Cecily Zamora
Case law, also known as precedent or common law, is the body of prior judicial decisions that guide judges in their rulings. Depending on the relationship between the deciding court and the precedent, case law may be binding or merely persuasive. There are several online resources for finding case law, including Google Scholar, CourtListener, Caselaw Access Project, FindLaw, and Justia. These websites provide access to U.S. federal and state court opinions, decisions, and case summaries. Additionally, the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system allows users to access federal case documents in real time if they know the specific court the case was filed in.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Websites | FindLaw, CourtListener, Caselaw Access Project, Justia, Google Scholar, PACER |
| Search Methods | Search case summaries, select a jurisdiction, enter citation |
| Court Opinions | U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Federal Appellate Court, U.S. State Supreme, U.S. Courts of Appeals, U.S. District Courts, U.S. Court of Claims, U.S. Court of International Trade, U.S. Bankruptcy Courts, State Trial and Appellate Courts |
| Case Law | Precedent or common law, prior judicial decisions that guide judges |
| Binding Decisions | Decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court are binding on all federal and state courts |
| Costs | Free, 10 cents per page to print from a public access terminal, 10 cents per page to access through PACER, with a maximum charge of $3.00 per document |
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What You'll Learn
Using Google Scholar
Google Scholar is a search tool that provides access to an extensive database of federal and state judicial opinions at no cost. It is a powerful research tool for legal professionals and law students, but it does have some limitations. For instance, Google Scholar does not provide a way to fully Shepardize each case, i.e., to check that the case is still good law. Checking the case status requires additional work by the researcher.
To get started, go to scholar.google.com and select the "Case law" radio button. Then, enter your search terms in the search box. You can search by entering a citation, a case name, or keywords from the full text of case opinions. You can also search by party name if you select the "in the title of the article" option.
After executing your search, you can use the facets on the left-hand side to narrow your results. One useful feature is the ability to narrow by jurisdiction. To do this, select a jurisdiction by clicking "Select courts" and then place a checkmark next to the courts you want to search.
Another useful feature is the "How Cited" tab on the case viewing page, which shows all other cases in the Google Scholar database that have cited your case. However, it does not indicate how these cases have treated your case. To determine this, you will need to read the citing opinion or use a case citator, such as Shepard's Citations or KeyCite.
Google Scholar also offers some useful plugins for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari that allow you to look up scholarly articles as you browse the web.
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Using CourtListener
CourtListener is a free legal research website that contains millions of legal opinions from federal and state courts. It is a product of the Free Law Project, a non-profit organisation that aims to provide "free, public, and permanent access to primary legal materials on the Internet".
The CourtListener database includes:
- U.S. Supreme Court Opinions
- U.S. Federal Appellate Court Opinions
- U.S. Federal District Court and Bankruptcy Court Opinions
- U.S. State Supreme and Appellate Court Opinions
To search for case law on CourtListener, simply enter your keywords or citation information into the search box on the homepage. If you want to conduct a more focused search, you can click the "Advanced Search" link underneath the search box, or select the "Opinions" menu at the top left-hand side of the page and click "Advanced Search" from the drop-down menu.
The results page allows for several limiting options, including jurisdiction, the precedential status of the source, filing date, judge, case name, citation, docket number, and more. CourtListener opinion pages offer pagination information, which can assist researchers in finding opinions in print resources. They also include an "Authorities" list that provides links to the opinions cited within the opinion of interest. The "Cited By" feature is particularly useful, as it provides links to other opinions available on CourtListener that cite the opinion you are viewing, helping you understand how an opinion has been treated by other courts.
CourtListener also provides access to oral arguments, which currently focus on the U.S. Supreme Court and Federal Appellate Courts. Additionally, CourtListener has a citation lookup tool that generates URLs, allowing you to easily look up known citations or manually enter them into the URL.
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Using Caselaw Access Project
The Caselaw Access Project (CAP) is a valuable resource for those seeking to look up case law online. Maintained by the Harvard Law School Library Innovation Lab, CAP is an extensive online database of United States case law. It includes "all official, book-published United States case law", encompassing decisions from all state courts, federal courts, and territorial courts for American Samoa, Dakota Territory, Guam, Native American Courts, Navajo Nation, and the Northern Mariana Islands. As of 2020, CAP included volumes published through 2020, with new data releases on a rolling basis at the beginning of each year.
