case law meaning in research

Legal Research Fundamentals

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• Secondary Sources

The Different Types of Case Law Research

Popular case law databases, using secondary sources, any good case, from an annotated statute, ai and smart searching.

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Generally, there are two types of case law research:

• Determining the case law that is binding or persuasive regarding a particular issue. Gathering and analyzing the relevant case law. 
• Searching for a specific case that applies the law to a set of facts in a particular way. 

These are two slightly different tasks. However, you can use many of the same case law search techniques for both of these types of questions. 

This guide outlines several different ways to locate case law. It is up to you to determine which methods are most suitable for your problem. 

When selecting a case law database, don't forget to choose the jurisdiction, time period, and level of court that is most appropriate for your purposes.

Note: Listed above are the databases that law students are most likely to use. It's possible that, once you leave law school, you will not have access to the same databases. Resources such as Fastcase  or Casetext may be your go-to. For any database, take the time to familiarize yourself with the basic and advanced search functions. 

Check out the Secondary Sources tab for information about how to locate a useful secondary source. 

Remember: secondary sources take the primary source law and analyze it so that you don't have to. Take advantage of the work the author has already done!

What do we mean by 'any good case'? 

A case that addresses the issue you care about. We can use the citing relationships and annotations found in case law databases to connect cases together based on their subject matter. You may find such a case from a secondary source, case law database search, or from a colleague.

How can we use one good case? 

1. Court opinions typically cited to  other cases to support their legal conclusions. Often these cited cases include important and authoritative decisions on the issue, because such decisions are precedential. 

2. Commercial legal research databases, including Lexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg, supplement cases with  headnotes . Headnotes allow you to quickly locate subsequent cases that cite the case you are looking at with respect to the specific language/discussion you care about. 

3. Links to topics or Key Numbers. Clicking through to these allows you to locate other cases with headnotes that fall under that topic. Once you select a suitable Key Number, you can also narrow down with keywords. A case may include multiple headnotes that address the same general issue.

4.  Subsequent citing cases.  By reading cases that have cited to the case you've started with, you can confirm that it remains "good law" and that its legal conclusions remain sound. You can also filter the citing references by jurisdiction, treatment, depth of treatment, date, and keyword, allowing you to focus your attention on the most relevant sub-set of cases.

5. Secondary sources! Useful secondary sources are listed in the Citing References. This can be a quick way to locate a good secondary source. 

NOTE: Good cases may come in many forms. For example, a recent lower court decision might lead you to the key case law in that jurisdiction, while a higher court decision from a few years back might be more widely-cited and lead you to a wider range of subsequent interpretive authority (and any key secondary sources). 

What is an annotated statute?

An annotated statute is simply a statute enhanced with editorial content. In Lexis and Westlaw, this editorial content provides the following: 

Historical Notes about amendments to the statute. These are provided below the statutory text (Lexis) or under the History tab (Westlaw). 

Case Notes  provided either at the bottom of the page (Lexis) or under the Notes of Decisions tab (Westlaw). These are cases identified by the publisher as especially important or useful for illustrating the case law interpreting the statute. They are organized by issue and include short summaries pertaining to the holding and relevance are provided for each case.  

Other Citing References  allow you to locate all other material within Lexis and Westlaw that cite to the statute. This includes secondary sources (always useful) and all case law that cites to that specific section. You can narrow down by keywords, jurisdiction, publication status, etc. In Lexis, click the Shepard's link. In Westlaw, click the Citing References tab.

Lexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg are all actively developing tools to lead you to cases more quickly. These include: 

Westlaw's recommendations and WestSearch Plus. These will show up in the "Suggestions" option that appears when you start typing into the search bar. 

Lexis Ravel View. When you search the case database in Lexis and click on the Ravel icon, you will see an interactive visualization of the citing relationships between the first 75 cases that appear in your results list, ranked by relevance.

Bloomberg's "Points of Law" feature in the Litigation Intelligence Center also allows users to visualize the citing relationships among cases meeting their search criteria.

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Legal Research Basics: A Step-By-Step Guide to Brushing Up on Your Skills

Legal research is imperative to the practice of law. Depending on where you are in your legal career, there could be multiple reasons to brush up on the basics of legal research. You could be a: 

• Law student or recent graduate preparing for your career 
• Seasoned attorney aiming to brush up on the basics amidst ever-evolving legal research technology 
• Growing law firm preparing to train new attorneys or paralegals 

Regardless of which of these categories you align with most, reviewing the basics of legal research should become regular practice. After all, the importance of legal research cannot be overstated – pinpointing the best facts and knowledge for your case can make the difference between winning and losing.  

Use this article to review the basics and set yourself (and your firm) up for success. First, we’ll define legal research and its components. Then, we’ll walk you through a step-by-step process for conducting superior legal research. Finally, we’ll close with recommendations for tools that can help you become both an accurate and efficient legal researcher – which ultimately equips you with a reputation for success in the courtroom.  

What is Legal Research?

Legal research is defined as the process of identifying and retrieving information necessary to support legal decision-making. There are multiple reasons you might conduct legal research: 

• To find “good” case law that backs up your motion or brief  
• To provide legal counsel to clients  
• To provide a memo or brief for class (law students only)  
• To identify case law that refutes an opposing argument 
• To support the over-arching narrative of your case 

What is the Importance of Legal Research?

Legal research provides support for decision-making on complex issues, by providing specific facts and legal precedent that allow you to produce complete answers for clients. Quality legal research is critical to the practice of law.

Historically, attorneys combed through books and libraries for the perfect facts, cases, and issues; now, technology has largely replaced this process. While the prominence of ever-evolving technology has made the process more efficient (and, in many ways, easier), the sheer number of products and options available can be overwhelming.  

The Legal Research Process

Understanding that the legal research process can be overwhelming and time-consuming, we’ve broken the legal research process down into three key steps: 

• Understand the facts of your case 
• Gather sources of law 
• Check your citations for “good” law 

Each of these steps is detailed below, alongside a quick-view checklist.  

Step 1: Record the Facts of Your Case and Create a Research Plan  

Handling a legal task with authority requires confidence in the process. This is true in any practice, jurisdictional setting, or level of legal expertise. A good process should start by taking time to identify and understand the facts of your case. Ask yourself the following questions: 

• What is the legal issue at hand?  
• What are the details of the case?  
• What jurisdiction is most relevant?  
• Do you need state or federal case law? 

Record your facts in a case management tool before beginning – this can help you develop a course of action and narrow down where to start your research. While it may be tempting to skip this step, a commitment to this process saves you time in the long run by helping you efficiently juggle multiple clients. Not to mention, you will likely need what you’ve recorded to file a motion or brief. 

With the facts of the case recorded, you can begin your research. Because this will help you develop a plan for gathering your sources, we will briefly discuss creating a research plan before moving on to Step 2.  

Did you know? LexisNexis boasts a collection of state case law superior to its leading competitors. Easily filter by jurisdiction before or after your search.  

Creating a Research Plan  

Review the facts you recorded to determine what information you will need to build your case. When legal research first moved online, many attorneys felt the need to start with a free service like Google to identify terms of art before conducting a search in a legal research platform. However, this is no longer necessary. Research platforms like Lexis+ allow you to start your search with a natural language search or question and equip you to quickly comb both primary and secondary sources. Litigators, specifically, can use Fact and Issue Finder – integrated directly with Lexis+ – to help quickly identify the best terms of art for their search.  

Creating your research plan is less about planning where you will search and more about planning what you will search. You know your research can be conducted on one, fully integrated platform. So, what questions will you ask to get started? What legal issues do you need more information about? What filters will you need (jurisdiction, time period, etc.)?  

Once you know what you will search for, you are ready to gather sources.  

Step 2: Gather Sources of Law  

The next step in your process is to gather relevant sources of law. Below, we detail the difference between primary law and secondary law. Importantly, when gathering sources, start with secondary law materials. This helps ensure you are up-to-speed on what experts have to say about a topic before you begin your case law search. Why does this matter? Think about it as building your knowledge base before crafting an argument – you’ll be less likely to make mistakes and more inclined to spot case-winning primary law.  

What are Secondary Sources of Law?  

Secondary legal sources are materials that describe or interpret the law. They are educational resources that provide analysis of the law. These documents are cited by attorneys to persuade a court to reach a particular decision in a case, but which the court is not obligated to follow. Start with secondary sources to learn from legal experts that have already explored a given topic.  

Secondary sources may include: 

• Practice guides 
• Legal treatises 
• Law review articles 
• Scholarly journals 
• Legal news 
• Jury instructions 
• Legal dictionaries and encyclopedias 

What are Primary Sources of Law?  

A primary legal source is a formal document officially issued by the government that establishes the law on a particular matter, such as a case decision or legislative act. Primary sources are the law. This is the most authoritative step in the legal research process. You can support arguments with primary sources as they are not only authoritative, but precedential and controlling.  

Your primary sources may include: 

• Case law (federal and/or state) 
• Orders 
• Decisions 
• Statutes and regulations 
• Constitutions  
• Treatises 

Step 3: Check to See If You’re Using Good Law   

The final step in your research process should include a final check to ensure you have used “good” law – this means you are using case law that has been treated positively in court (as opposed to case law that has been overturned or brought into question). 

Check your case citations as you collect them, especially since legal research software can allow a quick view of how your case has been treated in court directly from your search results. However, it is best practice to review your citations once your research process is complete to check for any gaps, changes, or oversights.  

Read more about using good law and the process of " Shepardizing ."

Conduct Winning Legal Research  

Following this three-step process ensures you’re taking the right measures to find the most accurate, relevant and valuable data to achieve your objectives. Now that you’re ready to conduct winning legal research, take some time to review products and tools that can help you in your path to success.  

Getting Started with Legal Research Tools   

Legal research is key to drafting effective documents and building winning cases. Legal research solutions have evolved substantially – helping you conduct legal research with increased efficiency and accuracy . Below is a list of legal research tools to help you build a winning case:  

• Lexis +:  This is the premier LexisNexis fully integrated legal research platform. Features such as Shepard's At Risk ensures you’re citing only the most authoritative sources, with unprecedented visibility into whether a case is at risk of being overruled or undermined. Other Lexis+ features include, but aren’t limited to: 
• Brief Analysis: Get a clear picture of the contents of your legal brief to identify any missteps and bolster your arguments against opposing counsel. Simply upload and file and quickly evaluate the legal authority cited in your (or an opposing) brief in granular detail and receive recommendations for additional searches.  
• Litigation Analytics: Get the most accurate insights into judges, courts, attorneys, and law firms to ensure your success in litigation. Understand critical insights regarding caseloads, experience across case types, timing to key milestones, and damages by comparing federal districts and judges. 
• Shepard's ® Citations Service:  See if a case has been overturned, reaffirmed, questioned, or cited by later cases, or is at risk of negative treatment. Your research needs to provide precedential value. Using reversed or overruled authority doesn't qualify as "Good Law" and your research may be ineffectual or harmful to your case.  
• Practical Guidance: View professional insights on 20 different practice areas. Accomplish any task with practice notes, annotated templates, and checklists.  
• Legal News Hub: Receive up-to-the-minute, award-winning journalism and legal news from Law360 and Law360 Pulse anytime you need it — without having to leave the Lexis+ ecosystem. Stay current on critical developments across legal practice areas, with over 70 coverage areas spanning the practice and business of law. 

LexisNexis is here to support your firm in winning your next case. With Lexis+, all of your legal research needs are integrated into one platform as a true start-to-finish solution. Ready to learn more? Take a guided tour of Lexis+ today. 

Buy Now    Free Lexis+ Access

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21 What is Case Law?

A case, often referred to as a decision or judgment, is a written record of a judge or judges reasoning or decision-makin g applied to a particular dispute. When deciding cases, judges interpret legislation and apply the doctrine of precedent ( stare decisis ), which means the court must follow the decisions reached by a higher court in the same jurisdiction. For this reason, case law has precedential value and is sometimes known as common law or judge-made law.

Case law is a primary source of law in Australia.

Anatomy of a case

Understanding the different parts of a case is helpful for case law research. At the very top of the decision, you will find information about the case, including the:

• party names
• hearing date/s.

The headnote of the decision contains catchwords and a summary of the case. It is not officially part of the judgment. Catchwords are keywords and phrases separated by dashes, summarising the legal principles and legislation discussed in the case. The summary   provides a short description of the matter and outlines the key rulings of the case.

The figure below shows the key parts of a case.

