Legal Definitions - F. 2D

F.2d is an abbreviation for the "Federal Reporter, Second Series." This legal reporter compiles published decisions from federal appellate courts across the United States. Specifically, it contains these court opinions from cases decided between 1924 and 1993.

F.2d stands for Federal Reporter, Second Series.

This term refers to a specific collection of published legal opinions from the United States federal appellate courts. These courts, known as Circuit Courts of Appeals, hear appeals from federal trial courts. The "Second Series" specifically compiles decisions that were issued between the years 1924 and 1993. Legal professionals, such as lawyers, judges, and legal scholars, use these volumes to locate and cite binding legal precedents established by these higher federal courts during that particular period.

• Example 1: Researching a Historical Business Dispute

  Imagine a legal team representing a company involved in a complex contract dispute that originated in the late 1970s. To understand how similar cases were decided by federal appellate courts at that time, a paralegal might be asked to "pull up relevant cases from the F.2d reporters." This means they would search through the volumes of the Federal Reporter, Second Series, to find appellate court rulings from that era that could influence the current case's strategy or outcome.

• Example 2: Studying the Evolution of Copyright Law

  A law professor is teaching a course on the history of intellectual property law. When discussing how federal courts interpreted copyright statutes in the mid-20th century, they might assign students to read a landmark case from the 1960s, citing it as, for instance, Smith v. Jones, 345 F.2d 678 (2d Cir. 1965). The "F.2d" part of the citation immediately tells the students that this decision was made by a federal appellate court and can be found in the Federal Reporter, Second Series, specifically volume 345, page 678, and was decided in 1965 by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

• Example 3: A Judge Seeking Precedent on Environmental Regulations

  A federal district court judge is presiding over a case involving a dispute over environmental regulations enacted in the 1980s. Before making a ruling, the judge needs to determine if any higher federal appellate court in their circuit has already addressed a similar legal question. Their law clerk might conduct research and present a memo stating, "Your Honor, we found a controlling precedent in United States v. Green Corp., 901 F.2d 123 (5th Cir. 1990), which directly addresses the interpretation of this specific regulation." The "F.2d" indicates that this is a binding decision from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, published in the Federal Reporter, Second Series, and relevant because it falls within the 1924-1993 timeframe.