To search the Caselaw Access Project database effectively, users can visit the search page and utilise the "show advanced filters" option. This allows for specific searches based on case name abbreviation, decision date, docket number, citation, reporter, court ID, or jurisdiction. The database offers free access to a vast collection of American court cases, providing a valuable tool for researchers and anyone seeking information on U.S. case law.
CAP is particularly notable for its comprehensive nature, containing over 6 million U.S. court opinions. The bulk of these opinions were digitised from Harvard's extensive collection of court reporters, some of which date back centuries. This digitisation effort by Harvard Law School Library has made a wealth of legal information easily accessible to the public.
When using CAP or other case law databases, it is important to understand the nature of case law. Case law, also known as precedent or common law, refers to the body of prior judicial decisions that guide judges in their rulings. Depending on the jurisdiction and the relationship between the deciding court and the precedent, case law can be either binding or merely persuasive. For example, decisions by the U.S. Court of Appeals are binding on federal district courts within the same circuit, but they are not strictly binding on courts in other circuits or states.
By utilising the Caselaw Access Project and understanding the principles of case law, individuals can effectively navigate and make use of the vast amount of legal information available online. This can be particularly useful for legal professionals, students, and anyone interested in learning more about the U.S. legal system and its applications.
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Using FindLaw
FindLaw is a free online resource that provides access to case law from the U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal, as well as several state supreme courts. It offers a wealth of resources for both state and federal courts, including decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court and federal courts of appeals, case summaries, and more.
To use FindLaw, you can either run a search for case summaries or select a jurisdiction to browse applicable laws. The website provides two primary ways to access its collection of case law:
- U.S. Supreme Court Center: This includes Court opinions and a blog regarding recent Supreme Court events.
- U.S. Federal Appellate Court Opinions: This includes opinions from the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal.
Additionally, FindLaw for Legal Professionals offers searchable databases for each of the federal Courts of Appeals, as well as a California Supreme and Appellate Court Cases page that allows you to search for California state court opinions from 1932 to the present. You can search these databases by docket number, party name, keyword, judge name, or attorney name.
FindLaw also features thousands of informational articles to help you understand your legal options and find an attorney in your area if needed.
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Using Justia
Justia is a platform that provides free access to U.S. case law, court opinions, and decisions. It includes information on both federal and state laws.
The website offers a range of resources for lawyers, legal professionals, students, and anyone else interested in the law. Justia has a membership program with benefits such as exclusive discounts, educational opportunities, and access to core program features. It also provides free webinars and virtual courses for lawyers who are Justia Connect Pro members.
To find case law on Justia, go to the "U.S. Case Law, Court Opinions & Decisions" section of the website. Here, you can browse through different categories of law, including federal and state law. For example, under federal law, you can find information on the U.S. Constitution, while under state law, you can select a specific state to explore its legal resources.
Justia provides access to case law from the U.S. Supreme Court, the highest court in the country, as well as lower federal courts such as the U.S. Courts of Appeals, U.S. District Courts, and the U.S. Court of International Trade. Additionally, Justia offers information on state-level judicial systems, which typically include trial and appellate courts. The website also explains the concept of case law and how it functions as precedent or common law in the U.S. legal system.
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Frequently asked questions
There are several online resources that provide access to US case law, including:
- FindLaw
- Justia
- Google Scholar
- CourtListener
- Caselaw Access Project
- PACER
Case law, also known as precedent or common law, refers to prior judicial decisions that guide judges in their decision-making. Depending on the relationship between the deciding court and the precedent, case law can be either binding or persuasive. For example, a decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is binding on all federal district courts within the Fifth Circuit, whereas a court sitting in California is not strictly bound by this decision.
Some websites, such as FindLaw, Google Scholar, and CourtListener, offer free access to case law. Additionally, court opinions are available for free on PACER to anyone with an account.
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