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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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Case law research tutorial.

Update History

Revised 4/22 (CMC) Updated 10/22 (MK) Links 07/2023 (VL)

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• Last Updated: Feb 29, 2024 1:03 PM
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Legal Research

• Statutory Law
• Regulations
• Secondary sources
• Citing Legal Resources

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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U.S. Legal Research for LLM Students

• Getting Started
• Research Strategy
• Secondary Sources

The Different Types of Case Law Research

From secondary sources, from an annotated statute, from topics/keynumbers, one good case, popular case law databases, terms and connectors.

• Statutory Research
• Legislative History
• Administrative Research
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• Research for Scholarship

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. 

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!

• Secondary Sources Chart

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.

Topics and keynumbers are usually brought into a research process from one good case (see above). Each headnote of the case is tagged with the relevant topic/keynumber. 

However, you can also search topics and keynumbers on their own. 

What do we mean by 'one 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). 

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. 

Always think about how your search terms might appear with one another. Here is a guide of some of the more useful connectors when searching!

• Common Terms & Connectors (with Guidance)
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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

• Practical Guidance
• Legal Research
• Shepard's Citations Service

Case Law Research: Introduction

• Introduction
• Abbreviations
• Find Cases in Print This link opens in a new window
• Methods of Finding Cases
• Citators/Updating Cases
• Search Tips

What is Case Law?

Case law refers to law found in decisions issued by courts. The level of authority of particular cases will vary depending on the type of court issuing the decision, the jurisdiction, and the type of case. 

Tutorial:  Understanding Jurisdiction 

Court Structure

Federal Courts:  There are three tiers of courts in the federal system. 

• United States Supreme Court:  Highest court in the United States. Hears a limited number of cases each year on a discretionary basis. Those cases may originate in state or federal courts.  
• US Courts of Appeals :  There are 13 circuits that hear appeals from district courts located within those circuits. 
• US District Courts:  The trial courts of the federal system, with jurisdiction over federal criminal and civil matters. 

Missouri Courts:  There are three tiers of courts in the Missouri. 

• Supreme Court of Missouri:  Highest court in the state. Hears certain types of cases as a matter or right, but most are heard at the discretion of the Court. 
• Missouri Court of Appeals:  These courts hear appeals of circuit court decisions. Divided into three regional districts: Eastern, Southern, and Western. 
• Specialized Courts : There are a number of specialized divisions within circuit courts. These include juvenile courts. probate courts, family courts, and drug courts. 

Where are Federal Cases Found?

Not All Cases Are Published

It is important to remember that most court decisions are never published in reporters or made available electronically. This is often the case with trial decisions and appellate court decisions that do not have precedential  weight. Whether unpublished decisions can be cited depends on the jurisdiction.  

Where are State Cases Found?

Click here for a map of the National Reporter system. 

*Many states no longer publish an official reporter.  For a list of states that still have an official reporter consult table T1.3 in the  Bluebook.

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11 Finding and Using Case Law

Learning goals.

After reading this chapter, you will be able to

• Identify and use many search techniques to find relevant case law.
• Identify and use free, non-subscription platforms to find relevant case law.
• Conduct case law research more confidently and efficiently.

Where Do You Find Cases?

Most people conduct case law research online. Several websites provide free access to case law: Google Scholar , state and federal court websites, Library of Congress (only United States Reports), the Government Printing Office website (federal court opinions), Findlaw , Justia , and Caselaw Access Project . Fastcase is available through some state law libraries (i.e. the State of Oregon Law Library website ) and with state Bar Association membership. Keep in mind that freely available websites and platforms will have few or no tools to help with searching, and some provide cases only from certain jurisdictions or for certain date ranges.

Commercial platforms such as Casetext, Westlaw, Lexis, and Bloomberg will provide more editorial enhancements to increase your efficiency and effectiveness in finding results.

A note about print sources

Some academic and public law libraries still have case reporters in print. Case reporters are multi-volume sets that publish case law for different jurisdictions. Each state has reporters for their courts. Regional reporters publish cases for states in a certain geographic region. For example, the Pacific Reporter series publishes state cases from Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Federal cases are published in West’s Federal Supplement (U.S. District Court), West’s Federal Reporter (Federal Court of Appeals), West’s Supreme Court Reporter (U.S. Supreme Court decisions), Lexis’s United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers’ ed. (U.S. Supreme Court decisions), and United States Reports (official version of U.S. Supreme Court decisions). The citations you see for cases refer to the volume number, the reporter name, the page number, the court and date of the decision.

How Do You Find Cases?

Finding case law is an important part of your research process for most legal issues. You probably practiced case law research frequently in first year legal research and writing courses. However, most students feel that they need additional practice because they want more confidence in their results and more efficiency in their searches. This chapter will focus on practicing different methods of finding cases:

• Using secondary sources.
• Using statutory annotations.
• Using one good case.
• Using an index (West’s Topic and Key Number system, Lexis’s Case Notes system).
• Using natural language and terms and connectors (Boolean) searching.

Using Secondary Sources

Chapter 9 discusses different types of secondary sources and how to use them to learn background information about your legal issue and find primary sources of law. To reiterate, when you are starting your research and reading secondary sources, you might come across citations to cases important to that legal topic or issue. You might have noted some cases at that point; but if not, you can circle back to secondary sources to find citations to cases that seem important now that you know a bit more about your issue.

Use Statutory Annotations

If you found an important statute in your research, you probably looked at the annotations to the statute to start finding cases. (See Chapter 10 ).

Use One Good Case

If you found a citation to a relevant case in a secondary source or a statute, you can use that case to find other cases. There are several ways to use a good case to find more cases:

• Look at the cases cited in the good case.
• On Westlaw or Lexis, use the headnote tools in the good case to find other cases.
• On Westlaw or Lexis, use the citators (Key Cite and Shepards) in the good case to find other cases.
• On Google Scholar, use the Cited By and How Cited links to find other cases.

Practice Activity

For the trademark issue, use google scholar to find any relevant cases. Compare your results to the cases you find on a subscription platform such as Westlaw or Lexis.

Use an Index

Westlaw and Lexis have indexing systems that allow you to use legal topics and sub-topics to find cases. On Westlaw, the Topic and Key Number system indexes all U.S. case law; on Lexis, the Topics system provides that service.

You can use the index in a few ways:

• In a case headnote, look at the corresponding index terms or Key Numbers and click on the links to find other cases categorized under that index term or number.
• On Westlaw, find Key Numbers under the Content Types tab and either browse or term search in that list of Key Numbers.
• On Lexis, find the Topics tab and search or browse.
• Use the Key Number or Topic as a search term when you are doing Boolean searching (see below discussion of Boolean searching).

