Law: State

Case law is published in periodicals called reporters. All federal and state court systems publish opinions in some form of reporter. A reporter publishes opinions from a limited geographical area or governmental unit.

Maryland Case Law. The Supreme Court (formerly the Court of Appeals) and the Appellate Court (formerly the Court of Special Appeals) decide which opinions are published. Published opinions include only about 15% of cases decided by the Appellate Court. Opinions from the trial courts are NOT published. Most public law libraries have print copies of reporters.

• Maryland Reports – This reporter publishes opinions issued by the Supreme Court of Maryland. In case law citations, the abbreviation is “Md.”
• Maryland Appellate Reports – This reporter publishes opinions issued by the Appellate Court of Maryland. In case law citations, the abbreviation is “Md. App.”
• Atlantic Reporter and Atlantic Reporter Second Series – The Atlantic Reporter publishes opinions from the appellate courts of many states, including Maryland. The same Maryland court opinions that appear in Maryland Reports and Maryland Appellate Reports also appear in Atlantic Reporter. Look up a Supreme Court of Maryland case in either the Atlantic Reporter or the Maryland Reports.

Maryland Court of Appeals (Md.)/ Maryland Supreme Court -- highest appellate court

Maryland Court of Special Appeals (Md. Spec. App.) -- intermediate appellate court