The start of the judgment proper is usually indicated by the Judge’s surname (e.g. Stanley J: …). Each judgment will generally include:

• the procedural history of the case
• statement of facts
• relevant legal issues and legal principles

Learning how to undertake a case analysis and distinguish the ratio decidendi (UQ login required) is a core skill in legal studies.

Do not be tempted to read and quote only from the headnote rather than the full decision. It is important to note that the headnote is written by a law reporter and not by a judge. Therefore, it is not considered to be part of the judgment.

This chapter is adapted from What is Case Law? in Legal Research Skills: An Australian Law Guide by The University of Queensland Library, James Cook University Library, University of Southern Queensland Library, Charles Darwin University Library, Southern Cross University Library, Queensland University of Technology Library, and Deakin University Library.

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Legal Research Essentials Copyright © 2023 by The University of Queensland is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Case Law Research Guide

Introduction.

• Print Case Reporters
• Online Resources for Cases
• Finding Cases: Digests, Headnotes, and Key Numbers
• Finding Cases: Terms & Connectors Searching

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Every law student and practicing attorney must be able to find, read, analyze, and interpret case law. Under the common law principles of stare decisis, a court must follow the decisions in previous cases on the same legal topic. Therefore, finding cases is essential to finding out what the law is on a particular issue.

This guide will show you how to read a case citation and will set out the sources, both print and online, for finding cases. This guide also covers how to use digests, headnotes, and key numbers to find case law, as well as how to find cases through terms and connectors searching.

To find cases using secondary sources, such as legal encyclopedias or legal treatises, see our Secondary Sources Research Guide . For additional strategies to find cases, like using statutory annotations or citators, see our  Case Law Research Tutorial . Our tutorial also covers how to update cases using citators (Lexis’ Shepard’s tool and Westlaw’s KeyCite).

Basic Case Citation

A case citation is a reference to where a case (also called a  decision  or an  opinion  ) is printed in a book. The citation can also be used to retrieve cases from  Westlaw  and  Lexis . A case citation consists of a volume number, an abbreviation of the title of the book or other item, and a page number.  

The precise format of a case citation depends on a number of factors, including the jurisdiction, court, and type of case. You should review the rest of this section on citing cases (and the relevant rules in  The Bluebook ) before trying to format a case citation for the first time. See our Bluebook Guide for more information.

The basic format of a case citation is as follows:

Parallel Citations

When the same case is printed in different books, citations to more than one book may be given. These additional citations are known as  parallel citations .

Example: 265 U.S. 274, 68 L. Ed. 1016, 44 S. Ct. 565.

This means that the case you would find at page 565 of volume 44 of the  Supreme Court Reporter  (published by West) will be the same case you find on page 1016 of volume 68 of  Lawyers' Edition  (published by Lexis), and both will be the same as the opinion you find in the official government version,  United States Reports . Although the text of the opinion will be identical, the added editorial material will differ with each publisher.

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How to Effectively Research and Apply Case Law in Trials

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

When it comes to trial work, understanding and leveraging past judicial decisions enhances the credibility of legal arguments and guides the strategic direction of trial preparations. This article offers tips on research techniques and practical advice for applying these findings in the courtroom. We’ll also talk about how Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB)’s pioneering legal tools can transform your approach to legal research and trial strategy.

Understanding Case Law

Case law operates under the principle of stare decisis , a Latin term that means “to stand by things decided.” This doctrine ensures consistency and predictability in the legal system, as courts are generally bound to follow the rulings of previous decisions , particularly those made by higher courts. The interpretations and rulings of these higher courts become binding precedents, which lower courts must follow.

By appreciating the hierarchy and binding nature of past decisions, legal professionals can better navigate their research and apply these principles effectively in their cases. The relevance of a precedent depends largely on the hierarchy of the court that made the decision. For instance, decisions made by the Supreme Court are binding on all lower courts within the jurisdiction. Understanding this hierarchy is vital:

Supreme Court: Decisions have the highest binding authority nationwide.

Appellate Courts: Decisions are binding on lower courts within the same circuit or state system but are only persuasive elsewhere.

Trial Courts: Decisions generally do not create binding precedents but can be influential, especially if no higher court rulings exist on the issue.

It’s important to distinguish between binding precedents, which must be followed, and persuasive precedents, which can influence a court but are not mandatory. Persuasive precedents come from (1) courts in other jurisdictions, or (2) lower courts or equivalent courts where higher court precedent is not established.

Researching Case Law

Knowing how to search for relevant cases and use advanced legal research tools is critical for preparing strong legal arguments. This section covers the key aspects of researching case law, including practical tips for using digital tools like those offered by CEB.

Identifying Relevant Cases

Finding pertinent case law requires a strategic approach to research:

Narrowing Search Criteria: Focus on jurisdiction (state, 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.

Using Keywords and Legal Phrases: Develop a list of keywords and legal phrases specific to your case. Use Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) to refine your searches, making them more targeted and efficient. The applicable chapter in CEB practice guides is a great source for finding the right keywords and legal terms of art to improve the efficacy of your case law searches.

Using Legal Research Tools

Research tools range from traditional resources like law libraries to advanced digital databases:

Traditional Tools: Law books, like those offered by CEB , are treasure troves of legal volumes, reporters, and journals that provide historical and contemporary legal insights. They are particularly useful for in-depth research and understanding legal evolutions.

Digital Tools and Databases: Online legal research databases like CEB’s OnLaw Pro provide extensive case law records. These platforms often offer advanced search options that can help filter results by date, relevance, and jurisdiction.

Staying Updated with Legal Developments

Keeping abreast of new and evolving case law is crucial. Diligent trial lawyers subscribe to legal news feeds, blogs, and updates that report on recent judicial decisions and ongoing cases. It’s also a good idea to set up alerts in research databases to receive notifications about new decisions relevant to your practice area. This ensures you are always informed about the latest legal trends and case law developments.

Analyzing Case Law

Once relevant case law is identified, the next crucial step is to analyze these cases effectively to determine their applicability and potential impact on your legal argument. For example, understanding the structure of legal decisions and what to focus on can significantly influence your case preparation:

Identifying Holdings, Dicta, and Rationale: Focus on the holding, distinguishing it from dicta , or comments made by the judge that are not essential to the decision and are not binding. The rationale or reasoning provides the justification for the holding and is crucial for understanding how the law was applied.

Evaluating the Strength of a Precedent: Consider factors such as the court’s hierarchy, the recency of the decision, and whether the reasoning was broadly or narrowly construed. A strong precedent (1) comes from a higher court, (2) has recent applicability, and (3) is factually similar to your own case.

Efficiently organizing your research can improve accessibility and usability of information during trial preparation and in the courtroom:

Summarizing and Categorizing Findings: Create brief summaries of each relevant case, highlighting the court, year, key facts, legal issues, holding, and rationale. Categorize these summaries by legal issue or by how they support different aspects of your argument.

Using Software and Tools for Organization: Employ legal case management software or digital tools like CEB’s resources, which allow for tagging cases and creating notes. These tools can help keep your research organized and easily retrievable.

Integrating your research into legal arguments involves critical thinking and strategic planning:

Synthesizing Precedents: Combine insights from multiple cases to build a comprehensive argument that addresses potential counterarguments and supports your client’s position.

Preparing for Opposing Arguments: Anticipate how opposing counsel might use case law and prepare counterarguments. This includes finding distinguishing factors that might limit the applicability of a precedent to your case.

Applying Case Law in Trials

The culmination of diligent research and analysis of case law is its strategic application during the phases of a trial. 

Pre-Trial Strategies

Pre-trial preparation is critical for setting the stage for effective advocacy:

Integrating Case Law into Motions and Pleadings: Reference pertinent case law in your motions and pleadings to strengthen your legal position from the outset. This not only reinforces the legal basis of your claims but also signals to the opposing party and the court your thorough preparation and understanding of the legal landscape.

Preparing for Opposition Arguments: Based on your research, anticipate potential arguments from the opposing counsel. Prepare rebuttals by identifying weaknesses or distinctions in the case law they might rely on, and ready counter-precedents to undermine their position.

During the Trial

Effective application of case law continues into the courtroom, where it becomes a vital part of your oral arguments and interactions with the judge and jury:

Presenting Case Law to Support Arguments: When presenting your case, clearly articulate how previous rulings support your arguments. Use direct quotes from key cases to lend authority to your points and explain how these precedents directly relate to the facts of your case.

Refuting Case Law Presented by the Opposition: Be prepared to challenge the applicability of the opposing counsel’s cited cases. This can involve questioning the relevance, distinguishing the facts, or arguing that the legal context is different, thereby reducing the precedent’s weight.

Engaging Judges and Juries: Simplify complex legal precedents for the jury, focusing on storytelling that integrates case law in a way that supports your narrative. For judges, emphasize the binding nature of precedents and their direct applicability to the case at hand.

Adjusting Strategies Based on Judicial Feedback

Monitoring Judicial Reactions: Pay close attention to the judge’s reactions to case law presentations. Judges may provide direct or indirect feedback on the relevance and strength of your legal arguments, which can offer valuable insights for adjusting your strategy.

Adapting to Courtroom Dynamics: Be flexible and ready to shift your approach based on the effectiveness of your case law application. This may mean emphasizing different precedents or adjusting the emphasis of your arguments to better align with the judge’s or jury’s perspectives.

This active and strategic use of case law not only enhances your advocacy but also demonstrates your legal acumen and dedication to your client’s cause. The final aim is to ensure that your preparation and courtroom strategies are both rigorous and adaptable, leveraging the full power of precedent to achieve favorable results.

Partner with CEB to Bring Your Trial Research to the Next Level

CEB’s commitment to enhancing courtroom practice is evident in its range of online services, including:

CEB Practitioner: CEB’s Practitioner Tool is a comprehensive online resource tailored to the needs of trial lawyers. It offers a vast array of case law, statutes, and practical guides across various legal fields. This tool streamlines research, enhances legal practice efficiency, and provides up-to-date information, making it invaluable for lawyers seeking quick and reliable legal insights. All Practitioner resources are written by California lawyers, for California lawyers. 

OnLAW Pro: CEB’s all-in-one legal research solution with authoritative practice guides, OnLAW Pro is written by California lawyers for California lawyers. All practice guides are fully integrated with CEB’s primary law research tool, allowing you to research California, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and U.S. Supreme Court case law, as well as California statutes and the California Constitution. OnLAW also comes with TrueCite®, CEB’s powerful case law citator. 

MCLE Solutions: CEB’s MCLE solutions , including CLE Passport and CEB’s CLE Compliance Package, provide a robust platform for trial lawyers seeking to fulfill their CLE requirements. These solutions offer a diverse range of courses, covering various legal topics and practice areas. Designed for convenience and flexibility, the programs are available online, allowing attorneys to access high-quality, accredited educational content anytime, anywhere. CEB’s MCLE Solutions are an ideal blend of practicality and expertise, ensuring legal professionals stay informed, compliant, and at the forefront of their field.

Sample Templates and Form : With over 50 billion filings made, CEB’s Sample Templates & Forms offer a seamless solution for creating, printing, and storing these critical legal documents. Subscribers benefit from early access to the latest form updates, ensuring compliance and preventing filing rejections due to outdated forms.Maximize the effectiveness of your courtroom practice by integrating CEB’s innovative legal tools into your practice. Visit our website to explore these resources and begin transforming your approach to legal challenges. Empower yourself with the expertise and tools needed to excel in the dynamic world of law. Stay informed, stay prepared, and stay ahead with CEB.

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How Do I: Do Legal Research?: Case Law

• Legal Citations
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• Citation of statutes
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• Articles and books
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Federal Courts

• Nexis Uni™ This link opens in a new window Lets you search for a federal case by legal citation, on a specific topic, by a particular judge, or during a certain period of time. more... less... Nexis Uni™ has an intuitive interface that offers quick discovery across all content types, personalization features such as Alerts and saved searches and a collaborative workspace with shared folders and annotated documents.
• Google Scholar Search published opinions of U.S. federal district, appellate, tax and bankruptcy court cases since 1923; and U.S. Supreme Court cases since 1791.
• US Supreme Court official site Text of U.S. Reports from 1991 (502 U.S. __) to the present, including opinions, orders, and other materials; opinions from 2009 to the present; briefs; and transcripts/audio of arguments.
• US Circuit Courts of Appeal Links to official websites for Circuit Courts.
• US District Courts Links to opinions from some, but not all, District Courts (West Virginia is not included right now), some back to April 2004.
• Legal Information Institute (LII) - Cornell University Provides no-cost access to U.S. Supreme Court opinions.
• Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) An electronic public access service that allows users to obtain case and docket information online from federal appellate, district, and bankruptcy courts, and the PACER Case Locator.

