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Last revised: August, 2009

Legal Research -- Case Law Guide and Resources

For additional assistance, ask a librarian at the Service Plus Information Desk at McKeldin Library, or contact the subject specialist, Judy Markowitz.

The subscription databases and electronic journals mentioned in this guide are accessible off campus via ResearchPort

Contents:

Primer on the US Legal System

The law comes into being in two principal ways - through legislative action and through court action.

  • Legislative: Each state and the federal government passes laws through their various legislative bodies (Congress, state legislatures). These are called Statutes (U.S. Statutes at Large) and arranged in subject order in Codes (the U.S. Code, the Annotated Code of Maryland).
  • Court System: Each state and the federal government has its own court system, its own legislature and its own administrative agencies. Common law is set by court decisions, and often involves interpretation of statutory law for specific situations.
    • Common Law System:
      • Judicial Decisions and Precedent:
        Doctrine of stare decisis: "a deliberate or solemn decision of a court or judge, made after full argument on a question of law fairly arising in a case and necessary to its determination, is an authority or binding precedent in the same court, or in other courts of lower ranks within the same jurisdiction in subsequent cases where the very same point is again presented."
      • Judicial Hierarchy:
        A higher court can always overturn or revise a lower court's opinion if a case is appealed and considered ("granted certiorari"). Also, a court may change its mind and reverse itself on an issue later in time when a subsequent case raises the same issue. "Case law" generally refers to the written opinions of appellate courts on specific issues raised in litigated disputes. Only a tiny fraction of court cases result in such opinions.

Court Structures
Generic Federal Courts State Courts
High Court Supreme Court Court of Appeals
Intermediate Appellate Court(s) Courts of Appeal
(Circuit Courts)		 Court of Special Appeals
and Circuit Courts
Trial Level or
General Jurisdiction		 District Courts District Courts

      • Issues of fact (e.g., a driver ran a stop sign) are determined at the trial court level as well as issues of law (e.g., a judge's opinion on the admissibility of certain evidence). If a trial judge issues a written opinion on an issue of law, it may be published and included within "case law." Note: most trial court actions do not produce any written opinions, and are rarely published.

      • A trial judge's ruling on an issue of law may be appealed to a higher court, usually the intermediate appellate court. This court's decision may be further appealed to a higher court. The highest court in each jurisdiction is known as the court of last resort. In the federal system this court is the U.S. Supreme Court; in Maryland it is the Court of Appeals. Not all appellate decisions are published; however, virtually all decisions of the courts of last resort are reported in full. If the court refused to hear the case, you will see the notation "cert. denied."

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Steps in Legal Research

First, if you don't have a research question and are looking for something of current interest to the legal community, there are a few places to browse for "hot" or interesting current topics. One such source is the newsfeed from the Paperchase project of the Jurist website from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

The Legal Information Institute (LII) from Cornell Law School also has a useful "law events in the news" section, as do some of the other general legal websites listed below.

Once you have an idea for a research question, it will be easier and more effective to organize your research in a logical way. Legal research can become daunting if you begin by reading a few cases and following citations before establishing some understanding of the context and background of the legal issues involved. We recommend following these steps when you begin your research:

  1. Start with general secondary sources that can give you background on an issue or help you to identify a research question.. Begin right away to keep an organized list of citations or titles of cases, legislation or articles that you come across in your research and seem to be critical to your topic -- it will be very helpful to have later when you start reading cases or legislation.

    Legal Dictionaries and Encyclopedias -- either general or subject-specific, can be a very good place to start by learning about key cases and legislation. Legal encyclopedias for both lawyers and legal research newcomers are available, depending on the level of complexity needed. Many encyclopedias and other reference books are available that aren't listed here, you can search the catalog for others on your topic (possible words to use in your search for these items are handbook, encyclopedia, dictionary, or guide):

    Dictionaries

    • Black, Henry Campbell. Black's Law Dictionary 7th ed. St. Paul, Minn.: West Pub. Co., 1999.
      The most widely used law dictionary, includes authoritative definitions and often provides cites to the court case that defined a particular word or term.
      LOCATION: McKeldin Reference Stacks
      CALL NUMBER: KF156.B53 1999

    • Hedges, Richard. Bioethics, Health Care, and the Law : A Dictionary. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1999.
      LOCATION: McKeldin Reference Stacks
      CALL NUMBER: R725.5.H44 1999

    • Arnest, Lauren Krohn. Children, Young Adults, and the Law : A Dictionary. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1998.
      LOCATION: McKeldin Reference Stacks
      CALL NUMBER: KF479.A68A76 1998

    • Donahue, Debra L. Conservation and the Law: A Dictionary. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1998.
      LOCATION: McKeldin Reference Stacks
      CALL NUMBER: KF5505.A68D66 1998

    • Taylor, Bonnie B. Education and the Law: A Dictionary Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1996.
      LOCATION: McKeldin Reference Stacks
      CALL NUMBER: KF4117.T39 1996