Use Natural Language and Boolean Searching

Most students are adept at using natural language to search for cases. An example of a natural language search is what constitutes trademark infringement on a beer label? Search algorithms have improved, so most platforms you use for searching will produce relevant results. However, most law librarians and legal research and writing professors will advise you to use multiple methods and tools to ensure that your results are both thorough and accurate. In this section, you will learn more about using terms and connectors (also called Boolean language) to search effectively for cases. Boolean searching may seem time-consuming and awkward at first, but with practice, it will become easier.

Boolean Searching

When you encounter a website or research platform, look for a “search help” link, which will inform you of search language and other search tips for that platform. Although the connectors will vary in meaning based on the website or platform you are using, the following are some common terms and connectors:

The connectors are processed in a specific order in your searches. After the connector OR, proximity connectors are processed from narrowest “” to broadest, AND. Sometimes, you need to use parentheses to change the order. For example, frisk! OR search! /3 seiz! should be expressed like this to run properly:  frisk! OR (search! /3 seiz!).

Suggested Activity:

In this activity, you will practice creating a Boolean (terms and connectors search) on the issue of trademark infringement in the context of beer labels and names. Try this search on several platforms, compare results, then revise your searches to try different combinations of terms.

Student added discussion and reflection questions

• Which case searching method do you feel most comfortable with?
• Have you used one type of searching method more than other in your research?
• What type of searching method is the most frustrating for you? Why?

Contribute a discussion or reflection question to this section.

Advanced Legal Research: Process and Practice Copyright © by Megan Austin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Case Law Research: Outline & Guide Information

• Outline & Guide Information
• U.S. Court System
• Federal Case Law Reporters
• State and Regional Case Law Reporters
• Using Secondary Sources
• Using Databases
• Updating Case Law
• Records and Briefs
• Hornbooks & Study Aids
• Abbreviations & Acronyms

Guide Outline

The links below can be used to navigate to various tabs in this guide. Several individual pages may be found beneath the main tabs.

• Case Finding Strategies
• Citation Format
• Abbreviations & Acronyms

Scope of Guide & Advisory Note

This guide is selective and not comprehensive and should be used as a starting point for further research.  

Inclusion of a link to a website on this research guide should not be interpreted as an endorsement of the accuracy or currency of the material on the website. Moreover, no information in this research guide should be interpreted as legal advice.

Additional assistance may be obtained at the Reference Desk .

This guide provides links to a variety of databases, several of which are limited to NYU Law faculty and students. Information for NYU Law students and faculty on obtaining passwords for WestlawNext, Lexis Advance and Bloomberg is available here .

• Next: U.S. Court System >>
• Last Updated: Aug 30, 2023 11:28 AM
• URL: https://nyulaw.libguides.com/caselaw

Pritzker Legal Research Center

Researching case law, what do you need, where to find free case law online.

• Finding Cases
• Determining if Case Law is Still Good

Research Tip

Keep records of your work throughout the process.  Make notes of where you searched and your results from each step.  

This will keep you from having to repeat steps and will help you recall what search terms you used.  If you cannot find a definitive answer, you will be also able to report on what you did find and where you looked.

• Most authoritative statement of rule(s) from high court.
• Most recent reaffirmation of rule(s) from the binding lower courts.
• Which case most approximates your case facts? Do any highly analogous cases exist in other jurisdictions (especially if their overall legal principles are similar)? Typically, real world assignments do not precisely match precedents. The best lawyers are those who see connections between cases with superficial dissimilarities. 
• Which cases state the principles in the most advantageous way? In which cases does the position you represent win (e.g., the defendant, the movant, etc.)? 
• What trouble lurks in the cases that your opponent will exploit in attacking your arguments? 
• What trends can be identified in the cases (e.g., “no court has ever . . .”)? 
• What overarching principles can you synthesize into a framework to demonstrate to a court, even if the framework is not specifically articulated by courts? Are there related principles that may help support arguments you want to make? 

This guide discusses researching case law using Lexis, Westlaw and Bloomberg Law, the commercial databases most frequently used in law firms.  However, there are many free options for conducting case law research online. 

See the Library of Congress's Guide for more information:

• How To Find Free Case Law Online - Library of Congress A research guide to help you locate free case law on the internet using Google Scholar, CourtListener, FindLaw, Justia, and Public Library of Law (PLoL).

This research guide was last revised and updated on 8/22/2019. 

• Next: Finding Cases >>
• Last Updated: Aug 22, 2019 1:57 PM
• URL: https://library.law.northwestern.edu/cases

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How to do legal research in 3 steps

Knowing where to start a difficult legal research project can be a challenge. But if you already understand the basics of legal research, the process can be significantly easier — not to mention quicker.

Solid research skills are crucial to crafting a winning argument. So, whether you are a law school student or a seasoned attorney with years of experience, knowing how to perform legal research is important — including where to start and the steps to follow.

What is legal research, and where do I start? 

Black's Law Dictionary defines legal research as “[t]he finding and assembling of authorities that bear on a question of law." But what does that actually mean? It means that legal research is the process you use to identify and find the laws — including statutes, regulations, and court opinions — that apply to the facts of your case.

In most instances, the purpose of legal research is to find support for a specific legal issue or decision. For example, attorneys must conduct legal research if they need court opinions — that is, case law — to back up a legal argument they are making in a motion or brief filed with the court.

Alternatively, lawyers may need legal research to provide clients with accurate legal guidance . In the case of law students, they often use legal research to complete memos and briefs for class. But these are just a few situations in which legal research is necessary.

Why is legal research hard?

Each step — from defining research questions to synthesizing findings — demands critical thinking and rigorous analysis.

1. Identifying the legal issue is not so straightforward. Legal research involves interpreting many legal precedents and theories to justify your questions. Finding the right issue takes time and patience.

2. There's too much to research. Attorneys now face a great deal of case law and statutory material. The sheer volume forces the researcher to be efficient by following a methodology based on a solid foundation of legal knowledge and principles.

3. The law is a fluid doctrine. It changes with time, and staying updated with the latest legal codes, precedents, and statutes means the most resourceful lawyer needs to assess the relevance and importance of new decisions.

Legal research can pose quite a challenge, but professionals can improve it at every stage of the process . 

Step 1: Key questions to ask yourself when starting legal research

Before you begin looking for laws and court opinions, you first need to define the scope of your legal research project. There are several key questions you can use to help do this.

What are the facts?

Always gather the essential facts so you know the “who, what, why, when, where, and how” of your case. Take the time to write everything down, especially since you will likely need to include a statement of facts in an eventual filing or brief anyway. Even if you don't think a fact may be relevant now, write it down because it may be relevant later. These facts will also be helpful when identifying your legal issue.