State Courts

• Nexis Uni™ This link opens in a new window Lets you search for a state case by legal citation, on a specific topic, by a particular judge, or during a certain period of time. more... less... Nexis Uni™ has an intuitive interface that offers quick discovery across all content types, personalization features such as Alerts and saved searches and a collaborative workspace with shared folders and annotated documents.
• Google Scholar Search published opinions of U.S state appellate and supreme court cases since 1950.
• National Center for State Courts - Sate Court Web Sites Judicial branch links for each state, focusing on the administrative office of the courts, the court of last resort, any intermediate appellate courts, and each trial court level.
• West Virginia Judiciary - official site Opinions from the Supreme Court of Appeals, and information on the state judicial system.

What is "case law"?

Case law--also called 'opinions' or 'decisions'--comes from the written resolution of the issues in dispute, and is written by a judge or judges. It is not a jury verdict. (Juries decide facts; judges decide law.) Cases come from courts: trial courts, intermediate appellate courts, and appellate court of last resort, often called the “Supreme Court.” There are also specialized federal courts (Bankruptcy, Tax, Military Appeals, etc.) On the state level reported, or published, opinions generally come from the appellate courts, not the trial courts. On the federal level, some trial court (District Court) cases are reported. But, in a jury trial, there is nothing to “report” except a verdict.

Just to complicate things, for various reasons not all opinions from federal district and appeals courts are "published" in the official reporters. They may still be available in LexisNexis, WestLaw, or West's Federal Appendix , but are not generally considered to have precedential value.

Courts in the United States adhere to stare decisis , which means that courts respect and usually follow the precedent of previous decisions. However, a court does not have to follow a decision that is not binding precedent. Generally courts will follow the decisions of higher courts in their jurisdiction. Therefore the effect of a court's decision on other courts will depend both on the level of the court and its jurisdiction. A decision by the United States Supreme Court is binding precedent in all courts.

For example, a decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit would not be binding on the United States Supreme Court or courts from another circuit. However, it would be binding in all lower courts of the 4th Circuit (Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia).

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Legal Research

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Case Law Resources

• Caselaw Access Project The Caselaw Access Project (CAP), maintained by the Harvard Law School Library Innovation Lab, includes "all official, book-published United States case law — every volume designated as an official report of decisions by a court within the United States...[including] 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 the publication of this guide, CAP "currently included all volumes published through 2020 with new data releases on a rolling basis at the beginning of each year."
• CourtListener Court Listener is a free and publicly accessible online platform that provides a collection of legal resources and court documents, including court opinions and case law from various jurisdictions in the United States. It includes PACER data (the RECAP Archive), opinions, or oral argument recordings.
• FindLaw Caselaw Summaries Archive FindLaw provides a database of case law from the U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal, as well as several state supreme courts. It includes U.S. Supreme Court Opinions, U.S. Federal Appellate Court Opinions and U.S. State Supreme, Appellate and Trial Court Opinions. Search for case summaries or by jurisdiction.
• FindLaw Jurisdiction Search FindLaw provides a database of case law from the U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal, as well as several state supreme courts. It includes U.S. Supreme Court Opinions, U.S. Federal Appellate Court Opinions and U.S. State Supreme, Appellate and Trial Court Opinions. Search for case summaries or by jurisdiction.
• Google Scholar for Case Law Google Scholar offers an extensive database of state and federal cases, including U.S. Supreme Court Opinions, U.S. Federal District, Appellate, Tax, and Bankruptcy Court Opinions, U.S. State Appellate and Supreme Court Opinions, Scholarly articles, papers, and reports. To get started, select the “case law” radio button, and choose your search terms.
• Justia Justia offers cases from the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal, and U.S. District Courts. Additionally, you may find links to many state supreme court and intermediate courts of appeal cases. Content includes U.S. Supreme Court Opinions, U.S. Federal Appellate & District Court Opinions, Selected U.S. Federal Appellate & District Court dockets and orders and U.S. State Supreme & Appellate Court Opinions.

An interdisciplinary, international, full-text database of over 18,000 sources including newspapers, journals, wire services, newsletters, company reports and SEC filings, case law, government documents, transcripts of broadcasts, and selected reference works.

• PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) PACER is a nationwide database for accessing federal court documents, including case dockets. It covers U.S. District Courts, Bankruptcy Courts, and the U.S. Court of Appeals. Users can search for and access federal case dockets and documents for a fee.
• Ravel Law Public Case Access "This new Public Case Access site was created as a result of a collaboration between the Harvard Law School Library and Ravel Law. The company supported the library in its work to digitize 40,000 printed volumes of cases, comprised of over forty million pages of court decisions, including original materials from cases that predate the U.S. Constitution."
• The RECAP Archive Part of CourtListener, RECAP provides access to millions of PACER documents and dockets.

State Courts

• State Court Websites This page provides a list of various state court system websites by state.
• Pennsylvania Judiciary Web Portal The Pennsylvania Judiciary Web Portal provides the public with access to various aspects of court information, including appellate courts, common pleas courts and magisterial district court docket sheets; common pleas courts and magisterial district court calendars; and PAePay.
• Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Opinions

US Supreme Court

• US Reports he opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States are published officially in the United States Reports.
• US Reports through HeinOnline
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How to Conduct Legal Research

September 21, 2021

Conducting legal research can challenge even the most skilled law practitioners.

As laws evolve across jurisdictions, it can be a difficult to keep pace with every legal development. Equally daunting is the ability to track and glean insights into stakeholder strategies and legal responses. Without quick and easy access to the right tools, the legal research upon which case strategy hinges may face cost, personnel, and litigation outcome challenges.

Bloomberg Law’s artificial intelligence-driven tools drastically reduce the time to perform legal research. Whether you seek quick answers to legal research definitions, or general guidance on the legal research process, Bloomberg Law’s Core Litigation Skills Toolkit has you covered.

What is legal research?

Legal research is the process of uncovering and understanding all of the legal precedents, laws, regulations, and other legal authorities that apply in a case and inform an attorney’s course of action.

Legal research often involves case law research, which is the practice of identifying and interpreting the most relevant cases concerning the topic at issue. Legal research can also involve a deep dive into a judge’s past rulings or opposing counsel’s record of success.

Research is not a process that has a finite start and end, but remains ongoing throughout every phase of a legal matter. It is a cornerstone of a litigator’s skills.

[Learn how our integrated, time-saving litigation research tools allow litigators to streamline their work and get answers quickly.]

Where do I begin my legal research?

Beginning your legal research will look different for each assignment. At the outset, ensure that you understand your goal by asking questions and taking careful notes. Ask about background case information, logistical issues such as filing deadlines, the client/matter number, and billing instructions.

It’s also important to consider how your legal research will be used. Is the research to be used for a pending motion? If you are helping with a motion for summary judgment, for example, your goal is to find cases that are in the same procedural posture as yours and come out favorably for your side (i.e., if your client is the one filing the motion, try to find cases where a motion for summary judgment was granted, not denied). Keep in mind the burden of proof for different kinds of motions.

Finally, but no less important, assess the key facts of the case. Who are the relevant parties? Where is the jurisdiction? Who is the judge? Note all case details that come to mind.

What if I’m new to the practice area or specific legal issue?

While conducting legal research, it is easy to go down rabbit holes. Resist the urge to start by reviewing individual cases, which may prove irrelevant. Start instead with secondary sources, which often provide a prevailing statement of the law for a specific topic. These sources will save time and orient you to the area of the law and key issues.

Litigation Practical Guidance provides the essentials including step-by-step guidance, expert legal analysis, and a preview of next steps. Source citations are included in all Practical Guidance, and you can filter Points of Law, Smart Code®, and court opinions searches to get the jurisdiction-specific cases or statutes you need.

Searching across Points of Law will help to get your bearings on an issue before diving into reading the cases in full. Points of Law uses machine learning to identify key legal principles expressed in court opinions, which are easily searchable by keyword and jurisdiction. This tool helps you quickly find other cases that have expressed the same Point of Law, and directs you to related Points of Law that might be relevant to your research. It is automatically updated with the most recent opinions, saving you time and helping you quickly drill down to the relevant cases.

How do I respond to the opposing side’s brief?

Whether a brief is yours or that of the opposing party, Bloomberg Law’s Brief Analyzer is an essential component in the legal research process. It reduces the time spent analyzing a brief, identifying relevant authorities, and preparing a solid response.

To start, navigate to Brief Analyzer available from the Bloomberg Law homepage, within the Litigation Intelligence Center , or from Docket Key search results for briefs.

Simply upload the opposing side’s brief into the tool, and Brief Analyzer will generate a report of the cited authorities and arguments contained in the brief.

You can easily view a comparison with the brief and analysis side by side. It will also point you directly to relevant cases, Points of Law, and Practical Guidance to jump start your research.

[ How to Write a Legal Brief – Learn how to shorten the legal research cycle and give your legal brief a competitive advantage.]

How to optimize your search.

Crafting searches is a critical skill when it comes to legal research. Although many legal research platforms, including Bloomberg Law, offer natural language searching, terms and connectors (also called Boolean) searching is still a vital legal research skill and should be used when searching across court opinions, dockets, Points of Law, and other primary and secondary sources.

When you conduct a natural language search, the search engine applies algorithms to rank your results. Why a certain case is ranked as it is may not be obvious. This makes it harder to interpret whether the search is giving you everything you need. It is also harder to efficiently and effectively manipulate your search terms to zero in on the results you want. Using Boolean searching gives you better control over your search and greater confidence in your results.

The good news? Bloomberg Law does not charge by the search for court opinion searches. If your initial search was much too broad or much too narrow, you do not have to worry about immediately running a new and improved search.

Follow these tips when beginning a search to ensure that you do not miss relevant materials:

• Make sure you do not have typos in your search string.
• Search the appropriate source or section of the research platform. It is possible to search only within a practice area, jurisdiction, secondary resource, or other grouping of materials.
• Make sure you know which terms and connectors are utilized by the platform you are working on and what they mean – there is no uniform standard set of terms of connectors utilized by all platforms.
• Include in your search all possible terms the court might use, or alternate ways the court may address an issue. It is best to group the alternatives together within a parenthetical, connected by OR between each term.
• Consider including single and multiple character wildcards when relevant. Using a single character wildcard (an asterisk) and/or a multiple character wildcard (an exclamation point) helps you capture all word variations – even those you might not have envisioned.
• Try using a tool that helps you find additional relevant case law. When you find relevant authority, use BCITE on Bloomberg Law to find all other cases and/or sources that cite back to that case. When in BCITE, click on the Citing Documents tab, and search by keyword to narrow the results. Alternatively, you can use the court’s language or ruling to search Points of Law and find other cases that addressed the same issue or reached the same ruling.

[Bloomberg Law subscribers can access a complete checklist of search term best practices . Not a subscriber? Request a Demo .]

How can legal research help with drafting or strategy?

Before drafting a motion or brief, search for examples of what firm lawyers filed with the court in similar cases. You can likely find recent examples in your firm’s internal document system or search Bloomberg Law’s dockets. If possible, look for things filed before the same judge so you can get a quick check on rules/procedures to be followed (and by the same partner when possible so you can get an idea of their style preferences).

Careful docket search provides a wealth of information about relevant cases, jurisdictions, judges, and opposing counsel. On Bloomberg Law, type “Dockets Search” in the Go bar or find the dockets search box in the Litigation Intelligence Center .

If you do not know the specific docket number and/or court, use the docket search functionality Docket Key . Select from any of 20 categories, including motions, briefs, and orders, across all 94 federal district courts, to pinpoint the exact filing of choice.

Dockets can also help you access lots of information to guide your case strategy. For example, if you are considering filing a particular type of motion, such as a sanctions motion, you can use dockets to help determine how frequently your judge grants sanctions motions. You can also use dockets to see how similar cases before your judge proceeded through discovery.

If you are researching expert witnesses, you can use dockets to help determine if the expert has been recently excluded from a case, or whether their opinion has been limited. If so, this will help you determine whether the expert is a good fit for your case.

Dockets are a powerful research tool that allow you to search across filings to support your argument. Stay apprised of docket updates with the “Create Alert” option on Bloomberg Law.

Dive deeper into competitive research.

