Cecily Zamora
Case law is law based on judicial decisions. It is critical to prepare strong legal arguments and guide the strategic direction of trial preparations. Legal research involves identifying, finding, and cite-checking information and applicable laws needed to support your legal decision-making. The primary sources of law include case law, which are court opinions or decisions issued by federal or state courts. Secondary sources explain or interpret legal principles in detail, or summarize the current state of the law. When researching case law, it is important to focus on the relevant jurisdiction, use keywords and legal phrases, and leverage digital tools and databases.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Definition | "The finding and assembling of authorities that bear on a question of law" |
| Purpose | To find support for a specific legal issue or decision |
| Sources | Primary and secondary |
| Primary sources | Case law, statutes, regulations |
| Secondary sources | Practice guides, treatises, legal articles, law journals, legal encyclopaedias |
| Online tools | Westlaw, LexisNexis, Bloomberg, Fastcase, Casetext, Google Scholar |
| Jurisdiction | Federal or state law |
| Court opinions | Cited to other cases to support their legal conclusions |
| Case notes | Provided at the bottom of the page (Lexis) or under the Notes of Decisions tab (Westlaw) |
| Case citations | Name of the case, where to find it, and the year it was decided |
| Case validity | Whether the case is still valid (called good law) and if it is a case that the court must follow |
| Digests | Allow researchers to locate cases by subject from any jurisdiction |
Explore related products
![Basic Legal Research: Tools and Strategies, Revised 8th Edition [Connected eBook with Study Center] (Aspen Coursebook Series)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81t2iaBh45L._AC_UL320_.jpg)
What You'll Learn
Start with secondary sources
When researching case law, it is often more efficient to begin with secondary sources before moving on to primary sources of law. Secondary sources provide a thorough overview of legal topics and can help you identify primary sources of law, such as statutes and case law. They are also useful for defining legal words and phrases and aiding in further legal research.
Secondary sources are materials that discuss, explain, analyse, and critique the law. They are not the law itself but are a great tool for understanding the law. They include law journals, encyclopaedias, and treatises. Treatises are very detailed, in-depth discussions of a single topic of law written by legal scholars. They are extensively footnoted and provide references to statutes, important cases, other treatises, government publications, law review articles, and more. Treatises may also contain practice information such as forms and checklists. Many classic treatises are considered to be the authoritative source on a field of law.
Other examples of secondary sources include legal dictionaries, such as Black's Law Dictionary and Nolo's Plain English Law Dictionary, and law reviews and journals, such as the Virginia Law Review, Seattle University Law Review, and Yale Law Journal. Law journals are scholarly publications covering the legal field. They publish articles that are comprehensive studies of current topics in law, generally written by law professors and practitioners. The articles generally contain substantial citations to primary and secondary sources on the topic, which may lead you to additional information on the subject.
Self-help books are another type of secondary source. These are plain-English, general overviews of legal topics aimed at consumers or lay people with no legal experience. They explain the basic concepts of the law and give some citations to the actual law involved, but are usually not good sources for finding extensive primary law or as starting places for in-depth research.
Writing Case Briefs: A Guide for Business Law Students
You may want to see also
Explore related products
![The Legal Writing Handbook: Analysis, Research, and Writing [Connected eBook with Study Center] (Aspen Coursebook)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71PYHTsY+bL._AC_UL320_.jpg)
Search case law databases
There are several databases and online resources available to search for case law. The Library of Congress provides access to digitized bound volumes of the U.S. Reports from 1754 to 2012, as well as free legal research guides to help researchers locate online case law sources. The Library of Congress also provides on-site access to Nexis Uni (formerly LexisNexis Library Express), Westlaw Patron Access (which includes court decisions indexed using West's Key Number System), and Bloomberg Law Patron Access.
There are also freely available options for finding case law online, such as CourtListener.com, which has been collecting case law since 2009 and provides access to millions of opinions across hundreds of jurisdictions. The U.S. Government Publishing Office's govinfo website provides access to select federal court decisions from 2004 to the present, and many individual federal and state appellate courts' websites provide access to recent decisions.