What is the actual legal issue?

You will never know what to research if you don't know what your legal issue is. Does your client need help collecting money from an insurance company following a car accident involving a negligent driver? How about a criminal case involving excluding evidence found during an alleged illegal stop?

No matter the legal research project, you must identify the relevant legal problem and the outcome or relief sought. This information will guide your research so you can stay focused and on topic.

What is the relevant jurisdiction?

Don't cast your net too wide regarding legal research; you should focus on the relevant jurisdiction. For example, does your case deal with federal or state law? If it is state law, which state? You may find a case in California state court that is precisely on point, but it won't be beneficial if your legal project involves New York law.

Where to start legal research: The library, online, or even AI?

In years past, future attorneys were trained in law school to perform research in the library. But now, you can find almost everything from the library — and more — online. While you can certainly still use the library if you want, you will probably be costing yourself valuable time if you do.

When it comes to online research, some people start with free legal research options , including search engines like Google or Bing. But to ensure your legal research is comprehensive, you will want to use an online research service designed specifically for the law, such as Westlaw . Not only do online solutions like Westlaw have all the legal sources you need, but they also include artificial intelligence research features that help make quick work of your research

Step 2: How to find relevant case law and other primary sources of law

Now that you have gathered the facts and know your legal issue, the next step is knowing what to look for. After all, you will need the law to support your legal argument, whether providing guidance to a client or writing an internal memo, brief, or some other legal document.

But what type of law do you need? The answer: primary sources of law. Some of the more important types of primary law include:

• Case law, which are court opinions or decisions issued by federal or state courts
• Statutes, including legislation passed by both the U.S. Congress and state lawmakers
• Regulations, including those issued by either federal or state agencies
• Constitutions, both federal and state

Searching for primary sources of law

So, if it's primary law you want, it makes sense to begin searching there first, right? Not so fast. While you will need primary sources of law to support your case, in many instances, it is much easier — and a more efficient use of your time — to begin your search with secondary sources such as practice guides, treatises, and legal articles.

Why? Because secondary sources provide a thorough overview of legal topics, meaning you don't have to start your research from scratch. After secondary sources, you can move on to primary sources of law.

For example, while no two legal research projects are the same, the order in which you will want to search different types of sources may look something like this:

• Secondary sources . If you are researching a new legal principle or an unfamiliar area of the law, the best place to start is secondary sources, including law journals, practice guides , legal encyclopedias, and treatises. They are a good jumping-off point for legal research since they've already done the work for you. As an added bonus, they can save you additional time since they often identify and cite important statutes and seminal cases.
• Case law . If you have already found some case law in secondary sources, great, you have something to work with. But if not, don't fret. You can still search for relevant case law in a variety of ways, including running a search in a case law research tool.

Once you find a helpful case, you can use it to find others. For example, in Westlaw, most cases contain headnotes that summarize each of the case's important legal issues. These headnotes are also assigned a Key Number based on the topic associated with that legal issue. So, once you find a good case, you can use the headnotes and Key Numbers within it to quickly find more relevant case law.

• Statutes and regulations . In many instances, secondary sources and case law list the statutes and regulations relevant to your legal issue. But if you haven't found anything yet, you can still search for statutes and regs online like you do with cases.

Once you know which statute or reg is pertinent to your case, pull up the annotated version on Westlaw. Why the annotated version? Because the annotations will include vital information, such as a list of important cases that cite your statute or reg. Sometimes, these cases are even organized by topic — just one more way to find the case law you need to support your legal argument.

Keep in mind, though, that legal research isn't always a linear process. You may start out going from source to source as outlined above and then find yourself needing to go back to secondary sources once you have a better grasp of the legal issue. In other instances, you may even find the answer you are looking for in a source not listed above, like a sample brief filed with the court by another attorney. Ultimately, you need to go where the information takes you.

Step 3: Make sure you are using ‘good’ law

One of the most important steps with every legal research project is to verify that you are using “good" law — meaning a court hasn't invalidated it or struck it down in some way. After all, it probably won't look good to a judge if you cite a case that has been overruled or use a statute deemed unconstitutional. It doesn't necessarily mean you can never cite these sources; you just need to take a closer look before you do.

The simplest way to find out if something is still good law is to use a legal tool known as a citator, which will show you subsequent cases that have cited your source as well as any negative history, including if it has been overruled, reversed, questioned, or merely differentiated.

For instance, if a case, statute, or regulation has any negative history — and therefore may no longer be good law — KeyCite, the citator on Westlaw, will warn you. Specifically, KeyCite will show a flag or icon at the top of the document, along with a little blurb about the negative history. This alert system allows you to quickly know if there may be anything you need to worry about.

Some examples of these flags and icons include:

• A red flag on a case warns you it is no longer good for at least one point of law, meaning it may have been overruled or reversed on appeal.
• A yellow flag on a case warns that it has some negative history but is not expressly overruled or reversed, meaning another court may have criticized it or pointed out the holding was limited to a specific fact pattern.
• A blue-striped flag on a case warns you that it has been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court or the U.S. Court of Appeals.
• The KeyCite Overruling Risk icon on a case warns you that the case may be implicitly undermined because it relies on another case that has been overruled.

Another bonus of using a citator like KeyCite is that it also provides a list of other cases that merely cite your source — it can lead to additional sources you previously didn't know about.

Perseverance is vital when it comes to legal research

Given that legal research is a complex process, it will likely come as no surprise that this guide cannot provide everything you need to know.

There is a reason why there are entire law school courses and countless books focused solely on legal research methodology. In fact, many attorneys will spend their entire careers honing their research skills — and even then, they may not have perfected the process.

So, if you are just beginning, don't get discouraged if you find legal research difficult — almost everyone does at first. With enough time, patience, and dedication, you can master the art of legal research.

Thomson Reuters originally published this article on November 10, 2020.

Related insights

Westlaw tip of the week: Checking cases with KeyCite

Why legislative history matters when crafting a winning argument

Case law research tools: The most useful free and paid offerings

Request a trial and experience the fastest way to find what you need

Basic Legal Research Guide: Case Law

• Getting Started
• Dictionaries
• Encyclopedias
• Law Reviews
• Restatements
• Statutes and Codes
• Administrative Law
• Illinois Resources
• Research Strategy

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. 

• << Previous: Treatises
• Next: Statutes and Codes >>
• Last Updated: Apr 11, 2024 2:11 PM
• URL: https://lawlibguides.luc.edu/firstyearlegalresearch

Introduction to Legal Research

Introduction

• Legislative Branch (statutory law)

The Judicial Process

Federal court system, finding a case, finding a case: annotated codes, finding a case: digests, find a case: legal encyclopedias, additional places to access federal case law, case reporters, reading a case citation, additional guides.