For even more competitive research insights, dive into Bloomberg Law’s Litigation Analytics – this is available in the Litigation tab on the homepage. Data here helps attorneys develop litigation strategy, predict possible outcomes, and better advise clients.

To start, under Litigation Analytics , leverage the Attorney tab to view case history and preview legal strategies the opposition may practice against you. Also, within Litigation Analytics, use the Court tab to get aggregate motion and appeal outcome rates across all federal courts, with the option to run comparisons across jurisdictions, and filter by company, law firm, and attorney.

Use the Judge tab to glean insights from cited opinions, and past and current decisions by motion and appeal outcomes. Also view litigation analytics in the right rail of court opinions.

Docket search can also offer intel on your opponent. Has your opponent filed similar lawsuits or made similar arguments before? How did those cases pan out? You can learn a lot about an opponent from past appearances in court.

How do I validate case law citations?

Checking the status of case law is essential in legal research. Rely on Bloomberg Law’s proprietary citator, BCITE. This time-saving tool lets you know if a case is still good law.

Under each court opinion, simply look to the right rail. There, you will see a thumbnail icon for “BCITE Analysis.” Click on the icon, and you will be provided quick links to direct history (opinions that affect or are affected by the outcome of the case at issue); case analysis (citing cases, with filter and search options), table of authorities, and citing documents.

How should I use technology to improve my legal research?

A significant benefit of digital research platforms and analytics is increased efficiency. Modern legal research technology helps attorneys sift through thousands of cases quickly and comprehensively. These products can also help aggregate or summarize data in a way that is more useful and make associations instantaneously.

For example, before litigation analytics were common, a partner may have asked a junior associate to find all summary judgment motions ruled on by a specific judge to determine how often that judge grants or denies them. The attorney could have done so by manually searching over PACER and/or by searching through court opinions, but that would take a long time. Now, Litigation Analytics can aggregate that data and provide an answer in seconds. Understanding that such products exist can be a game changer. Automating parts of the research process frees up time and effort for other activities that benefit the client and makes legal research and writing more efficient.

[Read our article: Six ways legal technology aids your litigation workflow .]

Tools like  Points of Law ,  dockets  and  Brief Analyzer  can also increase efficiency, especially when narrowing your research to confirm that you found everything on point. In the past, attorneys had to spend many hours (and lots of money) running multiple court opinion searches to ensure they did not miss a case on point. Now, there are tools that can dramatically speed up that process. For example, running a search over Points of Law can immediately direct you to other cases that discuss that same legal principle.

However, it’s important to remember that digital research and analytical tools should be seen as enhancing the legal research experience, not displacing the review, analysis, and judgment of an attorney. An attorney uses his or her knowledge of their client, the facts, the precedent, expert opinions, and his or her own experiences to predict the likely result in a given matter. Digital research products enhance this process by providing more data on a wider array of variables so that an attorney can take even more information into consideration.

[Get all your questions answered, request a Bloomberg Law demo , and more.]

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Basic Legal Research Guide: Case Law

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Accessing Cases in Print

Please note that the Law Library is no longer updating any state law reporters in print. The Law Library is retaining reporters from states besides Illinois on the 5th floor of the Library. Regional reporters and digests are located from call numbers KF 35 .A7 ( Atlantic Reporter ) through KF 135.S8 ( Southern Reporter ); state reporters and digests (if we own them) can be found with the non-Illinois state law materials (call numbers KFA through KFW ). See the map below for the location of the regional reporters and digests and state reporters in relation to the stairwell.

Federal case law reporters and the Federal Practice Digest are still being updated in print; all sets can be found on the 4th floor of the Law Library. See the map below for their location in relation to the stairwell.

About the National Reporter System

Cases are published in chronological order based on the date they were decided, and not by subject. Unfortunately, however, the research projects you receive usually will be asking you to research a legal issue (i.e., a subject). Therefore, you need an index to the reporter system. This is where the West American Digest System  and the  Topic and Key Number system come in handy. West publishes unofficial reporters as part of its National Reporter System  with the goal of including every reported case from every jurisdiction. For state cases, West publishes seven regional reporters, which each include cases from several states. West publishes a map that shows which states are covered in each regional reporter. Note that these do not always make geographic sense; for instance, Oklahoma and Kansas are listed as "Pacific" states.

About the West Key Number System

• Searching with Key Numbers in Westlaw Edge - Quick Reference Guide

Cases are published in chronological order based on the date they were decided and not by subject. However, the research projects you receive usually will be asking you to research a legal issue (i.e., a subject). Therefore, you need an index to the reporter system. The West Key Number System  provides an indexing function for all published cases, enabling a researcher to locate cases by subject from any court in any jurisdiction. The system also acts as an abstracting service, providing researchers with short summaries of the points of law discussed in the indexed opinions. 

The Key Number System subdivides the law into over 450 broad legal  Topics , which are then further subdivided into Key Numbers , which are assigned to specific legal issues within the broader Topics. Topics and Key Numbers are consistent throughout West's System; the same subject arrangement is applied to all cases from every jurisdiction, so that if you find a case from one jurisdiction that discusses a legal issue you are researching, you can use the Topic and Key Number for that issue to find other cases from other jurisdictions that discuss the same issue. The "Searching with Key Numbers" guide (above) provides more detail.

West employs attorneys who read each case, identify the point(s) of law discussed, summarize the point(s) of law in a headnote (a paragraph summary of the point of law) using consistent legal terminology. At least one Topic and Key Number are assigned to each headnote. These headnotes will appear in a West  digest under the appropriate Topic and Key Number and at the beginning of each case as it appears in a West reporter. 

Therefore, headnotes act as the bridge between the Key Number System and cases: you can use the headnotes from a case you've identified and look for similar cases on the same topic. Alternatively, you can start with the Key Number System, look up your subject by Topic and Key Number, and then find cases by reviewing the language of the headnotes you find.

About Cases

Cases are opinions written by judges that resolve disputed legal issues (as opposed to disputed factual issues ). Researching cases is important because of the doctrine of stare decisis  or precedent . Under the principle of stare decisis , courts are bound to follow the rulings of law from previously decided cases in the same jurisdiction when facing similar cases currently before the court. For the legal researcher, reviewing cases from a court will help determine how the court will rule if given a similar factual situation. In the U.S. system, the only published cases you will find are from intermediate appellate courts and supreme courts. Most trial court decisions are not published.

Cases are published in chronological order in reporters . There are two different categories of reporters that you need to know:  official reporters , which are usually published by a government entity, and unofficial reporters , which are published commercially (usually by either West or Lexis). 

To find a case in a reporter, you will need to know its citation . A case citation includes the name of the case, the volume number of the reporter containing the case, the abbreviation for the reporter, the first page of the case, and the year of the decision. For example:

P.G.A. v. Martin , 532 U.S. 661 (2001).

To find the text of this case in print, you would go to volume 532 of the United States Reports (the official reporter of the U.S. Supreme Court) , then page 661. The U.S. Supreme Court decided the case in the year 2001. To find it online, you would search by the citation.

You will often see multiple citations to the same case when the case is reported in multiple reporters (called  parallel citations ).  Table T.1  of  The Bluebook  lists the reporters (both official and unofficial) for every jurisdiction in the United States. For example, the P.G.A. v. Martin  case below is reported in three reporters in the following order: the United States Reports (the official reporter of the U.S. Supreme Court),  the  Supreme Court Reporter   (West's unofficial reporter), and the  Lawyers' Edition   (Lexis's unofficial reporter).  

P.G.A. v. Martin , 532 U.S. 661, 121 S.Ct. 1879, 149 L. Ed. 2d 904 (2001).

How to Read a Case

At the top of the reporter page (see below), you will see the citation to the case, including any parallel citations (citations to the same case in other reporters). Then you will see a short summary of the case (the syllabus ), which includes an indication of how it got to the court that has issued the opinion, and the holding(s) on the point(s) of law. After the syllabus, you will see the headnotes discussing the point(s) of law in the case in the order in which they appear in the opinion, as well as the Topics and Key Numbers that can be used to find other cases on the same legal issue(s). Next is the actual text of the opinion.

One important note: The headnotes and summary are NOT written by the court; they are written by West editors. Therefore, you should never cite to a case based on what you've read in the syllabus and headnotes; you must read the case and cite to the language written by the court.

For additional insights, Prof. Orin Kerr's article " How to Read a Legal Opinion: a Guide for New Law Students " explains what judicial opinions are, how they are structured, and what to look for when reading them.

Using Citators

Citators  perform three functions for legal researchers. A citator will tell you if the case you've found is still "good law," or if subsequent decisions have weakened its authority or overruled it altogether. A citator can also provide citations to other cases and secondary sources that discuss the same legal issue as in the case you've found. Finally, a citator can provide you with case history (references to other proceedings in the same case).

Each subscription research service has its own citator. In Lexis, the citator is called Shepard's . Westlaw's citator is called KeyCite . Bloomberg Law's citator is called BCite . The following presentations will show you how each citator works. Westlaw also has a "Quick Reference Guide" (PDF) for using KeyCite (see below).

If you have access to multiple citators, it's a good idea to check your case in each citator, because citator results will often include different cases, different secondary sources, and different interpretations of subsequent cases that have cited to your case.

Lawyer's Nightmare: DOL Blames Westlaw for Skimpy Brief - this Law360 article demonstrates the hazards of relying on the results of just one research platform/citator.

Below are vendor-produced materials on citators: a PDF Guide to using KeyCite in Westlaw, and video tutorials on using Shepard's in Lexis and BCite in Bloomberg Law.

• Checking Cases in KeyCite - Quick Reference Guide

BCite from Bloomberg Law - Law School Team on Vimeo .

Subject Guide

CALI LibTour - West's Digests

As part of its LibTour podcast series, CALI created this brief introduction to the West American Digest System . Follow the link below to the podcast.

• CALI LibTour Podcast - West's Digests

How to Cite Cases - Examples

Rule B10 (Bluepages) of The Bluebook (21st edition) covers how to cite cases in non-academic legal documents.  The Bluebook , however, notes that practitioners should be aware of local court rules and specifies on p. 3,"Make sure to abide by any citation requirements of the court to which you are submitting your documents."  Table BT2 of the Bluepages contains an index of jurisdiction-specific citation rules. See the " Illinois Resources " tab of this guide for specific information on citing cases, statutes, and regulations in Illinois court documents.

There are many variables involved in citing cases, so you will probably have to check one of the sub-parts of a rule to determine how to cite your particular case. The following example is the first one included in rule B10 (rule B10.1) (Bluepages) (see p. 11)

Engel v. Vitale , 370 U.S. 421, 430 (1962) ("The Establishment Clause, unlike the Free Exercise Clause, does not depend upon any showing of direct governmental compulsion . . . .").

The components of the citation are, in order: the name of the case; the published or unpublished source in which the case can be found; a parenthetical indicating the court and year of decision; other parenthetical information, if any; the case's subsequent history, if any. For the case name, omit all parties other than the first party listed on each side of the "v." per rule B10.1.1 (Bluepages) . In the above citation, note that the first page of the case is listed, as well as the specific page referred to (pinpoint citation) per rule B10.1.2 (Bluepages) . Per rule B10.1.3 (Bluepages) , when citing decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court, or a state's highest court, do not include the name of the deciding court, as in the above example.

Table T6  (p. 304) lists abbreviations for case names and institutional authors in citations.

This example for a federal appellate court case is listed in rule B10.1.3 (Bluepages) (see p. 13):

Envtl. Def. Fund v. EPA , 465 F.2d 528, 533 (D.C. Cir. 1972).

The Bluebook  notes that the Bluepages retain the tradition of underlining certain text, although italics are equivalent (see p. 6).

Rule 10 (Whitepages) (see p. 95) contains the rules for citing cases in academic works. Some examples The Bluebook provides are:

Meritor Sav. Bank v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57, 60 (1986).

In this example, the case was published in volume 477 of the U.S. Reports (the official reporter of the U.S. Supreme  Court). The case starts on p. 57, but the cited information appears on p. 60. The case was decided in 1986.

Ward v. Reddy, 727 F. Supp. 1407, 1412 (D. Mass 1990). 

In this example, the case was published in volume 727 of the Federal Supplement (a West reporter that contains selected decisions of the U.S. District Courts). The case starts on p. 1407, and the cited information appears on p. 1412. The case was decided by the District Court of Massachusetts in 1990. 

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What is Case Law?