In addition, there are major case law databases such as Westlaw, Lexis+, and Bloomberg Law, which offer different searching methods. It is helpful to search more than one database, as the results will vary slightly. Before searching in any database, it is important to know which types of primary law apply to your topic, including federal and state statutes or regulations. Natural language searching involves entering a string of keywords and relying on the search engine's algorithm to predict the relationship between terms, while searching by terms and connectors yields more specific results based on the terms' relationship. To filter results by a particular jurisdiction, you can either select the court(s) of interest in the "Search:" dropdown box or run a search and then filter the results.
Writing Case Law Citations: A Step-by-Step Guide
You may want to see also
Explore related products
![The Process of Legal Research: Practices and Resources [Connected eBook with Study Center]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71OG9MNqOCL._AC_UL320_.jpg)
Understand jurisdiction
Jurisdiction is a fundamental consideration when researching case law. The United States has parallel court systems at the federal and state levels, each divided into trial and appellate courts. Therefore, the jurisdiction of a case must be determined at the outset of legal research. This is because the laws differ between jurisdictions, and so the same case in California, for example, would not be beneficial if your legal project involves New York law.
Jurisdiction is also linked to the concept of legal power. The Latin term 'coram non judice' encapsulates this relationship, referring to proceedings in which jurisdiction is lacking. The connection between jurisdiction and power is deeply rooted in the Anglo-American legal tradition. Jurisdiction is viewed as a court's lawful authority to change the legal relationships of the parties appearing before it with respect to the specific subject matter of a lawsuit. In other words, a court's judgment establishes a new source of law that determines the applicability of more general legal directives to the specific circumstances of a dispute.
The doctrine of precedent, or stare decisis, is also relevant to understanding jurisdiction. Under this doctrine, a court must follow earlier decisions when the same points arise again in litigation. The decisions of the highest court in a jurisdiction create mandatory precedent that must be followed by lower courts in that jurisdiction. For example, the US Supreme Court creates binding precedent for all other federal courts and state courts on questions of constitutional interpretation.
When researching case law, it is important to be aware of the different resources available. Many websites provide free access to case law, such as Justia, which offers legal information on various legal topics and jurisdictions, including federal and state case law. The "Federal Law" section on Justia provides links to all Federal Courts' pages, which provide court decisions, some dating back to at least the mid-1990s. The Oyez Project is another multimedia archive dedicated to the Supreme Court of the United States, aiming to be a complete source for all audio recorded in the Court since 1955.
Additionally, commercial legal research databases such as Lexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg supplement cases with headnotes, allowing for the quick location of subsequent cases that cite the specific language or discussion relevant to your research. These databases also provide case notes, which are summaries of important or useful cases for illustrating case law interpreting a statute. They are organized by issue and include short summaries of the holding and relevance of each case.
Writing Case Law: A Step-by-Step Guide
You may want to see also
Explore related products
 (Aspen Paralegal Series)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91X0CqY7ddL._AC_UL320_.jpg)
 (Aspen Paralegal Series)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/717B0EU2MoL._AC_UL320_.jpg)
Find primary sources
Primary sources of law are statutes/laws, orders, cases, decisions, and regulations. They are issued by one of the three branches of government (legislative, judicial, or executive) at either the state or federal level. Judicial sources are issued by the judiciary and consist of opinions or case law, dockets (the filings in a case), and court rules.
Legislative sources are issued at the federal level by Congress and at the state level by the representative bodies. The names vary by state, but they are most frequently referred to as Houses, Assemblies, or Delegates (for the lower bodies) and Senates (for the upper bodies). Every state, with the exception of Nebraska, is bicameral. Legislative sources consist of statutes/laws/codes, session laws, and legislative history (which includes hearings, amendments, prints, etc.).