    • Patton-Hulce, Vicki. Environment and the Law: A Dictionary. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1995.
      LOCATION: McKeldin Reference Stacks
      CALL NUMBER: KF3775.A68P38 1995

    • Stewart, Chuck. Homosexuality and the Law: A Dictionary. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2001.
      LOCATION: McKeldin Reference Stacks
      CALL NUMBER: KF4754.5.A68S74 2001

    • Hing, Bill Ong. Immigration and the Law : A Dictionary. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1999.
      LOCATION: McKeldin Reference Stacks
      CALL NUMBER: KF4817.H56 1999

    • Sokolow, Gary A. Native Americans and the Law: A Dictionary. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2000.
      LOCATION: McKeldin Reference Stacks
      CALL NUMBER: KF8203.6.S66 2000

    • Anglim, Christopher. Religion and the Law : A Dictionary. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1999.
      LOCATION: McKeldin Stacks
      CALL NUMBER: KF4865.A68A54 1999

    Encyclopedias

    • West's Encyclopedia of American Law. Minneapolis/St. Paul: West Publishing Co., 1998.
      Good law dictionary for non-lawyers. Arranged alphabetically by issue with summaries of key legislation and decisions. Appendix has sections on: the foundations of US law, English law, origins of the US government, and information on major civil rights cases.
      LOCATION: McKeldin Reference Stacks
      CALL NUMBER: KF154.W47 1998 v. 1-12

    • Phelps, Shirelle, ed. Gale Encyclopedia of Everyday Law. Detroit: Thomson/Gale, 2003.
      "Containing approximately 200 articles, the Encyclopedia includes: brief descriptions of each issue's historical background, covering important statutes and cases; profiles of various U.S. laws and regulations; details of how laws and regulations vary from state to state, and; comprehensive bibliographies, including print and Web resources and lists of relevant organizations."
      LOCATION: McKeldin Reference Stacks
      CALL NUMBER: KF387 .G27 2003 v. 1-2

    • Levy, Leonard W., ed. Encyclopedia of the American Constitution. New York: Free Press, 2000.
      Information on landmark cases, documents, and processes.
      LOCATION: McKeldin Reference Stacks
      CALL NUMBER: KF4548.E53 2000 v. 1-6

    • Mikula, Mark and L. Mpho Mabunda, eds. Great American Court Cases. Detroit: Gale Group, 1999.
      Four volumes: Individual Liberties; Criminal Justice; Equal Protection and Family Law; and Business and Government.
      LOCATION: McKeldin Reference Stacks
      CALL NUMBER: KF385.A4G68 1999 v. 1 - 4

    • Johnson, John W. Historic U.S. Court Cases: An Encyclopedia. 2nd. ed. New York: Routledge, 2001.
      Organized by broad topics, with selected bibliographies.
      LOCATION: McKeldin Reference Stacks
      CALL NUMBER: KF385.A4J64 2001 v. 1-2

    • Johansen, Bruce Elliott, ed. Encyclopedia of Native American Legal Tradition. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998.
      LOCATION: McKeldin Reference Stacks
      CALL NUMBER: KF8204.E53 1998

    • Anzalone, Christopher A., ed. Encyclopedia of Supreme Court Quotations. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2000.
      Quotations on specific subjects and points of law taken from Supreme Court decisions.
      LOCATION: McKeldin Reference Stacks
      CALL NUMBER: KF8742.A35E529 2000

    • Finkelman, Paul, ed. Religion and American Law: An Encyclopedia. New York: Garland Pub., 2000.
      LOCATION: McKeldin Reference Stacks
      CALL NUMBER: KF4783.A68R45 2000

    More Exhaustive Legal Encyclopedias for Lawyers

    • West's Maryland Law Encyclopedia : Based on Maryland Statutes and Cases. St. Paul, Minn.: West Group, 1960-
      Dozens of volumes arranged by broad topic, with very specific entries searchable by index or detailed tables of contents. Explanatory articles and many citations to Maryland cases and statutes.
      LOCATION: McKeldin Reference Stacks or Maryland Room Reference (most up-to-date copy is in Maryland Room)
      CALL NUMBER: KFM1265.W4

    • American Jurisprudence 2d (AmJur 2d). Rochester, NY: Lawyers Cooperative, 1990 - .
      Legal encyclopedia on state and federal law; updated with pocket parts in the back of each volume. Provides comprehensive research references for each topic.
      LOCATION: McKeldin Reference Stacks
      CALL NUMBER: KF385.A2
      Also available in Westlaw Campus Research

    • Corpus Juris Secundum (CJS). Brooklyn, NY: American Law Book Co., 1938 -.
      Legal encyclopedia arranged by title (subject) of American law. Kept up-to-date by cumulative annual pocket parts, replacement volumes, and additional, extra numbered and lettered volumes.
      LOCATION: McKeldin Reference Stacks
      CALL NUMBER: KF100.C63