Case law is defined as  reported decisions of appeals courts and other courts which make new interpretations of the law and, therefore, can be cited as precedents. Case law is law established by judicial decisions instead of by legislative action. 

Publication of Case Law

Not all case law is published.  Generally, appellate court decisions that will be used as future precedent are published (reported) in sources (case reporters) specific to that court.  Attorneys use published case law as a means to interpret the law.  For these reasons, few trial court decisions are published in case reporters.

US Federal Courts

• Westlaw Campus Legal research tool designed specifically for students outside of law school. Compiles cases from state and federal courts, statutes, federal regulations, legal briefs, and select secondary sources.
• Google Scholar Search published opinions of U.S. federal district, appellate, tax and bankruptcy court cases since 1923; and U.S. Supreme Court cases since 1791.
• Supreme Court of the United States The official website of the U.S. Supreme Court. Search for U.S. reports from 1991 to the present, including opinions (available from 2009 to present), orders, briefs, and transcripts/audio of arguments.
• United States Courts Opinions Links to opinions from some, but not all, District Courts.
• Legal Information Institute (LII) The LII publishes electronic versions of core materials in numerous areas of the law, both on the web and in other electronic products.

Florida and other State Courts

• LexisNexis Academic Lets you search for a state case by legal citation, on a specific topic, by a particular judge, or during a certain period of time.
• Google Scholar Search published opinions of U.S state appellate and supreme court cases since 1950.
• National Center for State Courts (NCSC) Judicial branch links for each state, focusing on the administrative office of the courts, the court of last resort, any intermediate appellate courts, and each trial court level.
• Florida Courts Opinions from the Supreme Court of Florida, District Courts of Appeal and and information on the state judicial system.
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Case law is law that is based on judicial decisions rather than law based on constitutions , statutes , or regulations . Case law concerns unique disputes resolved by courts using the concrete facts of a case. By contrast, statutes and regulations are written abstractly.

Case law, also used interchangeably with common law , refers to the collection of precedents and authority set by previous judicial decisions on a particular issue or topic. In that sense, case law differs from one jurisdiction to another. For example, a case in New York would not be decided using case law from California. Instead, New York courts will analyze the issue relying on binding precedent .  If no previous decisions on the issue exist, New York courts might look at precedents from a different jurisdiction, that would be persuasive authority rather than binding authority. Other factors such as how old the decision is and the closeness to the facts will affect the authority of a specific case in common law.

Federalism also plays a major role in determining the authority of case law in a particular court. Indeed, each circuit has its own set of binding case law. As a result, a judgment rendered in the Ninth Circuit will not be binding in the Second Circuit but will have persuasive authority. However, decisions rendered by the Supreme Court of the United States are binding on all federal courts, and on state courts regarding issues of the Constitution and federal law.

[Last updated in May of 2020 by the Wex Definitions Team ]

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The term case law refers to law that comes from decisions made by judges in previous cases. Case law, also known as “ common law ,” and “case precedent ,” provides a common contextual background for certain legal concepts, and how they are applied in certain types of case. How much sway case law holds may vary by jurisdiction , and by the exact circumstances of the current case.  To explore this concept, consider the following case law definition.

Definition of Case Law

• The law as established in previous court rulings; like common law, which springs from judicial decisions and tradition.

1860-1865       English common law

What is Case Law

Statutory laws are those created by legislative bodies, such as Congress at both the federal and state levels. While this type of law strives to shape our society, providing rules and guidelines, it would be impossible for any legislative body to anticipate all situations and legal issues. The court system is then tasked with interpreting the law when it is unclear how it applies to any given situation, often rendering judgments based on the intent of lawmakers and the circumstances of the case at hand. Such decisions become a guide for future similar cases.

In order to preserve a uniform enforcement of the laws, the legal system adheres to the doctrine of stare decisis , which is Latin for “stand by decided matters.”  This means that a court will be bound to rule in accordance with a previously made ruling on the same type of case. Precedent, or case law, is binding on courts of the same level or lower, and applies only if there is no legislative statute created, or higher court ruling, that overrules it.

Example of Case Law Application

Stacy, a tenant in a duplex owned by Martin, filed a civil lawsuit against her landlord, claiming he had not given her enough notice before raising her rent, citing a new state law that requires a minimum of 90 days’ notice. Martin argues that the new law applies only to landlords of large multi-tenant properties. When the state court hearing the case reviews the law, he finds that, while it mentions large multi-tenant properties in some context, it is actually quite vague about whether the 90-day provision applies to all landlords. The judge , based on the specific circumstances of Stacy’s case, decides that all landlords are held to the 90-day notice requirement, and rules in Stacy’s favor.

A year later, Frank and Adel have a similar problem. When they sue their landlord, the court must use the previous court’s decision in applying the law. This example of case law refers to two cases heard in the state court, at the same level. The ruling of the first court created case law that must be followed by other courts until or unless either new law is created, or a higher court rules differently.

Case Law by Jurisdiction

Case law is specific to the jurisdiction in which it was rendered. For instance, a ruling in a California appellate court would not usually be used in deciding a case in Oklahoma. While there is no prohibition against referring to case law from a state other than the state in which the case is being heard, it holds little sway. Still, if there is no precedent in the home state, relevant case law from another state may be considered by the court.

Rulings made by federal appellate courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court, however, are binding on state courts. Such rulings become “binding precedent,” which must be adhered to by lower courts in future similar cases. Rulings by courts of “lateral jurisdiction” are not binding, but may be used as persuasive authority, which is to give substance to the party’s argument, or to guide the present court.

Case Law Search

Just a few years ago, searching for case precedent was a difficult and time consuming task, requiring people to search through print copies of case law, or to pay for access to commercial online databases. Today, the internet has opened up a host of case law search possibilities, and many sources offer free access to case law. Doing a case law search may be as easy as entering specific keywords or citation into a search engine. There are, however, certain websites that facilitate case law searches, including:

• Google Scholar – a vast database of state and federal case law, which is searchable by keyword, phrase, or citations. Google Scholar also allows searchers to specify which level of court cases to search, from federal, to specific states.
• Justia – a comprehensive resource for federal and state statutory laws , as well as case law at both the federal and state levels.
• Public Library of Law – offers access to cases from the U.S. Supreme court since 1754, the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal since 1951, and from each state since 1997. In addition to allowing users to search by keyword, court, and case, the website provides tutorials on “ Finding a Case ,” and “ Searching Statutes .”

In addition, the Law Library of Congress offers a great deal of information on statutes, case law, and other legal issues. This includes a Guide to Law Online .

Dissecting Case Law Citations

Finding a relevant case law ruling, and inserting a reference to that case into a current legal pleading , is not enough to direct the court to the specific issue. In many instances, court rulings in the U.S. deal with multiple issues, and include drawn-out descriptions of how the court, especially an appellate or supreme court, came to its conclusion. Because of this, simply citing the case is more likely to annoy a judge than help the party’s case. Think of it as calling someone to tell them you’ve found their lost phone, then telling them you live in such-and-such neighborhood, without actually giving them an address. Driving around the neighborhood trying to find their phone is likely to be more frustrating than it’s worth.

For legal professionals, there are specific rules regarding case citation, which vary depending on the court and jurisdiction hearing the case. Proper case law citation in a state court may not be appropriate, or even accepted, at the U.S. Supreme Court. Generally speaking, proper case citation includes the names of the parties to the original case, the court in which the case was heard, the date it was decided, and the book in which it is recorded. Different citation requirements may include italicized or underlined text, and certain specific abbreviations.

In the United States, people are not required to hire an attorney to represent them in either civil or criminal matters. Laypeople navigating the legal system on their own can remember one rule of thumb when it comes to referring to case law or precedent in court documents: be as specific as possible, leading the court, not only to the case, but to the section and paragraph containing the pertinent information. The Cornell Law School website offers a variety of information on legal topics, including citation of case law, and even provides a video tutorial on case citation .

Case Law Example in Civil Lawsuit Against Child Services

In 1996, the Nevada Division of Child and Family Services (“DCFS”) removed a 12-year old boy from his home to protect him from the horrible physical and sexual abuse he had suffered in his home, and to prevent him from abusing other children in the home. The boy was placed in an emergency foster home, and was later shifted around within the foster care system. The DCFS social worker in charge of the boy’s case had the boy made a ward of DCFS, and in her 6-month report to the court, the worker elaborated on the boy’s sexual abuse history, and stated that she planned to move him from a facility into a “more homelike setting.” The court approved her plan.

In 1997, the boy was placed into the home of John and Jane Roe as a foster child. Although the couple had two young children of their own at home, the social worker did not tell them about the boy’s history of both being abused, and abusing other children. When she made her report to the court the following day, the worker reported the boy’s placement in the Roe’s home, but didn’t mention that the couple had young children. She did note that the boy still needed extensive therapy in order to cope with his abusive past, and “to reach the point of being safe with other children.” The boy was receiving counseling with a DCFS therapist. Again, the court approved of the actions.

The Roes accompanied the boy to his therapy sessions. When they were told of the boy’s past, they asked if their children were safe with him in their home. The therapist assured them that they had nothing to worry about. Unfortunately, that was not true. Just two months after being placed with the Roe family, the Roe’s son told his parents that the boy had molested him. The boy was arrested two days later, and admitted to having sexually molested the couple’s son several times.

On June 16, 1999, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of the boy by a guardian ad litem , against DCFS, the social worker, and the therapist. A similar lawsuit was also filed on behalf of the Roe’s victimized son by a different guardian ad litem. The defendants petitioned the trial court for a dismissal based on absolute immunity , as they were all acting in their jobs with DCFS. If granted absolute immunity, the parties would not only be protected from liability in the matter, but could not be answerable in any way for their actions. When the court delayed making such a ruling, the defendants took their request to the appellate court.

In determining whether employees of DCFS are entitled to absolute immunity, which is generally held by certain government officials acting within the scope of their employment, the appellate court referred to case law previously rendered on similar cases. The appellate court determined that the trial court had not erred in its decision to allow more time for information to be gathered by the parties – specifically regarding the issue of absolute immunity.

Related Legal Terms and Issues

• Binding Precedent – A rule or principle established by a court, which other courts are obligated to follow.
• Lateral Jurisdiction – A court at the same level.
• Persuasive Authority – Prior court rulings that may be consulted in deciding a current case. It may be used to guide the court, but is not binding precedent.

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Finding Case Law

Topics on this page.

• What is case law?

Court Systems and Hierarchy

Where can i find case law.

• Finding case law by subject
• Can I rely on case law?

What is Case Law?

Case Law is made by judges. Case law is made up of the published opinions of a court on a particular case.  Opinions are written explanations of why the judges decided the case the way they did. Judges write opinions after hearing a case. Judges in the appellate courts (not trial courts) make case law.

Precedent  is a legal principle or rule that was established in an opinion that a lower court must follow. Along with relevant statutes and regulations, courts rely on past case law as precedent for how they will make decisions in present and future cases. Not all case law, however, is used as precedent. A court does not have to rely on past case law to make a decision if any of the following conditions are met:

• The facts of the cases differ.
• The decision in the previous case was from a court in a different jurisdiction.
• The decision in the previous case came from a lower court.
• There is a compelling public policy reason for not following the previous decision.

An appeal is where the court hears arguments on a case after it has gone through a lower court. A case is usually appealed when the party believes a mistake was made at the trial court level.

Case law research can be complex. Reach out to a public law library for assistance. The librarian cannot conduct the research for you, but can walk you through the research process.

Before you search for case law, you need to know about the court system for that jurisdiction, including the hierarchy of the various courts within that system. Court hierarchy determines which courts can overturn the decisions of other courts and which courts must follow another court's interpretation of the law. Trial courts are courts where cases must generally begin and the lowest courts in a court hierarchy.  Appellate courts  hear appeals from lower courts.

Maryland Court System

• The  Supreme Court of Maryland  (formerly the Court of Appeals) is the highest court.
• Below the Supreme Court, the  Appellate Court of Maryland  (formerly the Court of Special Appeals) is the mid-level appellate court.
• The Maryland District and Circuit Courts, are trial courts, the lowest courts in Maryland’s court hierarchy.

The court hierarchy means that if a higher Maryland court disagrees with a lower Maryland court about the meaning of Maryland law, the higher court’s interpretation is used. For example, the Appellate Court issued an opinion interpreting Section 8-213 of the Maryland Code, Real Property. A judge on the Circuit Court was later trying to interpret the same statute. The judge on the Circuit Court must follow the interpretation of the Appellate Court. On the other hand, the Supreme Court might decide that the Appellate Court interpreted the statute incorrectly. When this happens, all lower Maryland courts looking at the same statute must follow the same interpretation of the law used by Supreme Court.

