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Case Research OnlineCase Research OnlineDonna NixonHead of Reference ServicesLecturing Fellow

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Structure of state & federal courtsStructure of state & federal courts---- 3 Levels:3 Levels:

Trial courtsIntermediate Appellate CourtHighest court (often called Supreme Court)

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Jurisdiction: Fed? State?Jurisdiction: Fed? State?

Federal courts have jurisdiction of:– federal constitutional issues – issues covered by federal law/statute

State courts have jurisdiction over: – state level matters that are not trumped by

federal lawSome overlap of jurisdiction where there are both federal and state matters involved

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There are other jurisdiction There are other jurisdiction limitations for courts:limitations for courts:

Geographic-does this court cover this area of the country or world?Subject matter-does this court adjudicate these types of matters (e.g. bankruptcy, military, family courts)Over the person-does this court have authority to bind this person or entity to a judgment?

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Map of federal circuits (district & Map of federal circuits (district & appeals courts)appeals courts)

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What is Case Law?What is Case Law?

Federal and state appeals courts generate written explanations of rulings in cases. These are called “opinions” but are often simply referred to as “cases”, “case law” or common law.

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Publication of OpinionsPublication of Opinions

Why needed?How published?– Slip opinion-one opinion published by itself

(can find electronically on court website)– Reporters-opinions from the same time period,

kept in chronological order and bound together into “reporter” volumes.

By jurisdictionBy type of case

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PrecedentPrecedent

Precedent-a higher court’s decision must be followed by a lower court in the same jurisdiction.– Trial courts must follow decisions of the appeals and

high courts in their jurisdiction.– Appeals courts must follow decisions of the highest

(“supreme”) court in their jurisdiction. What happens if a federal appellate court makes a decision on a state level matter? Is that decision binding on the state’s trial courts?

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Case ReportersCase ReportersThe multi-volume sets of court opinions published in sets called “reporters.”– The federal government publishes the opinions of the

U.S. Supreme Court, but not the opinions from the courts of appeals.

– West Publishing publishes most of the other federal appeals court cases in addition to also publishing their own copies of the U.S. Supreme Court cases (LexisNexis publishes U.S. Supreme Court cases too).

– West also publishes the opinions of state appeals courts in “regional reporters” and some state reporters.

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Federal Case ReportersFederal Case Reporters

U.S. Supreme Court– U.S. Reports (official)– Supreme Court Reporter (West)– Lawyers Edition (Lexis)

Bankruptcy ReporterOther specialty court reporters: military, court of claim, federal rules reporters, etc.Federal Supplement (West) prints sometrial court cases

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State Case ReportersState Case Reporters

State reporters: either “official” gov’t publication or West publication covering only state court decisions.– We have all states in our library. Your employer will

likely have only one state reporter in print.– There are NO state trial court decision reporters.

Regional reporters: West combines neighboring states into groups/regions and then binds together all the cases from the states in that region in one set of reporter volumes. Your employer may have a regional print reporter instead of a state reporter.

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Sample Legal CitationsSample Legal CitationsSupreme Court Citations: Turner Broad. Sys. v. FCC:– 520 U.S. 180; (What is the reporter name?)– 117 S.Ct. 1174; – 137 L. Ed. 2d 369

Federal Appellate Court Citations: – 397 F3d 570; – 968 F2d 158; – 91 F. 114

Federal Trial Ct. Citation: 21 F.Supp. 19State Regional Reporter: 78 SE2d 980State Reporter (N.C.): 25 N.C. 250

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What the reporters includeWhat the reporters include

Summaries-called “headnotes” (Note: headnotes on official reporters are completely diff. from headnotes on West reporters)Full written opinions/decisionsConcurring and dissenting opinions, if anySome tables and indexes (front and back of volumes)

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Finding a case by citationFinding a case by citation

Use “Get a Document” in LexisUse “Find” in Westlaw

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Searching Case Law by SubjectSearching Case Law by Subject

You will often search for a case by subject rather than by citation. Best method: ONE GOOD CASE METHOD-locate one case that is really on point, then use to find other cases on point. How?– Ask assigning attorney if there is any case that

illustrates issue.– Look at annotations to: relevant statute, legal

encyclopedia, journal or ALR article.DOING A FULL-TEXT DB SEARCH IS

LEAST EFFICIENT MEANS

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How to use How to use ““One Good CaseOne Good Case””

Use headnotes in that case to find other cases with the same headnotes:– “More like this” in Lexis– “Custom Digest” in Westlaw

Read decision and note any earlier cases cited in that one good case. Shepardize or KeyCite the case to find later cases on point (those that have cited your case).

