Paralegal Certification PrepLegal Research and WritingEasy
A paralegal is reviewing a legal brief that cites to an opinion from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit as 'Smith v. Jones, 123 F.3d 456 (3d Cir. 1998).' What does 'F.3d' represent in this citation?
- AFederal Digest, Third Series
- BFederal Reporter, Third Series
- CFederal Register, Third Edition
- DFederal District Court Reporter, Third Series
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Federal Reporter, Third Series
'F.3d' stands for 'Federal Reporter, Third Series,' which publishes opinions from the U.S. Courts of Appeals. This is a standard abbreviation used in legal citation for federal appellate court decisions.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Federal Digest is a research tool that compiles summaries of federal cases, not a reporter series.
- C. The Federal Register (Fed. Reg.) publishes federal regulations and notices, not appellate court opinions.
- D. There is no 'Federal District Court Reporter, Third Series' with this abbreviation; district court cases are typically found in the F. Supp. series.
Federal Reporter (F., F.2d, F.3d)
A series of case reporters published by West Publishing that contains opinions from the U.S. Courts of Appeals.
- F. (First Series): 1880-1924
- F.2d (Second Series): 1924-1993
- F.3d (Third Series): 1993-Present
Memory trick: Supreme is U.S., Appeals is F.