Finding and Updating Case Law

Finding case law is a common and important legal research task for law students and one you will rely upon as a legal practitioner. There are numerous elements to consider when starting a case law research project, including

Once you have found a case which discusses the point of law in which you are interested, you can build from that case to find others on the same topic. Finally, you must update your case law research.

If you are looking for briefs, docket information, oral argument transcripts, etc., refer to Strategies for Finding Court Documents.

IMPORTANT NOTE: if you choose to click on links taking you to Westlaw or Lexis search or information screens, you must "sign off" the database before hitting the "Back" icon on your browser before returning to this guide. If you neglect to do so, you will remain signed on and may accrue charges.

Case Law and Case Reporters

In the United States, opinions and decisions of federal and state courts create precedent which is binding on other courts; therefore, many of the opinions and decisions of these courts are published. Sometimes, it is even possible to find so-called "unpublished" or unreported opinions.

Federal Courts: There are several levels of United States federal courts, each with its own reporter which collects its decisions.

The United States Supreme Court is the highest court, or court of last resort, in the United States. Supreme Court case law is available from a number of sources.

  • United States Reports ("US"): official reporter (Pappas Law Library) (Volumes 502-546, in pdf through the Supreme Court's web site)
  • Supreme Court Reporter ("S.Ct.") and United States Supreme Court Reports: Lawyer's Edition ("L.Ed." and "L.Ed.2d"): unofficial reporters (Pappas Law Library)
  • US Law Week ("U.S.L.W."): recent Supreme Court opinions (Pappas Law Library main floor, Law Ref Desk, Law Annex Reserve and online (1995-present) (BU Law School only))
  • LexisNexis: United States Supreme Court Reports: Lawyer's Edition (GENFED:US)
  • Westlaw: Supreme Court Reporter (SCT)
  • United States Supreme Court: the Court's web site provides many opinions in pdf, along with orders, docket and oral argument information.
  • HeinOnline contains a complete run of the U.S. Reports in pdf format.

The United States Courts of Appeal are the intermediate appellate courts, each of which hears cases within a geographic circuit. Sources of case law include:

  • Federal Reporter ("F.", "F.2d" and "F.3d"): unofficial reporter (Pappas Law Library)
  • LexisNexis: Federal, F.2d and F. 3d (GENFED:USAPP)
  • Westlaw: Federal, F.2d and F. 3d (CTA)

The United States District Courts are the federal trial level courts. Only select U.S. District Court decisions are published in:

  • Federal Supplement ("F.Supp.") and Federal Rules Decisions ("F.R.D."): unofficial reporter (Pappas Law Library)
  • LexisNexis: Federal Supplement and Federal Rules Decisions as well as select unreported cases (GENFED:DIST)
  • Westlaw: Federal Supplement and Federal Rules Decisions as well as select unreported cases (DCT)

State Courts: Each state court system has a structure which parallels the federal court system. Consult the Bluebook or ALWD for state court names and the corresponding case reporters. Pappas Law Library has hard copies, and LexisNexis and Westlaw provide electronic access to state court reports.

Topical Reporters

Some reporters collect decisions related to a particular topic, including:

  • Bankruptcy Reporter (Westlaw and Pappas Law Library)
  • Federal Rules Decisions (Westlaw and Pappas Law Library)

Unreported Opinions

Reported opinions are easy: simply look the citation up in the appropriate reporter. But what about an unreported decision, often issued by trial level courts, or opinions issued very recently, possibly even yesterday? Some of these opinions may be available if you try the following resources:

  • Westlaw
    • The DCTU database contains select unreported federal district court cases from 1945 to present. Note: Unreported cases included on Westlaw may be different from those included on Lexis.
    • Recent opinions from courts are available in the database for the particular court. See the "I" icon for information about how often the database is updated.
  • LexisNexis
    • The unreported cases on Lexis are not in a separate file. You can search all district court cases in GENFED; NEWER for cases from 1945 to present, and GENFED;OLDER for cases from 1789 through 1944. Note: Unreported cases included on Lexis may be different from those included on Westlaw.
    • Recent opinions form courts are available in the database for that particular court. See the "I" icon for information about how often the database is updated.
  • Print at the Pappas Law Library
    • US Supreme Court
      • The Unpublished Opinions of Mr. Justice Brandeis; The Supreme Court at Work, Law Annex KF213.B7 B53 1957.
      • The Unpublished Opinions of the Warren Court, Law Annex KF101.8 .U66 1985.
      • The Unpublished Opinions of the Burger Court, Law Annex KF101.8 .U62 1988.
      • The Unpublished Opinions of the Rehnquist Court, Law Annex KF101.8 .S39 1996.
    • Circuit Courts
      • West's Federal Appendix: Cases Determined and Argued in the United States Court of Appeals. This compilation contains cases not selected for publication within the F.3d series, from 2001 to present. It is located in the Reading Room of the Pappas Law Library.
  • The court's web site is a great source for very recent decisions
  • Finding case law for free:
    • Use a search engine such as Google or Google/U.S. Government Search . Formulate the search including as much information as you have: the case name, docket number, judge's name, etc. Please note that it can take up to two weeks for a search engine to index and locate opinions after the opinions are available on the Internet; therefore, for very recent opinions, visit the particular court's web site.
    • Justia.com (project of Oyez): This web site provides (in html format) cases of Supreme Court dating back to 1792 as well as access to the most recent decisions handed down by the Supreme Court.
  • Call the court's clerk of court office. You will need some information about your case handy: the names of the parties and the docket number of the case. In Massachusetts, consult the Massachusetts Lawyers Diary and Manual (Law Ref and Law Pappas KFM 2477 L38) for contact information for the particular court.