• Executive Branch (administrative law)
• Secondary Sources
• Georgia Law

Case Law and Its Authority

Case law is the collection of reported cases that form the body of law withing a given jurisdiction.  It is based upon judicial opinions by various courts, which may set future precedent.

Courts in the United States adhere to stare decisis , which generally means that courts respect and adhere to the precedent of previous decisions.  However, a court does not have to stand by 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. 

A decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th 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 11th Circuit.

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.

A case starts at the trial court level, which could either be a trial by judge or trial by jury.  Generally, evidence and witnesses are presented at the trial court level.

An appellate court will hear appeals from parties seeking to change the result of the case heard at the trial court.  An appellate court will not answer questions of fact, meaning they will not review the evidence in a case.  Instead, the appellate court rules on questions of law, which means it considers legal issues.  

Because of the parallel system between state courts and federal courts, researching case law can be difficult and complex.  A researcher will often need to determine if their issue is one that is inherently federal or state.  Even then, some issues can overlap each other and require a state and federal analysis. 

The federal court system is made up of the following courts, excluding the specialized courts: 

The following link provides a map and additional information on the 11 circuits, the federal circuit, and the Supreme Court.

A researcher will not always have a case citation when they begin their research.  Often times a researcher will have an issue or topic that are looking for case law on.  Without a case citation, a researcher would have a daunting challenge trying to go straight to a case reporter and locate a case on their topic.  However, there are several avenues that a researcher can go down if they do not have a citation for a case.

Here are a few suggestions when looking for case law without a citation:

• Annotated Codes (statutes): annotated codes such as the United States Code Annotated (West) or the United States Code Service (LexisNexis) provide researchers with citations to case law. 
• Digests: provide an indexing function for cases in the National Reporter system.  
• Legal Encylopedias: cover a wide range of topics that are arranged alphabetically.  Many of the topics include footnotes with citations to relevant case law.     
• LexisNexis Academic: research system that allows users to search for cases by party name, case citation, or by keyword searches. 

Each of these methods are described in more detail in the boxes that follow.

Annotated codes produced by West and LexisNexis are a great way to find cases on a particular topic.  As mentioned on the Legislative tab , not every law is statutory law, therefore this would not be a good place to find cases where the underlying law is not rooted in statutory law.  However, for issues that do invoke statutory law, the annotated codes are an efficient way to find cases that have cited that particular statute.

Both the United States Code Annotated and the United States Code Service provide case citations after the text of the statute.  The cases will be grouped together by topic and they will often include a short summary.  This provides the researcher with an easier method of locating case law that deals with their particular issue.

For more information on finding a statute in an annotated code, please refer back to the  Legislative tab .  

West's Digests provide an indexing function for the cases in the National Reporter System.  The digests allow researchers to locate cases by subject from any jurisdiction.  In addition, the digests provide an abstracting function, giving researchers short summaries of the points of law discussed in the indexed opinions.  This enables researchers to determine if a case would be worth further exploring without having to read the entire case.   

The Digest System sub-divides the law into over 450 Topics , which are broad legal issues, and then further sub-divided into Key Numbers , which are assigned to specific legal issues within the broader issue.  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 isssue to find other cases from other jurisdictions that discuss the same issue.  Remember that you need to know both the topic AND the key number to search the digests.

Currently, the GSU College of Law Library has West's Federal Practice Digest in its collection.  There are two ways that one can search the federal practice digest:

• Table of Cases:   The table of cases lists all of the cases indexed in the digest in alphabetical order.  In addition to the case name and citation, the table of cases also provides the Topics and Key Numbers that apply to that particular case.  This is a great way for a researcher to find the citation for their case if they have the name of the case.  Additionally, this is also a great way to see all of the Topics and Key Numbers that apply to a particular case.  This may lead to futher investigation of those Topics and Key Numbers, which could produce additional cases on the issue for the researcher.
• Desciptive Word Index: The descriptive word index allows researchers to search by topics and subtopics.  A researcher may start with a broad topic and then narrow down the topic to a subtopic.  A subtopic will either provide the appropriate Topic and Key Number where one can find that topic, or it will refer the researcher to another topic.  The index also includes a table at the beginning which lists the topics in order and their abbreviations used in the index.

Here is the typical process of using the descriptive word index to find a case along with an example: 

• A user who is doing research on "abduction" would first go to the Descriptive Word Index. The index is usually several volumes of the digest, generally located near the end of the set of books. Looking under "abduction," one would find several subtopics. If one was only concerned with the criminal liability involved in abduction, they they would look at "CRIMINAL liability" under the term "ABDUCTION." Criminal liability provides the user with the Topic and Key Number Crim Law 45.10 .
• The front of each index provides the researcher with a list of digest topics and what the abbreviations mean.  In the case of our example, Crim Law would mean topic Criminal Law.  Topics are in order alphabetically in the digest.  Therefore, to locate Criminal Law, one would need to just look on the spine of the book until the come to the appropriate volume.  
• Once at the appropriate volume and topic, the researcher can flip to Key Number 45.10.  Key numbers will be in chronological order in each topic.  Once at the correct key number, the researcher will see lists of cases with ciatations and short summaries of those cases.  If the case appears to be on point with what the researcher is looking for, then they can take down the case citation and retrieve that case from the appropriate reporter.

Legal encyclopedias are another great way to find case citations on topics.  Generally, a legal encyclopedia is arranged alphabetically by topic, which are further divded into more detailed subtopics.  Legal encyclopedias provide broad coverage of American state and federal law, including excerpts from judicial decisions and statutes.

For researching federal law, the two most popluar legal encyclopedias are American Jurisprudence (AmJur) and Corpus Juris Secundum (CJS).  Both of these publications provide researchers with a summary of the state of the law along with references to West's Topic and Key Numbers. 

Methods for Searching

Researchers can search for their issue in AmJur and CJS using the General Index.  Similiar to other indexes, the General Index is organized alphabetically by topic, with each topic divided into subtopics.  Citations are provided in Topic and Section format.  An abbreviations table is provided at the front of each volume of the general index to aid researchers in identifying topic names in the index.  Similiar to digets, once a researcher has the topic name and section number for their specific subtopic, they can browse the spine of the books and look for the topic name.  Once at the correct topic name, they can then look for the appropriate section number.  Sections are listed in chronological order. 

In addition to the General Index, AmJur also includes a volume entitled "Table of Laws and Rules."  This volume has several tables which provide cross references from United States Code Annotated sections and Code of Federal Regulations sections to topics and sections in AmJur.  This enables researchers to find articles citing those particular laws and regulations, which could lead to further case citations. 

