Legal Research Basics: Methods of Finding Cases: From Annotated Statutes & Secondary Sources

One strategy for finding cases is to start from other legal materials.  This page will discuss generally the features of annotated statutes and secondary sources that can help you track down relevant cases.

Unannotated codes give you the text of the law and a history statement.  Annotated codes add to this references to other legal materials related to your statute, including secondary sources, attorney general opinions, legal forms, and more.  Most importantly, annotated statutes contain case annotations, editorially selected cases that are illustrative of your statute's application.  In electronic legal research, you get the added benefit of a citator report with your annotated statute, so you can see not just the illustrative cases, but in fact all cases that have cited your statute.  Both are discussed below.

Case Annotations

• Westlaw - Notes of Decisions
  • Available at the bottom of the document, in the column on the right, or in the Notes of Decisions tab at the top (3 options for the same thing)
• Lexis Advance - Case Notes
  • Available as you scroll past the statutory text; you can also jump to them by using the "Jump to..." menu at the top-right of the screen
• Both divide their cases up by topic to help you find cases most on point for your research question

Citators

• Westlaw - KeyCite
  • Citing References tab
  • On the left side of the screen, change your View to Cases
  • Narrow results by: searching within results for other keywords, limiting jurisdiction or date, choosing only cases referenced in the Notes of Decisions, selecting specific Notes of Decision topics, and/or choosing reported or unreported cases
• Lexis Advance - Shepard's
  • Shepardize button or View Shepard's Report under About this Document
  • From the tabs at the top, make sure your view is set to Citing Decisions
  • On the upper-right, sort by court, analysis, or date
  • On the left, narrow by analysis, court, date, or search within results for new keywords

If you have started your research with a secondary source, such as a legal encyclopedia or the American Law Reports, references in these materials can also lead you to pertinent case law. 

Note: Secondary sources in greater detail in another research guide.

Legal Encyclopedias:

Entries in legal encyclopedias are similar to general encyclopedias, but the content is focused exclusively on law.  Entries tend to only be a few paragraphs long, giving a general overview of an area or issue of law.  The features of the encyclopedia will vary by title, but things to watch out for include:

• Case supplements - often legal encyclopedia entries in Lexis and Westlaw will include a supplement following the article that lists a few pertinent cases.  You might also look to see whether the article contains an illustration of the subject matter; this would generally involve describing the treatment of this area of law in one or two key cases.
• Reference lists - some legal encyclopedia entries in Lexis or Westlaw will contain a short list of references.  This could include other secondary source materials, but may also include references to pertinent topics and key numbers in the West Key Number System, a case-finding tool.

American Law Reports:

Articles in the American Law Reports are very lengthy and in-depth, so they come with their own table of contents, index, and research references.  The best places to look for cases in one of these articles are:

• Table of Cases - breaks down relevant cases, statutes, and court rules across multiple jurisdictions that pertain to the subject of the article
  • In Westlaw, this is called the Table of Cases, Laws, and Rules
  • In Lexis Advance, this is called the Jurisdictional Table of Statutes and Cases
• Research References
  • In Lexis Advance, this is called Table of References, and refers to other secondary source articles that may be of use
  • In Westlaw, this is called Research References, and includes not only secondary source articles, but also relevant topics and key numbers from the West Key Number System, a case-finding tool