On Westlaw, use the Advanced Search option after pre-selecting Cases. Then type the attorney or firm's name in the Attorney field. Or, use the appropriate connector (AT). For example, if searching for John Smith, type AT ("john smith") into the search box. You can use the same connector on Lexis: ATTORNEY ("john smith").
When the Lexis attorney-editors read, analyze and summarize cases, they follow the holdings of the courts to ensure summaries are not misconstrued by editorialized headlines. Lawyers can confidently cite Lexis case law in each jurisdiction, every time, knowing that they are leveraging the current, comprehensive collection of each state’s case law.
Also consider a general news search for the attorney or firm of interest. Both Lexis and Westlaw allow the researcher to filter search results to news. Westlaw (fields) and Lexis (segments) allow the researcher to search case law specifically by attorney or firm name. On Westlaw, use the Advanced Search option after pre-selecting Cases.
Litigation Profile Suite searches the LexisNexis® databases for attorneys that meet your search criteria. It then displays any results that are found. (See Understanding Overall Search Results for LexisNexis ® Litigation Profile Suite for details.)
You can use the simple search box at the top of the Home page or the 'Find a Title..' option to search for cases. However, for more search options you may prefer to use the main 'Cases' search screen. Select 'Cases' on the menu bar at the top of the screen.
Although some people may use these 2 terms interchangeably, the LexisNexis® case law group views them as different types of cases. When you look at a case, generally if there is a NOTICE segment, that case is unpublished. If there is not a NOTICE segment and if there is also no hardcopy cite, it is unreported.
Context, a powerful legal tool from the Lexis Analytics™ suite, takes data analysis to another level to help you create a strong case strategy. Built on powerful natural language processing capabilities, Context uses machine learning technology to help attorneys pinpoint precise court language.
A yellow triangle indicates that there may be some negative treatment but that the case has not been overturned. The red octagon indicates that the case has been overturned on at least one point of law. A full list of all the signals and additional help in using Shepard's is available in the Lexis Advance Help Guide.
Unreported cases It is always worth searching the major databases such as Westlaw and LexisLibrary in the first instance as they may have a transcript. BAILII is also a good place to look for unreported cases and judgments.
The References list citation for an unpublished decision found in a legal database follows this format: Name v. Name, No. docket number, Year Court Database record number, at *screen page number (Court Month Day, Year).
To locate a case of interest, enter a keyword into the search box and use the drop-down menu to choose a jurisdiction, or simply click on a hyperlinked jurisdiction, choose a court and date, and then browse through a list of cases.
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Lexis recently introduced Context, which offers Judge Analytics and Expert Analytics. Context derives its data from court documents and uses the data to predict how judges will rule on expert testimony, how likely a claim is to prevail, and to pinpoint language and case law most often used by a judge.
The blue “A” signal indicates that citing references in the Shepard's Citations Service contain treatment of your case that is neither positive nor negative (for example, explained by). Explained by—The citing opinion interprets or clarifies the case you are Shepardizing in a significant way.
A blue-striped flag warns that the case has been appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals or the U.S. Supreme Court (excluding appeals originating from agencies).
The Shepard's Signal™ feature shows an at-a-glance precedential value of the case or statute you are Shepardizing. Graphically represented by one of seven possible signals, the Shepard's Signal also provides hypertext links directly to the Shepard's ® Citation Service report specific to the document being viewed.
The Attorney field searches the terms that are entered using a segment search. Take the following steps to search by an attorney's name in the Attorney field:
Apostrophes (') Apostrophes are searched when using the Attorney field.
The Search Box uses Lexis ® search logic. You can construct Natural Language or Terms & Connectors searches. You can also utilize wildcards and segments. Put your search terms in quotation marks to look for an exact phrase when running Natural Language searches.
Lexis provides data-driven tools to help attorneys zero in on relevant cases and expedite case law research.
Lexis is the best place to start state case law research with more than 60,000 trusted legal, news and public records sources. Unlock a world-leading content collection—with resources that help you practice more efficiently, improve client outcomes and add more value.
CourtLink ® docket and document research tools help you conduct thorough due diligence, monitor litigation affecting your legal practice and identify new business opportunities. Search across the full text of more than 168 million federal and state court dockets and documents in a single ...
How can you build your strategy on sound law? A first step is to find the most relevant case law and codes for your jurisdiction and legal practice areas. Headnotes and case summaries can help save you time and help you develop insight—as long as you know they are written using editorial discipline. And by using a proven resource for validating cases and statutes, you can be truly confident in your work. Plus, if you’re working in transactional law, you can save time by viewing the most relevant cases and codes identified by leading practitioners.