Printed Reporters and LexisNexis Academic are not the only places researchers can access case law.  Many websites are devoted to providing free access to case law.  Although not comprehensive, many of these websites do offer a good amount of case law if someone knows what they are looking for.  

• Justia Justia provides legal information on numerous legal topics and jurisdictions, including federal and state case law.
• Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law The "Federal Law" section provides users with links to all of the Federal Courts' pages which provide court decisions. Although not comprehensive, many of these pages do provide case law from at least the mid-1990's. This is a good source of free case law.
• Oyez The Oyez Project is a multimedia archive devoted to the Supreme Court of the United States and its work. It aims to be a complete and authoritative source for all audio recorded in the Court since the installation of a recording system in October 1955. The Project also provides authoritative information on all justices and offers a virtual reality 'tour' of portions of the Supreme Court building, including the chambers of some of the justices.
• FindLaw Contains links for both state and federal cases. Opinions are categorized by jurisdiction.

Cases are published in chronological order in books called reporters .  Below is a list of the reporters for the three levels of federal courts:

Some reporters only include cases from a specific court.  For example, the United States Reports only publishes opinions from the Supreme Court of the United States.  On the other hand, some reporters includes cases from courts within a specific geographical region, also known as regional reporters.  For example, the South Eastern Reporter publishes reported cases from the southeastern United States, such as Georgia and North Carolina.  Moreover, some reporters only publish cases on a specific topic, such as bankruptcy or tax. 

In addition to these designations, reporters are also classified as official or unofficial reporters.  An official reporter simply means that it is the publication designated by statute or court order as official.  Generally it will contain only the text of the opinion.  A case published in an unofficial reporter will include the same text of the same case from the official reporter, but it will also include headnotes, topics, key numbers, and other aids to assist researchers.

Parallel Citations

As mentioned above, a case can be published in an official reporter and an unofficial reporter.  For that reason, a single case may have 2 or more citations.  When a case has more than one citation, the subsequent citations are known as parallell citations.  A classic example of this is Bush v. Gore , 531 U.S. 98, 121 S. Ct. 525, 148 L. Ed. 2d 388 (2000).

As one can see, not only is Bush v. Gore cited in the official reporter ( United States Reports ), but also in two unofficial reporters ( Supreme Court Reporter and Lawyer's Edition . 

Case citations allow a researcher to find a case quickly and easily.  Similiar to statutory citations, all case citations follow the same structured format.  This enables researchers to clearly identify the parts of a citation and where to locate the case.

Here is a breakdown of the citation for Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973).

From this, a researcher can determine that the case Roe v. Wade is located in United States Reports , Volume 410, Page 113.

The process is the same with parallel citations.  So if we use the previous example of Bush v. Gore , 531 U.S. 98, 121 S. Ct. 525, 148 L. Ed. 2d 388 (2000), the breakdown would look something like this:

Thus, a researcher would be able to either of these 3 reporters and find the same case using that reporter's volume and page numbers.  

Pinpoint Cite

A researcher may also come across a citation that includes an additional number after the page number.  This additional number, numbers or range of numbers are called pinpoint cites.  Cases and articles will often use these to refer researchers to exactly where the thought arose from.  Here is an example using  Bush v. Gore , 531 U.S. 98 (2000).

Federal Reporter Citation

Cases cited to Federal Reporter will have an extra element in the citation to identify the court.  Unlike the United States Reports, Supreme Court Reporter, and Lawyer's Edition, which only publishes cases from the Supreme Court of the United States, the Federal Reporter publishes cases from several different courts.  Therefore, cases published in these reporters include an element in the parentheses to identify the court that rendered the decision. 

Here is an example using United States v. MacDonald , 531 F.2d 196 (4th Cir. 1976).

In this case, the deciding court is 4th Cir. which means United States Court of Appeals, 4th Circuit.

Each circuit court will have its own abbreviation which will help the researcher identify the court that rendered the decision.  This is important for researchers because they might only want to find cases from their jurisdiction.  

Here is a table circuits and their abbreviations used in case citations for the United States Court of Appeals:

Federal Supplement Citation

Similar to the Federal Reporter , cases cited to the Federal Supplemen t will also include an extra element in the citation.  Cases cited to the Federal Supplement are United States District Court decisions.  Therefore, an extra element will be included in these citations so that a researcher can determine which court rendered the decision.  

Here is an example using Jenkins v. Byrd , 103 F. Supp. 2d 1350 (S.D. Ga. 2000).

In this case, the deciding court was the S.D. Ga, which means the United States District Court,Southern District of Georgia.

Because there could be several United States District Courts inside one state, a researcher unfamiliar with a state may need to look up the court abbreviation to determine which court is referenced in the citation.  

Here is a brief list of some abbreviations for United States District Courts that might be most useful for researchers in Georgia: 

For additional district court abbreviations, please refer to George Butterfield's libguide titled Legal Abbreviations.  

Here are some research guides created by other law schools that might be helpful in explaining how to conduct case law legal research.

• Boston University School of Law Federal Case Law Research
• Georgetown University Law Center Case Law Research Guide
• Georgetown University Law Center Case Law Research Tutorial
• University of Washington School of Law Case Law Research Checklist
• University of Washington School of Law Case Law Research
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• Last Updated: Feb 29, 2024 11:02 AM
• URL: https://libguides.law.gsu.edu/intro

Free Legal Research Resources - United States

Federal law & gov't docs, secondary sources, data sources, getting help, how to use this guide.

This guide contains selected, free, online United States federal and state legal research materials.

Many lawyers have access to paid databases. Yet, combining paid and free resources, can help them to avoid potentially expensive searches. According to a 2020 Legal Technology Survey Report, nearly 60% of lawyers “say they regularly use free online resources to conduct legal research.”

• Legal Technology - ABA Legal Profile

For researchers without access to paid databases, the following resources may be essential. Legal research is often more effective when using a local law library. To learn more about law libraries throughout the United States, visit:

• Local Law Libraries by AJ Blechner Last Updated Apr 12, 2024 558 views this year

Range of Materials

The Constitution

Statutes and Legislative Materials

Statutes and legislative materials are becoming available freely online, with increasing frequency. Free resources can be a great starting place for statutory research. However, always make sure you confirm your findings in an authoritative version of the law.

Supreme Court

Case Law and Court Documents

Federal case law and court documents are often available freely online, particularly recently decided cases. Check the website of the deciding court for digital copies of their cases. In addition, the following resources provide free case law.

Case Validation

Case involves ensuring that cases have not been overruled or negatively impacted by later caselaw. Case searching and retrieval through free databases is increasingly achievable. However, paid services are still most often used to validate cases. Tools that facilitate this case validation process are called citators. The best way to access free citators is through state and local public law libraries. To find a state or local law library visit:

Executive Documents

State Statutes and Regulations

Many states and localities publish some or all of their legislative materials on their website. Consider starting with the website of the state or locality in question. Remember, materials on official government websites, may not be the “official copy.” The National Conference of State Legislators provides a list of State Legislative Websites.

