courts. E.g., use LE(Kennedy & abortion) in SCT. |
| | CON | CONCURRING | Text of concurring opinions or opinions that concur in part and dissent in part and the judges who wrote the opinions. E.g., use CON(Stevens & abortion) in SCT. |
| | DIS | DISSENTING | Text of dissenting opinions or opinions that concur in part and dissent in part and the judges who wrote the opinions. E.g., use DIS(Marshall & abortion) in SCT. |
| | PR | PRELIM | Includes docket numbers assigned to the case (DOCKET- NUMBER), all date information (YEAR), the full court name, and the PANEL field. |
| | NO | NOTES | West's or other publisher's editorial notes, and related jury verdict documents. E.g., to retrieve unpublished decisions, when available, include NO(unpublished) in your query. |
| | DN | DOCKET-NUMBER | Docket number(s) assigned to the case. |
| | PA | PANEL | List of judges participating in the decision, when it is provided by the court. E.g., to retrieve decisions in which Judge Chasanow participated, use PA(Chasanow) in MD-CS. |
| | TI | TITLE | Formal name of a case and a complete description of all adverse parties. |
| | CI | CITATION | Unique references for citing to a specific case. |
| | IM | IMAGE | Browsable field that shows which images are available for offline printing. |
Related Research
Related databases:
ALLSTATES contains documents dated after 1944 from state or local courts of all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
ALLSTATES-OLD contains documents dated before 1945 from state or local courts. | 