Use Lexis ® folders to save legal documents along with your highlighting and annotations. Lexis also gives you access to legal forms for specific practice areas and jurisdictions, plus checklists and related drafting tools.
To perform a quick and factual comparison across states, select a LexisNexis ® 50-State Survey covering every state’s current law on a particular topic—statutes, regulations and court rules—all in one document. Each survey offers direct links to statutes, regulations and/or court rules ...
LexisNexis offers content organized for all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., the federal government, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, as well as more than 40 areas of practice. Plus, specialized tools help you build insight in practice areas like intellectual property and medical malpractice.
If you rely on the “open Web” and tools like Google Alerts ® for your must-have news and business coverage, you could be missing vital information. Read our “Monitoring the News” White Paper to learn more.
State Net ® tools enable you to reduce risk by identifying, assessing and responding quickly to legislative and regulatory activity. Benefit from single-source access to thousands of documents and resources collected, edited and linked for relevancy by experts with deep-domain experience. ...
The Answer. In the answer, the defendant tells his side of the story. He is supposed to admit facts that are true and deny allegations that are not true. This answer must be filed within a certain period of time which is usually stated on the summons.
If such a dispute were filed in a circuit court, a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction would be appropriate. A motion for summary judgment is appropriate in situations where there are no important facts in dispute and the only dispute is how the law should be applied to the facts.
A class action can occur when a group of plaintiffs have same cause of action against one defendant. For example a group of consumers might sue a lender for failure to pay abide by federal truth-in-lending disclosures on their loan forms.
Class actions are sometimes filed against large companies.
For example, in many states, the statute of limitations regarding a cause of action for breach of contract is three years, while the cause of action for an intentional tort, like slander, is one year.
The claim can be for money damages. It could also be a claim for equitable remedies like specific performance ( e.g., court forcing a party to abide by a contract) or an injunction ( e.g., stopping a person from doing something). The complaint must establish jurisdiction of the court in which it is filed.
In direct examination of a witness, the attorney calling the witness will ask the questions. In the cross-examination of the witness, the opposing counsel asks questions. He will often try to discredit the witness. For example, if accident that is the subject of the suit occurred at night, the questioning might go something like this: 1 You testified that you were 60 ft. from the accident, is that correct? 2 The accident happened on August 15, is that correct? 3 It was cloudy that night, wasn’t it? 4 It was dark, wasn’t it? 5 You couldn’t see very well, could you?
Annotations will also remind you of forgotten thoughts and random ideas by providing a medium for personal comments. In addition to making it easier to review an original case, annotating cases during the first review of a case makes the briefing process easier.
The more you brief, the easier it will become to extract the relevant information . While a brief is an extremely helpful and important study aid, annotating and highlighting are other tools for breaking down the mass of material in your casebook.
The case brief represents a final product after reading a case, rereading it, taking it apart, and putting it back together again. In addition to its function as a tool for self-instruction and referencing, the case brief also provides a valuable “cheat sheet” for class participation.
An annotation in the margin, however, will not only swiftly guide you to a pertinent section, but will also refresh the thoughts that you had while reading that section. When you read a case for the first time, read for the story and for a basic understanding of the dispute, the issues, the rationale, and the decision.
You should include the facts that are necessary to remind you of the story. If you forget the story, you will not remember how the law in the case was applied. You should also include the facts that are dispositive to the decision in the case. For instance, if the fact that a car is white is a determining factor in the case, ...
So now that you know the basic elements of a brief, what information is important to include under each element? The simple answer is: whatever is relevant. But what parts of a case are relevant? When you read your first few cases, you may think that everything that the judge said was relevant to his ultimate conclusion. Even if this were true, what is relevant for the judge to make his decision is not always relevant for you to include in your brief. Remember, the reason to make a brief is not to persuade the world that the ultimate decision in the case is a sound one, but rather to aid in refreshing your memory concerning the most important parts of the case.
In contrast, the Holding is the applied rule of law that serves as the basis for the ultimate judgment.
The Litigation Profile Suite allows the researcher to examine attorneys (and judges and expert witnesses). Access by selecting the Litigation Profile suite from the upper-left drop down menu on Lexis.
Bloomberg's Litigation Analytics allows you to research law firms. Select Litigation & Dockets and then Litigation Analytics. Here's an example:
Westlaw Edge Litigation Analytics allows you to research attorneys and law firms. Select Litigation Analytics from Specialty Areas under Content Types. Then select Litigation Analytics and then Attorneys or Law Firms from the drop down menu. Type in the name of the attorney or law firm you'd like to research.