The sources below provide alternatives for hard-to-find state materials.

State Case Law and Court Documents

Courts are increasingly making their materials freely available online, frequently via the court website. This is particularly true for state Supreme Courts. When looking for state case law, consider starting with the website of the deciding court. The National Center for State Courts provides a list of state court websites.

U.S. Treaties

Several government-sponsored websites provide the full-text of U.S. treaties on the web. Refer to the list below for date ranges for each sources.

Foreign & International Law

For free resources on foreign and international law, see our foreign and international law guide:

• Free Legal Research Resources - Foreign & International by AJ Blechner Last Updated Sep 12, 2023 483 views this year

Journal Search & Legal Opinions - Google Scholar

Google Scholar offers access to many legal documents including patents, legal opinions and journals. Use the search box below and select the appropriate options from the dropdown menu at the top left of your screen.

While many journals are only available through paid databases, high-quality, open access journals are increasingly common. The following sources collect freely available journal articles.

Books, Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Treatises, Dissertations, Etc.

Secondary sources are also increasingly available online for free. 

Federal Data Sources

Many government data sources are made available to the public for free online. Check the websites of relevant agencies or organizations to look for additional data.

• Additional sources are available on the Harvard Law School Library's website.

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How to Conduct a Case Law Research: Step-by-Step Guide

This article on ‘ How to Conduct a Case Law Research: Step-by-Step Guide ‘ is a guide for law students.

Have confidence in your work and submit now – your ideas deserve to be read! Do Check the Submission Guidelines before submitting.

Table of Contents

Introduction.

When it comes to the practice of law or lawyers in general, the most common image that pops into our minds is of them arguing in court, defending their clients by interpreting the law in their favour. We often forget the fact that such arguments require a thorough amount of research on various laws, precedents, legislations, etc.

Legal research is not only an essential skill for a lawyer who has years of experience but also for a law student starting his/her career. This is why it is important to know the basics of Legal research thoroughly. Case Laws are an important component of legal research, they provide an insight on how courts have interpreted the law in specific cases.

This article will provide a step-by-step guide on conducting thorough case law research to make your research paper and arguments solid.

What is Law Research?

Law research involves the process of searching and gathering various relevant legal information that applies to a particular legal question or issue. It involves analyzing various sources of law such as statutes, precedents, regulations, case laws, court opinions, etc.

The purpose of legal research is to provide analysis and understanding of a specific issue. It is needed to establish a solid foundation for legal action. This skill helps lawyers, law students, and other legal professionals back up an argument in the court of law, to provide case briefs in class, and give a piece of strong legal advice to clients. This is done using a variety of tools such as legal databases, libraries, online resources, and others to locate and review primary and secondary sources of law.

Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting Thorough Case Law Research

Following are the steps one should follow while conducting case law research:

Step 1: Understand the Facts of the Case.

The first and foremost thing one should analyze is the facts of the case. It is crucial to gather the facts of the case, know the ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘why, ‘when’, and ‘how’ of your case. Write down everything that has taken place in the case and everything that is going on presently. It is important to write down facts that are not so relevant as well. Sometimes these facts may seem unimportant, but they can make a big difference in the case. Check and revise it often to make sure it is accurate.

One should make sure to include the dates of incidents as well and use those dates to make a case timeline. This will help you be aware of the important dates in the case and provide a helping hand in your legal research process. Facts also help you in identifying your legal issues.

Step 2: Determine your Legal Issue.

The second step helps one get an idea of the legal issue they are facing. It often can be difficult to figure out where to start your case law research, identifying the issue will provide a guide on what type of law should be researched. For example, if one has committed the offense of murder, the laws applied would come under Criminal Law. We all know Criminal Law is very broad in nature, hence narrowing down the problem will help in finding the sections related to the offenses much easier.

What will be the remedy for the case?

As we stated the importance of identifying the legal issue of the case, is also important that what remedy should we seek from the court of law. Taking the example of murder as mentioned earlier, if our client has been accused of murder, we must prove that he is innocent. If a person has falsely accused our client, then it would be necessary to seek relief for such cause. It is also important to note at what stage are we seeking remedy, has our client already been sentenced? or whether the trial is still going on. These are important considerations at the initial stages of legal research.

What jurisdiction will it fall under?

Jurisdiction plays a main role in finding solutions to the issues if we are filing a case at the wrong court, no matter how good a person is at arguments, time will be wasted. In the aforementioned example, if the accused and the victim both reside in Mumbai and the crime has taken place in the the same city, it is necessary to file a case in the High Court of Mumbai and not Delhi, as Mumbai has geographical jurisdiction.

Step 3: Use of Case Laws.

The next step of this process is to know the law that would support your legal arguments. There are two types of sources of laws you could use to make your arguments and research more robust.

• Primary Sources
• Secondary Sources

Primary Sources:

Primary Sources of law are key to legal research. These sources are the foundations of law and provide a clear view and understanding of the current laws. Sources such as Constitution, Statutes, Legislations, Treaties, Regulations, and Case Laws are said to be Primary Sources of Law.

Secondary Sources:

Secondary Sources of Law are those that explain or interpret laws in detail. They summarize and give a better understanding of particular laws in great detail. These sources include, Law review articles, journals, guides, etc. Secondary sources save a lot of time for the researcher, if the source is reputable, the writer of the said source must have analyzed and reviewed all primary sources as they go through the process of legal research too. You can take advantage of the citations in law journals and articles.

Check that the law you’re using is a ‘good law’- it is essential to verify whether the cases and precedents one might come across are good and valid, using an unconstitutional or overruled case law might be more harmful than helpful.

Overall, law case law research is a critical skill that needs to be instilled in every legal professional to stay informed and make a well-rounded legal decision. To summarize, one needs to gather facts about the case and make sure to identify the issues about the case. One should be patient and careful and by using case laws as support, arguments in court will be solid and help you win your case.

• Sharon Miki, “A Step-by-Step Guide on How to Do Legal Research”, Clio, available at: https://www.clio.com/blog/how-to-do-legal-research/ (last visited on 20 July 2023)
• “Legal Research: Steps to Follow”, Texas Law Help, available at: https://texaslawhelp.org/article/legal-research-steps-to-follow (last visited on 20 July 2023)
• “How to do legal research in 3 steps”, Thomson Reuters, 10 November 2020, available at: https://legal.thomsonreuters.com/en/insights/articles/basics-of-legal-research-steps-to-follow (last visited on 20 July 2023)

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Title: pilot: legal case outcome prediction with case law.