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FullFull--Text SearchingText SearchingIF YOU MUST DO A FULL-TEXT SEARCH OF WL OR

LEXIS CASE DATABASES:– Use narrower database to limit unnecessary searching: For

instance if you are looking for case law for New York State thenchoose the database that covers only New York. (otherwise waste time & employer’s money)

– Type of search: Terms & Connectors-Boolean (using connectors: and, or, not etc.)Natural language-keyword search w/out having to use booleans.

– Choose limiters (field/segment restrictions)– Use date restrictions or other helpful restrictions to narrow down

your search. (E.g. if issue deals with the e-commerce, you probably don’t need to look at cases before 1990, b/c internet commerce wasn’t happening b/4 then.)

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Searching Case Law by TopicSearching Case Law by TopicFull-Text Searching. Choose:– Type of search:

Terms & Connectors-BooleanNatural language-keyword search w/out having to use booleans.

– Use narrower database to limit unnecessary searching– Choose limiters (field/segment restrictions, date

limiters)– Brainstorm alternate keywords (eg. “death penalty” &

“capital punishment”). Terms also may change over time.

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Practice locating & updating casesPractice locating & updating cases

Case: Arizona attorney sued by former client for malpractice because failed to find relevant state statute when she represented her.

B/4 going online, brainstorm key terms:

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Searching for a case: WestlawSearching for a case: Westlaw

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After you have done a searchAfter you have done a search

If not many hits, broaden your terms (in some cases, may need to broaden jurisdictionOnce get a good 50 or less, look through the list of hits for cases on pointUse cases you’ve found to locate other cases on point (remember: custom digest & more like this)

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Now we need to update it?Now we need to update it?

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What is updating and how does it What is updating and how does it work?work?

Each case decision discusses several issues. Headnotes are the summaries of each of the issues. When a case cites to an earlier case, editors at Lexis & West use those summaries/headnotes to match the issues in the two cases and determine whether the court has made some change that affects the value of this case on this particular issue.To update a case, use Shepards (Lexis) or KeyCite (West) to find out if your case has been reversed/overturned, overruled, modified by: another decision or a change in the applicable statute.

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Updating CasesUpdating Cases

Use to:check the prior and subsequent history of a caseto make sure a case is good lawto find other later cases that have dealt with that area of law and cited your caseto find other relevant material that have cited to your case (law journal articles, ALR, etc.)

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Evaluating updating signals/flagsEvaluating updating signals/flags

If red flag, make sure that the flag is for the part of the decision on which you want to rely, if not, the flag is not as significantIf yellow/caution flag check:– if it means: criticism, modification,

distinguished– if it is from a binding jurisdiction (remember,

your court is not bound by decisions of a lower or co-equal court

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Updating Updating CaselawCaselaw w/Shepardsw/Shepards

There are two types of Shepard’s (Lexis) reports:Shepard’s for Research (FULL) provides a complete report for your case, including prior history subsequent history and every citing reference. Shepard’s for Validation (KWIC) provides a more limited report that allows you to quickly determine precedent. It includes only those citing references with editorial analysis, and excludes any prior history.

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What the What the ShepardsShepards signals meansignals mean

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Westlaw Signals (Westlaw Signals (concon’’tt))

Blue H: In cases or administrative decisions, a blue H indicates that there is some history but it is not known to be negative history.

Green C: A green C indicates that the case has citing references, but no direct or negative indirect history.

Quotations marks: Quotation marks indicate that the citing case directly quotes the cited case.

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Updating cases with WestlawUpdating cases with Westlaw’’s s KeyCiteKeyCite. What the signals mean:. What the signals mean:

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Westlaw FlagsWestlaw Flags

Red Flag-In cases and administrative decisions, a red flag warns that the case or administrative decision is no longer good law for at least one of the points of law it contains.

Yellow Flag-In cases and administrative decisions, a yellow flag warns that the case or administrative decision has some negative treatment, but has not been reversed or overruled.

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Depth of treatment stars (West):Depth of treatment stars (West):

4 Stars - The citing case contains an extended discussion of the cited case, usually more than a printed page.3 Stars - The citing case contains a substantial discussion of the cited case, usually more than a paragraph but less than a printed page.2 Stars - The citing case contains some discussion of the cited case, usually more than a paragraph.1 Star - The citing case contains a brief reference to the cited case, usually in a string citation.

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UpdatingUpdating

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How an unreported case looks in How an unreported case looks in Westlaw or LexisWestlaw or Lexis“Unreported” cases are cases the court does not

want to have precedent. Here are some examples of citations that should alert you to unreported status of a case:185 Fed. Appx. 716 (Federal Appendix)2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 28127 2007 WL 465219

Note: if a case has a Westlaw or Lexis number, but also has a regular reporter citation, such as F3d, it is a reported case, not an unreported case.

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