Exploring Lexisnexis: Reading Law Cases Like A Pro

LexisNexis is an online legal research platform that provides access to a wide range of legal information and resources, including case law, statutes, regulations, news sources, public records, company profiles, and exclusive industry insights. With its comprehensive collection of legal content and advanced search features, LexisNexis offers a powerful tool for legal professionals, students, and researchers to find and analyse relevant case law efficiently. This guide will provide an overview of the key features and search strategies for utilising LexisNexis to read and understand case law effectively, covering topics such as navigating the platform, using search filters and connectors, understanding case citations, and leveraging analytical tools to gain insights into litigation trends and judge rulings.

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Using the search function

LexisNexis is a discovery service that can be used to search for case law. To access it, you can go to the Alliant Library homepage, click on 'Databases' under the 'Research' section, and then find the LexisNexis Academic link.

There are three ways to search for case law within LexisNexis: by citation, party, and topic.

Using the Citation Method

A legal citation has three parts: volume, abbreviation for the book (reporter), and the page number. The volume is indicated by the first number in the citation, followed by the book abbreviation or reporter abbreviation. Since there are numerous volumes of reporters, this helps locate the specific text containing the case.

Using the Party Method

For two-party cases, enter the party names separated by a lowercase 'v'. For example, 'matsushita v zenith' will yield results including Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., Zenith Radio Corp. v. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., and In re Japanese Elec. Prods. Antitrust Litig. You can also use the Party Name segment field in the Advanced Search form to retrieve a case when you know the names of the parties.

Using the Topic Method

LexisNexis searches the case law's headnotes, which quickly identify the different legal topics and issues covered in that case. It will search for the singular, plural, and possessive forms of your terms. For example, a search for "first amendment" and "free speech" will yield results dealing with those topics.

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Search by citation

To read a law case on LexisNexis using a citation, you must first break down the legal citation. There are three parts to a legal citation: volume, abbreviation for the book (reporter), and the page number. The volume is indicated by the first number in the citation. This helps to locate the specific text in which the case is located as there are numerous volumes of reporters. The second part is the book abbreviation or reporter abbreviation. For example, the Northwestern Reporter is abbreviated as N.W.

Once you have broken down the citation, you can search for the case on LexisNexis. If you don't know the legal citation, you can search by party name. The order of the names does not matter—searching Jones v Clinton will retrieve the same results as Clinton v Jones.

When you search by topic, LexisNexis searches the case law's headnotes. Headnotes quickly identify the different legal topics and issues covered in the case. You can read a specific section in further detail by clicking on one of the cases to view all the headnotes relevant to your search.

You can also copy document citations and paste them into your legal document as a hyperlink. To do this, click "Copy Citation" in the heading of the document, select the necessary style manual from the "New format" drop-down list, click "Apply", select the options you want to include in the citation, and then click "Copy & Close".

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Search by party

Searching by party name is one of the most common ways to find a case on LexisNexis. This method is useful if you know one or both party names but not the citation, or if you want to find all cases involving a particular party.

To search for a case with two parties, enter the party names separated by a lowercase 'v' in the search box. For example, to find the case Wright v. Universal Maritime Serv. Corp., enter "wright and universal maritime" in the Party Name field. The order of the names does not matter—searching for "Jones v Clinton" will retrieve the same results as "Clinton v Jones".

You can also use the Advanced Search function to find cases by party name. First, click "Advanced Search", then "Select a specific content type", then "Cases". Then, enter the party name(s) in the Party Name field.

If you are searching for a single-party case, such as "In re Japanese Elec. Prods. Antitrust Litig.", enter the party name in the Search box. Case recognition technology will be used to search for the name along with the designation. For example, searching for "in re witherspoon" will retrieve results including "In re Witherspoon", "In re Estate of Witherspoon", and "In re Objection to Nomination of Williams-Witherspoon".

If you are searching for a federal case, first select "Federal" and then "All Federal Cases", or choose a specific circuit. Then, enter the party name(s) in the Party Name field. This will ensure that only cases where these names are used for parties are retrieved, which is more efficient than using the general search bar.

If you are searching for a case with a docket number, enter the number in the NUMBER segment field.

Occasionally, searching by party name may retrieve unintended results. If this happens, try using the NAME segment to run your search, using the AND connector between the party names. For example, run the search name(matsushita and zenith). Alternatively, use quotation marks around "v", "In re", "Ex parte", etc. For example, run the search ""in re" witherspoon".

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Search by topic

When searching for case law within LexisNexis, one of the three ways to do so is by topic. This method involves searching for the case law's headnotes, which are quotes that quickly identify the different legal topics and issues covered in that case. LexisNexis will search for the singular, plural, and possessive forms of your terms.

For example, a search for "first amendment" and "free speech" will bring up results that include cases dealing with those specific topics. You can then click on one of the cases to view all the headnotes relevant to your search and read through the case for the relevant standard or issue you are looking for.

Additionally, you can use the "WRITTENBY" segment field to find decisions written by a specific judge or the "Court" segment field to retrieve cases from a particular court. This allows for a more targeted search within the topic you are interested in.

It is important to note that a selected topic may not have documents in every content category, and 99% of cases deal with multiple issues. Therefore, using the available filters can help to further narrow your results and find the most relevant cases for your research.

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Using Advanced Search

LexisNexis has an Advanced Search feature that allows users to search for case law using various methods. Here are some ways to utilise the Advanced Search feature:

Searching by Party Name

To search for a case using the names of the involved parties, click on "Advanced Search", then "Select a specific content type", and select "Cases". After that, enter the party names in the Party Name field and click "Search". For example, to retrieve the Supreme Court of the United States' decision in "Wright v. Universal Maritime Serv. Corp.", enter "wright and universal maritime" in the Party Name field.

Searching by Attorney Name

If you know the name of the attorney or law firm representing one of the parties, you can use the Attorney Name field in the Advanced Search form. For example, to search for cases involving attorney Clarence Darrow, enter "clarence w/3 darrow" in the Attorney Name field.

Searching by Docket Number

A docket number is a series of alphanumeric characters assigned by the court to identify a case. To search for a case using the docket number, click on "Advanced Search", select "Cases" as the content type, and enter the docket number in the "Number" field. For example, to retrieve an Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals case with docket number 93-2314, enter "93 and 2414" in the Number field and "eleventh" in the Court field.

Searching by Court

To retrieve cases from a specific court, use the Court segment field in the Advanced Search form. For example, to find cases from the previous month decided by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, select "Cases" as the content type, and enter "New York" in the Court field.

Searching by Judge

To find cases written by a particular judge, use the "Edit in Advanced Search" option. Enter the judge's name in the Writtenby field. For example, to retrieve decisions written by Judge J. Vincent Aug, Jr. from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Ohio, enter "aug" in the Writtenby field.

Searching by Topic

LexisNexis allows users to search for case law by topic, searching through the headnotes of cases that quickly identify the different legal topics and issues covered. For example, searching for "first amendment" and "free speech" will return cases that deal with those topics.

Frequently asked questions