Abstract: Machine learning shows promise in predicting the outcome of legal cases, but most research has concentrated on civil law cases rather than case law systems. We identified two unique challenges in making legal case outcome predictions with case law. First, it is crucial to identify relevant precedent cases that serve as fundamental evidence for judges during decision-making. Second, it is necessary to consider the evolution of legal principles over time, as early cases may adhere to different legal contexts. In this paper, we proposed a new framework named PILOT (PredictIng Legal case OuTcome) for case outcome prediction. It comprises two modules for relevant case retrieval and temporal pattern handling, respectively. To benchmark the performance of existing legal case outcome prediction models, we curated a dataset from a large-scale case law database. We demonstrate the importance of accurately identifying precedent cases and mitigating the temporal shift when making predictions for case law, as our method shows a significant improvement over the prior methods that focus on civil law case outcome predictions.

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Consum Research v. Consum Prod Sfty, No. 22-40328 (5th Cir. 2024)

This opinion or order relates to an opinion or order originally issued on January 17, 2024.

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The Budget Lab at Yale Launches to Provide Novel Analysis for Federal Policy Proposals

The  Budget Lab at Yale , a nonpartisan policy research center, launched on April 12 to provide in-depth analysis for federal policy proposals impacting the American economy. For too long, according to the center’s founders, policy analysis has been narrowly focused on short-term cost estimates, or traditional budget scores, according to the center’s founders. The Budget Lab aims to fill a critical gap in policy evaluation, particularly focusing on the long-term effects of proposed policies on the economy, the income distribution, and recipients. The Budget Lab’s initial analysis , released today, examines both the Tax Cut and Jobs Act (TCJA) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC) through this broader lens.  

The Budget Lab is co-founded by leading economic advisors and academics whose goal is to bring fresh ideas and new methods to policy making. 

• Natasha Sarin, Co-founder and President, is a Professor of Law at Yale Law School with a secondary appointment at the Yale School of Management in the Finance Department. She served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy and later as a Counselor to the U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. 
• Danny Yagan, Co-founder and Chief Economist, is an Associate Professor of Economics at UC Berkeley and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. He was the Chief Economist of the White House Office of Management and Budget.
• Martha Gimbel, Co-founder and Executive Director, is a former Senior Advisor at the White House Council of Economic Advisers, Senior Policy Advisor to the U.S Secretary of Labor, and Senior Economist and Research Director at Congress’s Joint Economic Committee. 

“For many of the greatest policy challenges of our time — investing in children, combating climate change — their most important impact is not on short-run GDP. We need to understand the effects on poverty, on emissions reduction, on the income distribution,” said Sarin. “We are excited to share the tools we have built to analyze the fiscal and social impacts of government policies so policymakers can make better choices.”

The Budget Lab’s work will look at issues not included in current budget policy assessment methods, particularly in evaluating the full scope of costs and returns related to policies including the child tax credit, tax cuts, paid family leave, deficit reduction, and universal pre-K. The Lab’s innovative approach bridges this gap by offering a combination of existing open-source models and our microsimulation tax model to provide fast, transparent, and innovative estimates that unlock deeper insights.

“Our approach implements a new lens to improve existing conventions for distributional impacts by showing how policies affect families over time,” added Yagan. 

One key aspect of the Budget Lab’s commitment to transparency is its open-access model code. The code used to produce analysis is publicly available, fostering trust and allowing policymakers to understand how the Budget Lab arrives at its results. It also allows for the infrastructure of the budget model the team is developing to be leveraged by others interested in similar analysis. 

“Our aim is to provide rapid responses to important policy questions with the ability to think not only about the costs of policies but also about benefits and the return on investments,” said Martha Gimbel.  “Our tax microsimulation model, budget estimates, and interactives will paint a broader and more realistic picture of how Americans will benefit from proposed government initiatives.”  

The Budget Lab is hosting a launch event at the National Press Club on April 12 where the leadership team will share new research on budget scoring for TCJA and CTC. The event will include remarks by Shalanda Young, Director of the Office of Management and Budget and a panel discussion with Joshua Bolten, former Director of the Office of Management and Budget and White House Chief of Staff for President George W. Bush; Doug Holtz-Eakin, former Director of Congressional Budget Office and economic policy advisor to Sen. John McCain; and will be moderated by Greg Ip of The Wall Street Journal .   

Budget Lab Team

In addition to the Budget Lab co-founders, the team includes leading economists who have extensive experience in the public sector. 

Ernie Tedeschi, Director of Economics, was most recently the chief economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisors. Rich Prisinzano, is the Director of Policy Analysis, previously served at the Penn Wharton Budget Model and for over a decade as an economist in the Office of Tax Analysis in the U.S. Department of Treasury. John Ricco, Associate Director of Policy Analysis, is an economic researcher with a decade of experience building microsimulation models to inform public policy debates and was formerly with the Penn Wharton Budget Model and also a research analyst at the International Monetary Fund. Harris Eppsteiner, Associate Director of Policy Analysis, was a Special Assistant to the Chairman and research economist at the White House Council on Economic Advisors. 

In the Press

Police union holds rally, passes out leaflets during bulldog days, law school clinic’s discrimination case on behalf of black veterans proceeds, larry summers and natasha sarin on trump’s tax cuts and reducing wealth inequity through tax policy, transgender veterans sue v.a. over gender-affirming surgeries, related news.

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The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday concerning obstruction of justice charges in cases related to the January 6 riots at the US Capitol building in 2020.

Several justices, including the court’s conservative bloc, expressed skepticism with the government’s broad reading of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c) , the statute used to charge the alleged rioters. The court’s liberal wing, however, appeared to be in lockstep with interpreting the statute to include the actions taken during the Jan. 6 riots.

The statute, which was part of the Corporate Fraud and Accountability Act of 2002, was originally passed after the Enron scandal to create a crime for individuals intending to destroy or attempt to destroy documents or other evidence so they could not be used in an “official proceeding.”

Historically, the law has been mostly used to prosecute individuals who were destroying evidence so it could not be used in court. However, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, who is representing the government in the case, argued that the statute has been used to charge individuals who have more generally impeded proceedings as well. Prelogar pointed to a case where the offending party exposed an undercover officer’s identity and another case where a party revealed a grand jury investigation to the subject of that investigation.

Much of the arguments centered around the second part of § 1512(c), which holds a violator liable for conduct that “otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so …” Specifically, the court focused on the word “otherwise” and whether it included general conduct that obstructs an “official proceeding,” an interpretation the government argued supported their decision to bring the charges.