Federal.  The federal legal system has its own system of courts that is completely separate from the state court systems.

• The  United States Supreme Court  is the highest court in the federal system.
• The  Circuit Courts of Appeals  are the intermediate appellate courts. There are 13 Circuit Courts. The jurisdiction of each Circuit Court can contain several states.
• The United States District Courts  are the trial courts. Each state has at least one U.S. District Court. Larger states may have two or more.

All U.S. Circuit and District Courts must follow the U.S. Supreme Court’s interpretations of federal law. All of the U.S. District Courts within a given circuit must also follow that circuit’s U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' interpretation of the law.

Case law is published in periodicals called reporters . All federal and state court systems publish opinions in some form of reporter. A reporter publishes opinions from a limited geographical area or government unit.

Maryland Case Law.  The Supreme Court (formerly the Court of Appeals) and the Appellate Court (formerly the Court of Special Appeals) decide which opinions are published. Published opinions include only about 15% of cases decided by the Appellate Court. Opinions from the trial courts are NOT published. Most public law libraries have print copies of reporters.

• Maryland Reports  – This reporter publishes opinions issued by the Supreme Court of Maryland. In case law citations, the abbreviation is “Md.”
• Maryland Appellate Reports   – This reporter publishes opinions issued by the Appellate Court of Maryland. In case law citations, the abbreviation is “Md. App.”
• Atlantic Reporter  and  Atlantic Reporter Second Series  – The Atlantic Reporter publishes opinions from the appellate courts of many states, including Maryland. The same Maryland court opinions that appear in Maryland Reports and Maryland Appellate Reports also appear in Atlantic Reporter. Look up a Supreme Court of Maryland case in either the Atlantic Reporter or the Maryland Reports .

Unreported Opinions are court opinions that are not published. If you are reviewing an unreported opinion, be aware that there are rules about whether you can rely on that opinion. In Maryland, an unreported opinion of the Supreme Court of Maryland or the Appellate Court of Maryland is not precedent or persuasive authority.

Read the rule: Md. Rule 1-104

Finding Maryland Case Law with a Citation.  A citation is a reference to a legal authority (e.g., statutes, regulations, cases). A citation to a Maryland case published in Maryland Appellate Reports might look like this:  Kimmel v. Safeco Insurance Co. , 116 Md. App. 346 (1997).

• The first part, Kimmel v. Safeco Insurance Co. is the case title .  The title is usually made up of the names of the parties to the case [ Kimmel v. Safeco Insurance Co . , 116 Md. App. 346 (1997)].
• 116 is the volume number [ Kimmel v. Safeco Insurance Co. , 116 Md. App. 346 (1997)].
• Md. App. is the abbreviation of the reporter [ Kimmel v. Safeco Insurance Co. , 116 Md. App. 346 (1997)].
• 346 is the page number [ Kimmel v. Safeco Insurance Co. , 116 Md. App. 346 (1997)].
• 1997 is the year of the decision [ Kimmel v. Safeco Insurance Co. , 116 Md. App. 346 ( 1997 )].

If you are looking for this citation in the print volumes of the  Maryland Appellate Reports,  first locate the volume with 116 on its spine. Then open up the book to page 346. The opinion will start on that page.

Finding Maryland Case Law Online.  The availability of free Maryland case law online is limited. The Thurgood Marshall State Law Library has a research guide on Maryland Case Law Sources , which includes information about the appellate court opinions available on the Maryland Judiciary website.

Google Scholar  is an online option. Google Scholar has Maryland appellate opinions from the 1950s to the present as well as federal cases. Learn more about how to conduct case law research using Google Scholar . Your local public law library may provide access to paid, subscription databases that include features that check whether a case is still good law. A reference librarian can show you how to use these databases.

There are paid legal research databases, such as Westlaw, Lexis, and Bloomberg BNA, that you can use for case law research. However, the subscription costs are usually too expensive for individual researchers. Many public law libraries in Maryland will provide free, in-person access to these databases. The reference librarian can also show you how to use the database. If you are planning on conducting extensive case law research, contact your local, public law library.

Federal Case Law.  All U.S. Supreme Court opinions are published in reporters. For federal Courts of Appeals, approximately 50% of cases are reported. For federal district courts, approximately 10% of cases are reported. Learn more about finding federal case law and decisions from the Library of Congress website.  The Library of Congress also has a research guide with additional resources to find federal case law online , including Google Scholar.

Citators and checking for Updates . Remember, no matter how old they are, cases remain binding law until they are overruled by other cases or until the law is changed by statute or regulation. This means you can’t rely on free Maryland case law databases or print volumes of the reporters for a complete search. You have to check to make sure the opinion that you're reading remains "good law." If the opinion has been superseded, the it is no longer good law. Superseded means that the case law has been overruled by a higher court or by a new regulation or statute. For example, you may be reading a case from 2019 that is no longer good law because the legislature passed a statute in 2020 that overrules the court's interpretation of the law.

To check whether an opinion has been superseded, you will need to use a citator. A citator is a print or online service that lists cases that have cited your case since it was decided. The most popular citator service is  Shepard's Citations , which is available in print and on the web. Print versions of citators can be challenging to use. A citator available through a paid, legal database is usually easier to use. Many, but not all, public law libraries have subscriptions to online citators. To learn about access and how to check if an opinion is still good law, contact your  local public law library .

Finding Case Law Using Google Scholar from the Library of Congress

Finding Case Law by Subject

Below is information about 4 different ways to find case law based on the subject.

Secondary sources - read articles, books, treatises, etc., about the topic.  These resources often include references to relevant case law.

• This is generally the best place to start your research.
• Look for articles or books by reputable authors who are attorneys or judges.
• Read the book and/or article carefully.
• Usually, the articles will discuss one or more cases and explain the patterns of the law applied to the cases.
• The closer that the facts in a case match your situation, the more likely the case will be helpful to you.
• The benefit of using an article/book to start your case research is that the author presumably has done some analysis and research on the topic.
• Be careful with the date of the article. You can assume that the author last did his/her research at least a month or two before the publication date. No cases since that day will be included, meaning, any cases that have been heard since the article was written which changed the law will not be reflected in the article.
• Some of the articles on the Peoples Law Library identify relevant cases. Law libraries have books and encyclopedias that talk about many other areas of law not covered here.

Look at the "annotated" version of the law.  This is a good place to start if you already know the relevant statute. An  annotated code  is a version of the code that include annotations, which is information added by the editors. Annotations can include summaries of cases (i.e., case law), articles, and other sources that discuss that specific statute. Learn more about finding statutes.

Use a case digest.  A digest is basically a subject index to case law that also gives you summaries of the cases indexed. There are different case digests for different legal jurisdictions. For example, search the  Maryland Digest  to find Maryland case law. If you want to find federal case law, search the  Federal Practice Digest . Most public law libraries will have these digests in print as well as through subscription legal research databases.

Search by subject in a database.  There are free, online databases, such as Google Scholar, as well as paid, legal research databases, which are discussed above.

How to Research the Law: Diving In from the Maryland Courts

Can I Rely on Case Law?

It depends. Case law represents a particular decision based on a specific set of facts and circumstances. If you are looking to apply case law to your particular legal situation, keep this in mind. It is unlikely that your case will be exactly like any other. To get the most out of case law remember the following:

• Use case law where the facts are very similar to your legal situation.
• Use case law from the jurisdiction where your case will be heard. For example, if you are going to a Maryland District Court, case law from Maryland's higher courts, such as the Court of Appeals, or the Court of Special Appeals, would be helpful. There is a chart of how the Maryland courts are organized in the Maryland Manual.
• Make sure the case law has not been superseded.

Is this legal advice?

This site offers legal information, not legal advice.  We make every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information and to clearly explain your options.  However we do not provide legal advice - the application of the law to your individual circumstances. For legal advice, you should consult an attorney.  The Maryland Thurgood Marshall State Law Library, a court-related agency of the Maryland Judiciary, sponsors this site.  In the absence of file-specific attribution or copyright, the Maryland Thurgood Marshall State Law Library may hold the copyright to parts of this website. You are free to copy the information for your own use or for other non-commercial purposes with the following language “Source: Maryland's People’s Law Library – www.peoples-law.org . © Maryland Thurgood Marshall State Law Library, 2024.”

Introduction to Legal Research: Updating Case Law

• Home: Introduction to Legal Research
• How to Start
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• Regulations

Updating Case Law

• Getting Help

Once you have identified useful cases, it is important to update the cases before you rely on them. Updating case law means checking to see if it is still "good law", meaning it has not been expressly reversed, overruled, or otherwise impacted by subsequent authorities. If you have access to a law library , you can update cases using a citator. Otherwise, Google Scholar can help you accomplish this task:

• Find a case in Google Scholar . Remember to select the "Case law" option under the search bar when searching for cases.

• Selecting "Cited by" allows you to see all the cases that cite your case. You now need to look through these to determine whether any of them reverse or overrule the decision in your original case or otherwise suggest that your case is no longer good law.

• << Previous: Regulations
• Next: Getting Help >>
• Last Updated: Jan 12, 2024 12:19 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.cornell.edu/legalresearchintro

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Home » Blogs, News, Advice » Legal Education » Legal Research Techniques for Finding Relevant Case Law

Legal Research Techniques for Finding Relevant Case Law

• Aug 8, 2023
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Legal research is a systematic finding or ascertainment of law on an identified topic or in a given area. Additionally, it is a legal inquiry into the existing scholarship to advance the science of law.

Case law research and analysis is a prerequisite in the process of legal research. The method of acquiring this skill starts as soon as one embarks upon the journey of learning, studying, exploring and most importantly applying the law in a practical scenario.

Reading a case law, comprehending the rationale behind the decision and relating it to the present case to build a compelling and coherent argument is a skill every lawyer not only aspires to acquire. In order to become proficient and accomplished in their chosen profession, every lawyer must be skilled in finding relevant case laws through different means. One can learn several legal research techniques to find relevant case laws in legal databases.

Read on to find out several tools and techniques of Legal Research.

What are the different types of Legal Research?

Different types of research are crucial in case law research as they provide varied perspectives and information. Legal research helps identify relevant statutes, regulations, and precedents.

By utilizing these different research methods, researchers can obtain a comprehensive understanding of the legal landscape and make well-informed arguments or decisions in case law research. There are several legal research methodologies available for researchers to pursue their research.

1. Descriptive & Analytical Research

Descriptive research methodology focuses more on the “what” of the subject than the “why” of the research question. It is a description-based methodology that studies the characteristics of the population or phenomenon. The analytical research, however, uses the facts and information available to make a critical evaluation.

2. Qualitative & Quantitative Research

Qualitative legal research is a subjective method that relies on the researcher’s analysis of the controlled observations. In Quantitative Legal Research, one collects data from existing and potential data using sampling techniques like online surveys, polls, & questionnaires. The researcher can represent the outcomes of the quantitative study numerically.

3. Doctrinal & Empirical Research

In doctrinal legal research, the researcher analyses the existing statutory data to find the relevant answer to “What is the Law?” However, in empirical research, the researcher creates new data using several data collection methods and uses statistical tools to analyze it.

What is the Case Law Technique in Legal Research?

Case laws are the primary sources, i.e., the most original source, used in all legal research methodologies.

The case law technique in legal research methodology studies judicial opinions or decisions, and it is the technique of finding relevant legal precedents and principles. This is more challenging than it sounds because finding applicable case laws from legal databases is confusing and time-consuming, if the researcher is not well-versed with the tools.

Like legislation, case law can also be challenged and consequently change over time, as per the changing needs of the society. An earlier decision does not guarantee that it will always remain the law of the land.

Therefore, a lawyer must be skilled at finding, reading, and ascertaining the relevance, applicability and legal standing of any case law at a given point of time. . Thus, the importance of case law technique in legal research is quite significant as there can be no legal research without delving deep into judicial decisions.

How to Do Legal Research for Case Laws?

Before the time of the web, legal databases were in the form of multi-volume bulky books and digests. Researchers had to locate the cases manually with the help of case citations which was extremely time consuming. Though these periodicals are still available, online legal databases have overpowered them owing to their easy accessibility and time-saving tendency.