Researching Case Law

There are several ways to conduct case law research. The process is the same at the state and federal court levels.

Digests

Case law is organized chronologically, so finding cases on the same topic requires some other tool in addition to the reporters. A digest is a collection of case summaries arranged by topic. To use the digests, look at your topic and select some keywords, or words which describe your topic.

For the West Publishing paper digests, next look your keywords up in the index to the digest. This will "translate" your keywords or topic into a West Topic and Key Number. Then, look at the volume of the digest which covers your Topic and Key Number. Cases are listed in reverse chronological order, from the court of last resort down to reported trial court decisions on the topic. Read over the case summaries and select the cases which will be most helpful with your research, and make note of the court reporter citations. Be sure to check the pocket parts and/or pamphlet supplements for each volume as well.

There are digests for almost every type of case reporter. For example, most states have a digest found, at the Pappas Law Library, near the state case reporter. For federal cases, there are West's Federal Practice Digest (Law Indexes and Annex) and West's Supreme Court Digest (Law Library). A full listing of topics in the West Topics and Key Numbers can be found in West's Analysis of American Law, Law Reference Desk KF 240 W47.

A digest also contains a Table of Cases which is useful when you know the parties to the case's names, for example Mikel v. Aaker, but do not have a full citation.

Additionally, you can search digests online via Westlaw and LexisNexis. Westlaw includes the Key Number System found in the West print digests, and LexisNexis has a service called Search Advisor which is similar to the West Topic and Key Number System.


Full text online searching

You can search the full-text of cases on LexisNexis or Westlaw. There are many ways in which these online services can assist you with your case law research.

If you know the citation to the case you wish to read, you can enter the citation into Westlaw's Find or LexisNexis' Get a Document.

If you know your jurisdiction, start with the database containing that jurisdiction's case law. Again, as with the digest search, use keywords to locate cases on your topic. Full-text searching can pull up many cases that are not very useful, so it is important to carefully craft your search terms and think of all possible synonyms.

Don't forget that you can also use digests, which organize case law by topic, and many secondary sources, through Westlaw and LexisNexis.


Secondary sources

Looking at secondary sources, including law review articles, treatises , loose-leaf services, and ALR annotations, is a very helpful first step for any legal research project.

Statutes

If you are researching a line of cases that interpret a statute, use an annotated statutory code to find additional cases related to the statute. An annotated code includes the text of the statute, followed by cases which interpret the statute. There are annotated codes for both federal and state statutes. At BULaw, these are all kept in the lower level of the Pappas Library.

Finding Additional Cases on the Topic

Once you locate a case which is on point for your topic, you can use the case citation to find additional related cases.

  • Try Shepard's or Keycite to find additional related cases or secondary sources that may include other related cases.
  • Search through secondary sources for law review articles or books which also discuss your case. These secondary sources may refer to other cases on the same topic.
  • Check the digest using the case's Topic and Key Number in the same jurisdiction, or another jurisdiction your court looks to as influential, if there are no cases on topic in your jurisdiction.
  • Search the full text of cases on Westlaw or LexisNexis, using the case's name or citation to find other cases which cite your case.

Updating Case Law

Online updating: Enter the citation you wish to research or validate into Shepard's on LexisNexis or Keycite on Westlaw.

Updating using Shepard’s Citations in paper:

  • Look at latest release or pamphlet's cover for the list of "What Your Library Should Contain"
  • Put all of these volumes and supplements out in front of you on a desk or table
  • Work forward, starting form the oldest volume which covers your case. You will need the volume starting with the year your case was decided.
  • Start with the main volumes (brown hardcover).
  • Next, check the hardbound supplements.
  • Then, see the listing under "Supplemented with..." listing of soft cover pamphlets.
  • Note the date or volumes which the latest pamphlet covers. This is the date through which you have "shepardized" the case.
  • Make a note of any citations you locate and read cases of interest.

Please note that the Pappas Law Library subscribes to the Shepard's Citation Service for Massachusetts and New York only. The library also subscribes to the Shepard's Northeastern Reporter Citations in print. For federal courts, the Pappas Law Library has Shepard's Federal Citations in print (located with the Pappas Law Indexes).

With so many factors at play, case law research can be challenging. If you have any questions or need some assistance while conducting your case law research, please contact a member of the reference staff.

 

Page maintained by: Steve Donweber
Last updated: February 2009