Justice Roberts on the other hand seemed to indicate reservations with this interpretation, insisting that the second section of the law could not be read without importing the language from the first section that specifically outlawed obstruction through the destruction of tangible things like “record[s], document[s], or other object[s].” Jeffrey T. Green,  lawyer for petitioner Joseph Fischer, argued that this was the proper construction of the statute in that the second section was only meant to outlaw other conduct that pertained to the types of evidence in the first section.

350 people who participated in the Jan. 6 riots were charged under § 1512(c) including former President Donald Trump, whose legal team will argue a presidential immunity defense against these charges and others before the US Supreme Court next week. Should the Supreme Court decide this case in favor of Fischer, dozens of riot participants stand to gain new trials or resentencing.

Sirhan convicted of assassinating RFK

On April 17, 1969, Sirhan Sirhan was convicted of assassinating Senator Robert F. Kennedy and sentenced to death. The sentence was later commuted to life in prison after the Supreme Court of California overturned the death penalty in the state.

Canadian constitution patriated with bill of rights

On April 17, 1982, the Constitution Act 1982 was proclaimed in Ottawa, establishing the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and terminating the British Parliament's power to amend the Canadian constitution.

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Only 1 in 3 US adults think Trump acted illegally in New York hush money case, AP-NORC poll shows

The first criminal trial facing former President Donald Trump is also the one in which Americans are least convinced he committed a crime, a new AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll finds.

FILE - Former President Donald Trump sits in Manhattan criminal court with his legal team in New York, April 15, 2024. (Jabin Botsford/Pool Photo via AP)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The first criminal trial facing former President Donald Trump is also the one in which Americans are least convinced he committed a crime, a new AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll finds.

Only about one-third of U.S. adults say Trump did something illegal in the hush money case for which jury selection began Monday, while close to half think he did something illegal in the other three criminal cases pending against him. And they’re fairly skeptical that Trump is getting a fair shake from the prosecutors in the case — or that the judge and jurors can be impartial in cases involving him.

What to know about Trump’s hush money trial:

• Follow our live updates.
• Trump will be first ex-president on criminal trial. Here’s what to know about the hush money case.
• A jury of his peers: A look at how jury selection will work in Donald Trump’s first criminal trial .
• Donald Trump is facing four criminal indictments, and a civil lawsuit. You can track all of the cases here.

Still, half of Americans would consider Trump unfit to serve as president if he is convicted of falsifying business documents to cover up hush money payments to a woman who said he had a sexual encounter with her.

While a New York jury will decide whether to convict Trump of felony charges, public opinion of the trial proceedings could hurt him politically. The poll suggests a conviction could hurt Trump’s campaign. Trump enters a rematch with President Joe Biden as the first presumptive nominee of a major party — and the first former president — to be under indictment. A verdict is expected in roughly six weeks, well before the Republican National Convention, at which he will accept the GOP nomination.

Trump has made the prosecutions against him a centerpiece of his campaign and argued without evidence that Biden, a Democrat, engineered the cases. That argument helped him consolidate GOP support during the Republican primary, but a conviction might influence how many Americans — including independent voters and people long skeptical of Trump — perceive his candidacy.

“Any conviction should disqualify him,” said Callum Schlumpf, a 31-year-old engineering student and political independent from Clifton, Texas. “It sets a bad example to the rest of the world. I think it misrepresents us, as a country, as to what we believe is important and virtuous.”

Yet, a cloud of doubt hangs over all the proceedings. Only about 3 in 10 Americans feel that any of the prosecutors who have brought charges against Trump are treating the former president fairly. And only about 2 in 10 Americans are extremely or very confident that the judges and jurors in the cases against him can be fair and impartial.

“It’s very obvious political persecution,” said Christopher Ruff, a 46-year-old political independent and museum curator from Sanford, North Carolina. “I’m no fan of Trump in any way, shape or form. Didn’t vote for him, never will. But it’s obviously all political.”

Former President Donald Trump sits in Manhattan criminal court with his legal team in New York, April 15, 2024. (Jabin Botsford/Pool Photo via AP)

Consistent with AP-NORC polls conducted over the past year, the new poll found that about half of Americans say Trump did something illegal regarding the classified documents found at his Florida home , and a similar share think he did something illegal regarding his alleged attempt to interfere in Georgia’s vote count in the 2020 presidential election . The poll also found that nearly half of Americans believe he did something illegal related to his effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election .

Prosecutors in New York will argue that Trump falsified his company’s internal records to hide the true nature of a payment to his former lawyer Michael Cohen. Cohen alleges he was directed by Trump to pay adult film actor Stormy Daniels $130,000 one month before the 2016 election to silence her claims about an extramarital sexual encounter with Trump.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to the 34-count indictment and denied any sexual encounter with Daniels.

The poll found that 35% of Americans say Trump has done something illegal with regard to the hush money allegations. Slightly fewer, about 3 in 10, think he did something unethical without breaking the law. Fourteen percent think he did nothing wrong at all. Those numbers haven’t shifted meaningfully in the year since he was first charged in the case.

Republicans are much less likely than Democrats and independents to say Trump committed a crime in the hush money case.

“He’s done nothing wrong,” said Louie Tsonos, a 43-year-old sales representative and Republican from Carleton, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. “Because Trump has a lot of money and fame, they want to destroy his reputation. Or at least they are trying to.”

Fewer than one in 10 Republicans say Trump did something illegal in the case, while 4 in 10 Republicans think he did something unethical but did not break the law. About 3 in 10 Republicans, like Tsonos, say he did nothing wrong.

By contrast, about 6 in 10 Democrats and roughly 3 in 10 independents believe he did something illegal.

Monica Brown, a Democrat from Knoxville, Tennessee, thinks Trump did something unethical, though not illegal, in the New York criminal case under way. But a conviction would ruin his credibility to serve as president, she said.

“I don’t believe any president – whether it’s Donald Trump or anyone else – should have a criminal conviction on his record,” said Brown, a 60-year-old veterinary technician and social worker. “Even if it’s related to something like hush money, what respect are they going to get from anyone? Citizens of the country or world leaders, they aren’t going to respect you.”

Nearly 6 in 10 Republicans say they would consider Trump fit to be president even if he were to be convicted of falsifying business documents in the hush money case. About 8 in 10 Democrats say Trump would not be fit to serve in the event of a conviction. About half of independents think he would be unfit to serve, with 22% saying he would be fit and 30% saying they didn’t know enough to say.

“I don’t think any of that stuff has any relevance to his ability to lead this country,” said Jennifer Solich, a Republican from York, Pennsylvania, and retired nuclear engineer who believes Trump would be fit to serve if convicted in the New York case. “There may be some unethical aspects to it. I just think it’s more trivial than what we’re facing as a nation.”

Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa.

The poll of 1,204 adults was conducted April 4-8, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.