The Offline Tools for Legal Research

The researcher can locate case laws using the citations in printed law reporters. For example, the citation of a case is AIR 2017 SC 57, here the name of the Law Reporter in which the case law is published is AIR (All India Reporter), the year of the judgment is 2017, SC (Supreme Court) is the name of the Court, and the page number of the printed reporter on which the judgment can be found is 57.

The format of citation differs for every law reporter. Thus, the first step for locating the proper case law using citation is to decode the name of the law reporter.

The law reporters also categorize all the case laws. Thus, if the researcher does not know the case citation, they can find the case law as per its category.

The Online Tools for Legal Research

Using online tools for finding case laws is relatively easy. Even if the researcher does not know the name, citation, or year of the judgment, they can still find the same or similar judgments, thanks to these online tools’ intelligent features.

The only drawback is the majority of these tools require a heavy subscription fee which is not ideal for everyone.

What are the Methods of Locating Relevant Case Laws?

A researcher can locate relevant case laws if they know either of the following:

The identity of the case in law reporters, usually denoted in a combination of words & numbers.

For example: (1973) 4 SCC 225; AIR 1973 SC 1461

Case number

The official number the Court gives to a particular case.

For example: W.P.(C) 135 OF 1970

Name of the Parties

Either party’s name can be used for finding the case law.

For example: Petitioner’s name- Kesavananda Bharati Sripadagalvaru

Respondent’s name- State of Kerala

Jurisdiction

A researcher can filter their finding by deciding which Court’s judgment they want to look for.

A researcher can refer to various statute-based legal databases while finding a case law pertaining to a particular statute.

For example: The Labour Law Reporter publishes judgments specifically related to the Labour Laws of India.

How to Find Relevant Case Laws in India?

The offline tools.

The Supreme Court Reports (SCR) are the only authorized Indian law report series, and Supreme Court decisions should be cited from here whenever possible. However, Supreme Court Reporters are about four years behind in publishing the cases. Because of the long delay in the publication of the SCR. Therefore, it is entirely acceptable to cite a few unauthorized reports in academic and judicial work.

All India Reporter (AIR) is often cited in preference to the SCR, and in the Indian courts it has the status of an authorized series. The Law Library has the AIRs in print.

Online Tools

• Supreme Court of India at main.sci.gov.in . All the latest judgments by the Supreme Court of India are available here.
• Judgment Search Portal at judgments.ecourts.gov.in/pdfsearch/index.php : You can find the old Supreme Court Judgments here by entering any related keyword. It can be the citation of the case, name of the parties, case number, nature of the case, etc.
• SCC Online at www.scconline.com : India’s premier legal database with access to complete coverage of the Supreme Court, all High Courts, Tribunals and Commissions, Statutory Material and many foreign jurisdictions’ and International material. Individual registration is required to use this online legal database .
• AIROnline at www.aironline.in : Again, a subscription-based legal database which covers the judgments of all Supreme Courts, all High Courts, Tribunals and Commissions. The subscribers can find the case laws through citations, individual words, or exact phrases.
• Manupatra at www.manupatrafast.com : Indian case law coverage includes full-text decisions from the Supreme Court, all High Courts, the Federal Court, Privy Council and many tribunals. It covers judgments from the inception of each Court. The legislations covered include bare acts, amending acts, repealed legislation, subordinate legislation and bills from all jurisdictions. The primary material is grouped by topic; the secondary material comprises annotated legislation and commentary.
• Indian Kanoon at indiankanoon.org contains unreported decisions and is more up-to-date by a few days than the unreported cases on Manupatra or SCC Online. It goes back further (for example, Supreme Court cases started in 1947 in Kanoon and 1950 in Manupatra).

If you are looking for very recent decisions or if it is optional to access a reported version of the case, use Kanoon. Citation, party names, keywords, Court, date range etc., can search it. Researchers can also browse Indian Kanoon by Court and year. Indian Kanoon is also free!

However, Indian Kanoon tends to provide fewer parallel citations than Manupatra. It relies on user-generated content, lacks official verification, may contain outdated or inaccurate information, and sometimes does not provide comprehensive access to all relevant legal materials and judgments.

The approach to case law research has changed globally and in India due to technological advancement. According to statistics, roughly 33.9% of lawyers begin their research by using Google. Because Google is a generic search engine, the search results may sometimes be vague. Hence, case law databases or search engines that are tailor-made for lawyers emerge.

Lawctopus Law School’s Legal Research & Writing Course helps law students and legal professionals in understanding a crisp way to conduct Legal Research of different techniques and the right way to use legal databases.

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US Case Law

The United States Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States. Lower courts on the federal level include the US Courts of Appeals, US District Courts, the US Court of Claims, and the US Court of International Trade and US Bankruptcy Courts. Federal courts hear cases involving matters related to the United States Constitution, other federal laws and regulations, and certain matters that involve parties from different states or countries and large sums of money in dispute.

Each state has its own judicial system that includes trial and appellate courts. The highest court in each state is often referred to as the “supreme” court, although there are some exceptions to this rule, for example, the New York Court of Appeals or the Maryland Court of Appeals. State courts generally hear cases involving state constitutional matters, state law and regulations, although state courts may also generally hear cases involving federal laws. States also usually have courts that handle only a specific subset of legal matters, such as family law and probate.

Case law, also known as precedent or common law, is the body of prior judicial decisions that guide judges deciding issues before them. Depending on the relationship between the deciding court and the precedent, case law may be binding or merely 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, but a court sitting in California (whether a federal or state court) is not strictly bound to follow the Fifth Circuit’s prior decision. Similarly, a decision by one district court in New York is not binding on another district court, but the original court’s reasoning might help guide the second court in reaching its decision.

Decisions by the US Supreme Court are binding on all federal and state courts.

US Federal Courts

Reported opinions from the us federal courts of appeals.

• Federal Reporter, 2nd Series (F.2d) (1924-1993)
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Researching South African Law Library Guide: Finding case law

• South African Legal Databases
• Reading cases
• Finding legislation
• Citation guide / Referencing
• Legal Abbreviations
• Current Awareness
• Useful Links

Starting point: Case Citations

When looking for cases your biggest asset is understanding what the case citation means. The citation reflects the name of the parties, the year the case was reported, the law report it can be found in (as well as the volume and page number) and lastly the division of court that the case was heard in.

Taking the example of  Fedlife Assurance Ltd v Wolfaardt  2002 (1) SA 49 (SCA):

Knowing which Law Report it is in is especially important - it can save you looking in the wrong place! 

Some acronyms of Law Reports are as follows: ​

SA = South African Law Reports                                                             

All SA = All South African Law Reports

BCLR = Butterworths Constitutional Law Reports

CPLR = Competition Law Reports

BALR  = Butterworths Arbitration Law Reports

BLLR = Butterworths Labour Law Reports

BPLR = Butterworths Pension Law Reports

A full list of legal abbreviations can be found here

How to start:

Firstly determine which database your law report is in - through the acronym.

Then select the database from the UCT Libraries page under the 'database A-Z' list, using the first letter of the database that you want to use (eg. 'L' for 'LexisNexis')

LexisNexis (South Africa) contains the All South African Law Reports, the Butterworths Constitutional Law Reports, the Competition Law Reports, the Butterworths Arbitration Law Reports, the Butterworths Labour Law Reports and the Butterworths Pension Law Reports.

It also contains the All England Law Reports and the Canadian Rights Reporter.

Finding cases: Using the LexisNexis Law Reports search

Locate the 'Law Reports' search under the big search bar. Once you have clicked on it a box should pop up within the window.

Type in your case name within the 'Case Name' box and press search. A search results tab will open up.

Within the search results - look for the correct citation.

To refine search results - use the tab along the top to refine by Referenced Act, Year, Publication Source, Judge, Subject or Document Type.

If you choose to type in both the name and the citation - make sure you type in the full citation.

If no results appear - try redoing the search using only one of the parties names and refining your search results after the search is completed.

If all else fails - use the table of contents on the left to browse through the law reports - finding your year and volume to find your case

Juta contains the South African Law Reports as well as the Zambian, Namibian and Tanzanian Law Reports

Finding cases: Using the Juta Law Reports search

Locate the 'Law Reports' search from the dropdown on the left of the screen. Once you have clicked on it a new screen will show on the main window on the right.

Type in your case name within the 'Case Name' box. Type in the year of your case in the first box of the 'Case Citation'. Click search.

Within the search results - look under the 'Parent path' heading and make sure that you select the case that comes from a Law Report (instead of an extract). Click on the case name and it will open up.

If your case doesn't come up - use only one of the parties' names and the year.

If you want to - type in the full citation when searching, but just the year should be sufficient.

If all else fails - use the table of contents on the left to browse through the law reports to locate your case by looking in the correct year and volume.

The Southern African Legal Information Institute (SAFLII) publishes legal information for free public access which comprises mainly of case law and legislation from South Africa.

SAFLII also hosts legal materials from other countries in the region which are obtained through partnerships, collaborative efforts and more recently through linking to other Legal Information Institutes established in these regions.

Finding cases: Using SAFLII

In the main search box on the page, insert your case name and press "Search". A results list should show your case. In order to view it, click on the title of the case and a new page will open showing your case.

If your case doesn't show, then try using the advanced search and clicking on the "this case name" box before pressing search.

If your case doesn't show up in any search, it is possible to look for cases using the court that the case was heard in. Select 'South Africa' on the left hand column and then select your relevant court eg. 'Constitutional Court'. You can then browse cases by year and find yours.

TIP 2: English Translations

If you are searching for any English Translations for judgments, use this helpful link on SAFLII. Judgments dates back to 1971 - 2002.

This database contains English translations of selected Afrikaans Judgments that are used in the Curriculum of South African Law Schools.

The University of Cape Town, University of Stellenbosch and Juta have contributed to the development of this collection.

If you need assistance with earlier translations, please ask the librarians.

Printing cases

Both LexisNexis and Juta let you print the cases directly from the databases.

To print in LexisNexis - click on the title of the case. A new tab will open up with the case in it. On the top left corner of this tab different icons appear. The second, third and fifth icons allow you to export the case either by saving it as a PDF, emailing it or printing it directly. Click on the item you want (I would recommend either save as a PDF or print directly).

To print in Juta - click on the title of the case. The case will now be open in the main screen. On Juta's top bar there are several options - one being print / export. Click on this. A new screen will open again - directly into the printing options. Make sure that you have clicked on the 'print the current document' line, and then click on the 'continue' button at the bottom of the options. The printing options should allow you to either print directly to the printers or to print the file as a PDF - therefore saving it.

Exporting in Juta - instead of printing, it is possible to export. When the print/export screen opens - click on the blue 'Exporting Options' title. Make sure you have clicked on the 'export the current document' line. It will now allow you to export the case - however Juta only exports in HTML, so all that will happen is a new tab will open in your browser containing only the case. 

• << Previous: South African Legal Databases
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• Last Updated: Jan 12, 2024 9:51 AM
• URL: https://libguides.lib.uct.ac.za/southafricanlaw

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Reproductive rights in America

Despite state bans, abortions nationwide are up, driven by telehealth.

Elissa Nadworny

Abortion rights activists at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on March 26, the day the case about the abortion drug mifepristone was heard. The number of abortions in the U.S. increased, a study says, surprising researchers. Drew Angerer/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Abortion rights activists at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on March 26, the day the case about the abortion drug mifepristone was heard. The number of abortions in the U.S. increased, a study says, surprising researchers.

In the 18 months following the Supreme Court's decision that ended federal protection for abortion, the number of abortions in the U.S. has continued to grow, according to The Society of Family Planning's WeCount project .

"We are seeing a slow and small steady increase in the number of abortions per month and this was completely surprising to us," says Ushma Upadhyay , a professor and public health scientist at the University of California, San Francisco who co-leads the research. According to the report, in 2023 there were, on average, 86,000 abortions per month compared to 2022, where there were about 82,000 abortions per month. "Not huge," says Upadhyay, "but we were expecting a decline."

Shots - Health News

What's at stake in the supreme court mifepristone case.

The slight increase comes despite the fact that 14 states had total abortion bans in place during the time of the research. According to the report, there were about 145,000 fewer abortions in person in those states since the Dobbs decision, which triggered many of the restrictive state laws.

"We know that there are people living in states with bans who are not getting their needed abortions," says Upadhyay. "The concern we have is that that might be overlooked by these increases."

Florida, California and Illinois saw the largest surges in abortions, which is especially interesting given Florida's recent 6-week ban that started on May 1.