Constitutions are also considered primary sources. The United States and every state in the nation have a constitution. The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land and the source of executive, legislative, and judicial government powers.
Many primary sources are available online. Governments often post their resources on their websites. You can also search for the name of the branch of government and the type of source you're looking for (e.g. Palo Alto municipal code) to see if it's available.
Additionally, legal publishing companies compile and publish printed volumes of primary legal sources. These companies also often publish annotated" editions of primary law, which contain footnotes with references to other helpful resources such as prior laws on the topic, legal encyclopedia articles, or law review articles.
The Library of Congress has created freely available legal research guides to help researchers locate online case law sources. The Law Library of Congress also has digitized volumes of the United States Reports and makes them available to the public as part of its digital collections. The U.S. Government Publishing Office's govinfo website provides access to select federal court decisions from 2004 to the present.
Many individual federal and state appellate courts' websites provide access to recent decisions issued by that court. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts provides a federal court finder tool to locate the websites of individual federal courts, many of which include the text of recent decisions from that court.
The Texas State Law Library provides access to digitized works that are no longer copyright-protected, typically published before the 1920s. This can be a good source for very old reporters such as Texas Reports.
The Library also provides access to U.S. Supreme Court opinions, including briefs and audio files of the arguments when available. Files from select cases date from the current period back to 1793.
Databases like Lexis Advance and Westlaw Next allow for sophisticated keyword searching.
DWI Laws in North Carolina: What You Need to Know
You may want to see also
Explore related products
Use digests
Digests are a helpful tool for finding case law. They are available in print and online. The Key Number System categorises the law into approximately 400 topics, each with numerous Key Numbers (there are about 100,000 distinct Key Numbers).
A Descriptive-Word Index is a detailed subject index to the digest, located at the end of each digest set. It helps identify relevant topics and sub-topics (or key numbers) used in the digest. Once the appropriate topic and key number are identified, cases on that subject may be located using that key number in the federal digest or any regional or state digest.
For example, to locate cases from all federal courts, including the Supreme Court, you can use the Federal Digest, a 72-volume set that includes cases before 1939. West's Federal Practice Digest 5th includes cases from 2013 onwards.
The American Digest, Century Edition, covers cases decided from 1659 to 1896. Decennial Digests cover 10 years each, beginning in 1897. The Twelfth Decennial Digest began publication in 2008.
Most states have individual digests, and several regional reporters have corresponding digests. There are also subject-specific digests, such as bankruptcy and education law. All of these can be found online in Westlaw.
When reading the cases, pay particular attention to the topic and key numbers found in the headnotes. Take note of any topics and key numbers you haven't seen before that seem promising for your research. Return to the digest with these topics and key numbers to locate additional case law on your subject.
Supplementary pocket parts (placed in the back of bound volumes) or separate interim pamphlets are used to update the digests.
Writing Law Case Notes: A Step-by-Step Guide
You may want to see also
Frequently asked questions
Case law is the body of law that has been developed from judicial opinions and decisions over time.
Primary sources of law are key to legal research as they establish the current law on a particular issue. You can find primary sources through legal research databases like Fastcase, Casetext, Lexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg Law. Secondary sources such as law reviews, law journals, and case-law documents are also useful for understanding the law and identifying primary sources.
It is important to have a strategic approach to researching case law. Start by narrowing your search criteria by focusing on the jurisdiction (state or federal), relevance to the legal issue, and the recency of decisions. Prioritize the most authoritative courts first, such as the United States Supreme Court for federal issues or the California Supreme Court for state matters. Develop a list of keywords and legal phrases specific to your case and use Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) to refine your searches.
Understanding and leveraging past judicial decisions enhances the credibility of legal arguments and guides the strategic direction of trial preparations. By researching case law, legal professionals can better navigate their research and apply these principles effectively in their cases.
![Legal Writing and Analysis: [Connected eBook with Study Center] (Aspen Coursebook)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/711quUQrEjL._AC_UL320_.jpg)
