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Legal Research

Finding Court Cases

There are several ways to search for cases in Nexis Uni

1. The easiest way to search may be by selecting Cases on the opening screen. This will guide you through entering jurisdiction, keywords, and date(s).  Know that you may enter topic keywords and/or party names in the "Search In All Cases For:" box.

2. You may also search for cases by selecting Advanced Search and then selecting the Legal tab.

3.  You may also search for cases by selecting Get a Doc Assistance.  Here you may select Cases By Party Name.  As the name implies, you cannot search by keywords here, such as "intellectual property."

Citing Court Cases

Citations of cases look like this:

 

Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98 (2000).  

  

Here is a breakdown of the formatting.

The "U.S." tells us in what set of books the case is - in this case the United States Reports, which is the official reporter for U.S. Supreme Court cases.  

"531" is the volume number.  

"98" is the page number where the case begins.  

 

Notice too that the plaintiff and defendants’ identities are italicized.

 

The parentheses generally house the court and the year of decision.  Here, there is no court listed because it is the highest court, the U.S. Supreme Court.  

 

Similarly:

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, 597 U.S. 215 (2022).

 

Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973).

 

Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015).

 

If it is the highest court of a state (which this example below was), the state abbreviation is there without specifying the particular court.  The abbreviation represents the publication, not the state.  This case is in Volume 162 of the Northeast Reporter on Page 99.

 

Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co., 162 N.E. 99 (N.Y. 1928).