Abortion rights opponents demonstrate in New York City, on March 23. Some states' abortion bans are known as "heartbeat bills," because they make abortion illegal after cardiac activity starts, usually around six weeks of pregnancy. Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Abortion rights opponents demonstrate in New York City, on March 23. Some states' abortion bans are known as "heartbeat bills," because they make abortion illegal after cardiac activity starts, usually around six weeks of pregnancy.

The latest report also captures for the first time the impact of providers offering telehealth abortions from states with protections for doctors and clinics known as shield laws – statutes that say they can't be prosecuted or held liable for providing abortion care to people from other states.

Between July and December 2023, more than 40,000 people in states with abortion bans and telehealth restrictions received medication abortion through providers in states protected by shield laws. Abortion pills can be prescribed via telehealth appointments and sent through the mail; the pills can safely end pregnancies in the first trimester.

The report includes abortions happening within the U.S. health care system, and does not include self-managed abortions, when people take pills at home without the oversight of a clinician. For that reason, researchers believe these numbers are still an undercount of abortions happening in the U.S.

Tessa Longbons Cox is a senior research associate at Charlotte Lozier Institute, a research organization that opposes abortion. She says the WeCount report, "highlights a concerning trend" that policies around mail-order abortion pills are boosting abortion rates. "By recklessly removing in-person medical visits and safeguards, abortion advocates have put women's health and safety last," Longbons Cox says in a statement.

Accounting for the increases

A major factor in the uptick in abortions nationwide is the rise of telehealth, made possible in part by regulations first loosened during the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the report, telehealth abortions now make up 19% of all abortions in the U.S. In comparison, the first WeCount report which spanned April 2022 through August 2022 showed telehealth abortions accounted for just 4% of all abortions. Research has shown that telehealth abortions are as safe and effective as in-clinic care.

"It's affordable, it's convenient, and it feels more private," says Jillian Barovick, a midwife in Brooklyn and one of the co-founders of Juniper Midwifery , which offers medication abortion via telehealth to patients in six states where abortion is legal. The organization saw its first patient in August 2022 and now treats about 300 patients a month.

A Supreme Court abortion pill case with potential consequences for every other drug

"Having an in-clinic abortion, even a medication abortion, you could potentially be in the clinic for hours, whereas with us you get to sort of bypass all of that," she says. Instead, patients can connect with a clinician using text messages or a secure messaging platform. In addition to charging $100 dollars for the consultation and medication – which is well below the average cost of an abortion – Barovick points to the cost savings of not having to take off work or arrange child care to spend multiple hours in a clinic.

She says her patients receive their medication within 1 to 4 business days, "often faster than you can get an appointment in a clinic."

A study published in JAMA Internal Medicine on Monday followed about 500 women who had medication abortions with the pills distributed via mail order pharmacy after an in-person visit with a doctor. More than 90% of the patients were satisfied with the experience; there were three serious adverse events that required hospitalization.

In addition to expansions in telehealth, there have been new clinics in states like Kansas, Illinois and New Mexico, and there's been an increase in funding for abortion care – fueled by private donors and abortion funds.

The impact of shield laws

During the period from October to December 2023, nearly 8,000 people per month in states with bans or severe restrictions accessed medication abortions from clinicians providing telehealth in the 5 states that had shield laws at the time. That's nearly half of all monthly telehealth abortions.

"It's telemedicine overall that is meeting the need of people who either want to or need to remain in their banned or restricted state for their care," says Angel Foster, who founded The MAP, a group practice operating a telehealth model under Massachusetts' shield laws. "If you want to have your abortion care in your state and you live in Texas or Mississippi or Missouri, right now, the shield law provision is by far the most dominant way that you'd be able to get that care."

Foster's group offers medication abortions for about 500 patients a month. About 90% of their patients are in banned or restrictive states; about a third are from Texas, their most common state of origin, followed by Florida.

"Patients are scared that we are a scam," she says, "they can't believe that we're legit."

Since the WeCount data was collected, additional states including Maine and California have passed shield laws protecting providers who offer care nationwide. The new shield laws circumvent traditional telemedicine laws, which often require out-of-state health providers to be licensed in the states where patients are located. States with abortion bans or restrictions and/or telehealth bans hold the provider at fault, not the patient.

The NPR Politics Podcast

One small pill — one big court case.

Existing lawsuits brought by abortion opponents, including the case awaiting a Supreme Court decision, have the potential to disrupt this telehealth surge by restricting the use of the drug mifepristone nationwide. If the Supreme Court upholds an appeals court ruling, providers would be essentially barred from mailing the drug and an in-person doctor visit would be required.

There is also an effort underway in Louisiana to classify abortion pills as a controlled substance.

• abortion bans
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More From Forbes

Three big use cases for ai in law, and infinite context work.

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More than a few of the folks who are analyzing the power of AI today are law school graduates.

They may or may not be actually practicing law. The field has gone through some changes recently! Not least of these is the impact of AI. We’ve seen some of the heartburn on the part of both lawyers and their assistants on whether AI will automate too much of the work, winnowing down their ranks in ways that threaten their livelihoods. Kaustuv Basu writes in Bloomberg (last year) about the plight of the paralegal, a group estimated at around 350,000.

“The hope now is that rather than replacing paralegals, generative AI will take care of things it can do better while freeing up employees where they have a comparative advantage like critical thinking,” Basu writes, citing input from Manav Raj, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

So what is AI doing, specifically? Well, for one thing, there’s discovery, a massive part of the task list for those at many firms. A piece at Briefpoint estimates the total value of discovery at around $37 billion, and estimates that it costs a firm an average of $23,000 to complete this phase of legal work. AI is scouring a corpus of data and delivering the goods.

I heard this from MIT Media Lab researcher Dazza Greenwood recently in a presentation, characterizing this aspect of AI’s contribution this way:

“The first threshold question is, Is this relevant or not to the document request?” said Greenwood, who, in his career, has done a fair amount of discovery. “Relevance is a really good fit for the type of inference that large language models can do, especially the powerful ones.”

Why Is Chief Boden Leaving ‘Chicago Fire?’ Eamonn Walker’s Exit Explained

Nvidia are splitting 10-for-1 here’s what it means and how to profit, massive dota 2 7 36 patch notes add innate abilities and facets.

I want to cover two other major uses that Greenwood highlighted.

Another one is mediation, where it’s all about synthesizing the viewpoints or positions of multiple parties.

“(It’s about) getting interesting ideas and different ways to frame issues. Looking at, you know, where the areas of consensus are, sometimes even helping some of the disputants to communicate what they're trying to communicate, maybe with a little bit less heat - a whole bunch of innovative ways.”

Then, Greenwood continued, there’s statutory analysis.

“It's pretty good at statutory analysis,” he said. “I put in the new Privacy Act, and it gave me a very good section-by-section readout and answered hypothetical questions about ‘under these conditions, would the consumer be able to get their data, yes or no? And why?’ (it also) cited (this) to the part of the bill. This is good. … we're starting with, we're giving it a context … (for example,) ‘here's the statute I want you to analyze. Here's the contract I want you to review,’ and then prompting it with an instruction. That's the sweet spot for this technology. So frequently, attorneys and people in every profession will ask a question, like it's a magic eight ball or something, and it will know the answer. It's hard to get that needle buried in the training data set. But when you ground it with the relevant information, it can reason over it remarkably well…”

Aerial view of crowd connected by lines

People Communication Network High-Res Stock Photo - Getty Images

Now, I’d also like to mention another related idea that Greenwood went over in some detail. He mentioned “vectorizing the law,” taking an extra-large set of legal information, and examining it’s context. The term “infinite context” was used, and he cited the tagline, (presumably based on W-era education policy) “leave no context behind.”

“What if we could put all of the law into a query?” he asked. “What if you could put (in) all of the records of your business as you're doing strategy, or looking at ways to, in a liquid way, adapt to a market?”

What if, indeed?

Pensive, happy multiracial young woman working at home office using multiple devices: digital ... [+] tablet, laptop and phone. Technology concept.

So many “what ifs,” in the legal industry and elsewhere, are becoming “it does” – and that’s driving these remarkable shifts in practice.

Anyway, that’s a bit about what we’re seeing in this venerated area of our society – in our law firms, which have always garnered prestige and driven business and public policy. Stay tuned for a lot more!

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The U.S. Is Easing Marijuana Restrictions. Here’s How It Works.

A new federal rule would reclassify marijuana as a less-dangerous, Schedule III drug. It’s a significant shift, even as it does not legalize the drug.

By Eileen Sullivan

Reporting from Washington

The Biden administration moved on Thursday to downgrade marijuana from the most restrictive category of drugs.

The proposed rule, submitted to the Federal Register, is subject to a 60-day comment period, kicking off a lengthy approval process before it takes effect.

The proposal, which would move marijuana to Schedule III, from Schedule I, signals a significant shift in how the federal government views the substance, even as it does not legalize the drug. Its classification as one of the most dangerous and habit-forming substances has long drawn criticism, and recategorizing the drug is an acknowledgment by the federal government that the drug has some medicinal value and lower potential for abuse.

The categories of controlled substances determine production amounts, access, research and legal consequences. Some experts have argued that cigarettes and alcohol, which are not in any of the five categories of controlled substances, should be included in Schedule I because of their demonstrated high risk of abuse and addiction.

In a recorded video, President Biden praised the step, describing it as “monumental.”

“Far too many lives have been upended because of a failed approach to marijuana, and I’m committed to righting those wrongs,” Mr. Biden said. “You have my word on it.”

Here is a look at the five categories, or schedules, including some of the drugs in each designation. Opioids fall into all five schedules, depending on the exact drug.

The federal government classifies these drugs as having no currently accepted medical use. It also says these drugs pose a high risk for abuse. Marijuana has been in this category, along with drugs like heroin, L.S.D., ecstasy and magic mushrooms.

Schedule II

The government says substances in this category have some medical value, even as they pose a high risk for abuse. This includes cocaine, methamphetamine, painkillers like Vicodin, OxyContin and fentanyl; and Dexedrine, Adderall and Ritalin, which are most commonly prescribed to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have sought to push fentanyl into a more stringent classification given that it has become a leading cause of death in the country. But doing so would have a detrimental impact on surgery patients because fentanyl is one of the best anesthetics, said Keith Humphreys, a drug policy expert at Stanford University. It also would not address the illegal production of fentanyl, which is what is fueling the overwhelming number of fentanyl-related deaths.

Schedule III

These drugs are considered to have a low to moderate risk of abuse, such as Tylenol with codeine, ketamine, anabolic steroids, testosterone and, eventually, marijuana. Drugs in this category are not subject to the federal income tax rule that has hampered producers in states where marijuana is legal. By law , producers of drugs in the top two categories cannot take tax exemptions for their business expenses like rent, employee salaries and utility bills that support operations.

Until 2014, hydrocodone combination products, most often prescribed as a painkiller — such as Vicodin — was considered a Schedule III drug. But the Drug Enforcement Administration changed that to try to curb the prescription drug abuse that had been sweeping the country at the time.

Schedule IV

Drugs in this group are considered to have a low risk of abuse and addiction and require a prescription. They include anti-anxiety medicine like Xanax and Valium; muscle relaxants; and low-grade pain killers like Tramadol. The sleeping drug Ambien is also in this category.

These are considered the lowest-risk drugs and still require a prescription. Examples include certain cough medicine, drugs to treat diarrhea, such as Lomotil, Motofen and Parepectolin, and the anti-epileptic drug, Lyrica.

Eileen Sullivan  covers breaking news, the Justice Department, the trials against Donald J. Trump and the Biden administration. More about Eileen Sullivan

Inside the Biden Administration

Here’s the latest news and analysis from washington..

War in Ukraine:  President Biden barred Ukraine from firing U.S. weapons into Russia to “avoid World War III.” After a sobering trip to Kyiv, Secretary of State Antony Blinken wants to ease that rule .

Live Nation:  The Justice Department is suing Live Nation Entertainment , the owner of Ticketmaster, asking a court to break up the company over claims it illegally maintained a monopoly in the live entertainment industry.

Relations With Kenya:  During the Kenyan president’s state visit , Biden will designate the East African nation as a “major non-NATO ally.”

Hidden Fees:  Biden’s effort to crack down on “junk fees”  from airlines and credit-card companies is doubling as a war against inflation.

Student Loans:  Biden announced the cancellation of another $7.7 billion in student loans , building on his strategy of chipping away at college debt by tweaking existing programs.