    Other Works

    • American Law Reports (ALR) West Group.
      ALR collects and analyzes key cases from all US jurisdictions that are focused on specific topics, and summarizes the important information about the cases to illustrate the current court interpretation of specific statutes or points of law. These volumes are available in print, but our copies are out of date and they can be difficult to use in hard copy. Use Westlaw Campus Research for access (this works well in conjunction with Am Jur 2d because ALRs are better understood if you have a little background on the broader topic, and ALR citations are linked from Am Jur 2d online through Westlaw)

    • Deschenaux, Joanne, T. and others, eds. Maryland Damages. Bernan's Case Summaries. Lanham, MD: Bernan Press, 1998.
      LOCATION: McKeldin Reference Stacks
      CALL NUMBER: KFM1395.A59M365 1998

    • Deschenaux, Joanne, T. and others, eds. Maryland Family Law. Bernan's Case Summaries. Lanham, MD: Bernan Press, 1998.
      LOCATION: Hornbake Maryland Room, Maryland Reference
      CALL NUMBER: KFM1761.A58M37 1998

    • Eng, Vincent A., and others, eds. Maryland Criminal Law. Bernan's Case Summaries. Lanham, MD: Bernan Press, 1998.
      LOCATION: McKeldin Reference Stacks
      CALL NUMBER: KFM1761.A59M37 1998

    • Jermyn, Pamela A., Steven Douglas Najarian, and James J. Patton, eds. Maryland Tort Law. Bernan's Case Summaries. Lanham, MD: Bernan Press, 1997.
      LOCATION: McKeldin Reference Stacks
      CALL NUMBER: KFM1395.A59M37 1997

    • Mary Miles Prince. Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations. Prince's 5th ed. Buffalo, NY: W.S. Hein, 2001.
      LOCATION: McKeldin Reference, Quick Reference Shelf
      CALL NUMBER: KF246.B46 2001

    • Statsky, William P, et al. West's Legal Desk Reference. St. Paul: West Pub. Co., 1991.
      Includes some abbreviations, basic citing guidelines, definitions of some legal terms, legal directory information, and guidance for legal practitioners.
      LOCATION: McKeldin Reference, Quick Reference Shelf
      CALL NUMBER: KF387.W492 1991

    • Leiter, Richard A., Ed. National Survey of States Laws. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2003.
      Provides summaries for all 50 states' laws; the chapter on family laws contains information about abortion, adoption, annulment and prohibited marriage, child abuse, child custody, grounds for divorce, marital property, marriage age requirements, and protective orders.
      LOCATION: McKeldin Reference Stacks
      CALL NUMBER: KF386 .N38 2003

    Westlaw Campus Research and other Non-Lexis, high-quality databases and websites -- I specify non-Lexis because Westlaw does a much better job of incorporating secondary sources, and starting out in Lexis will quickly become overwhelming if you don't yet understand the breadth of your topic. If you didn't start out with these resources, try Westlaw Campus Research now, using the secondary sources (Am Jur 2d and ALR first -- wait to do Law Reviews until you've focused your topic) and following the linked footnotes and other citations.

    Free Web Sites

    • LII: Legal Information Institute
      Cornell Law School site with information on laws by topic (example: family law), and constitutions and codes, court decisions, and law by source or jurisdiction. Home page tracks major current law events and big decisions on controversial or important topics.
    • Library of Congress Guide to Law Online
      An exhaustive guide to legal resources that are available online for free. Primarily provides links to online legal documents, but also includes some subject-specific tips and research guidance from the law librarians at the Library of Congress and others.
      http://www.loc.gov/law/guide/index.html
    • Cornell Legal Research Encyclopedia
      An organized collection of links to legal information, organized by broad subject.
      http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/library/encyclopedia/
    • Findlaw
      Comprehensive site with a legal subject index (example: Communications Law) and information on federal, state and foreign law. Click on "Legal Subjects" for a list -- not much editorial control here, so be careful.
      http://www.findlaw.com/
    • NOLO Legal Encyclopedia
      Plain-language encyclopedia intended for non-lawyers, published by a company that sells do-it-yourself law materials.
      http://www.nolo.com/encyclopedia/index.html
    Books -- legal treatises and other monographs that treat legal issues in depth can give excellent background and provide pointers to a lot of other scholarly resources. Use the catalog to find useful books:

    Library Catalog

    Search the libraries' catalog for books and documents on your topic. Start with a "words anywhere" search.
    Example: Sentenc* AND (black or african american)
    You can also use the catalog to find out whether the Libraries subscribe to a particular journal. Click on the "JOURNALS" section of the catalog, and do a "title beginning with..." search on the journal title (NOT the article title.)
    Example: Family Law Quarterly

  2. Start looking for articles that are specific to your topic. You should be getting a little more focused in your search now that you understand the topic a little and know more keywords to search on and the names of key cases, people or legislation.

    • Law Reviews -- these are the equivalent of scholarly, academic journals for the law. The articles are generally very long and research-intensive, and will provide many footnotes to follow up for additional research. Almost all recent law review articles are available full text in Westlaw Campus Research or in Lexis-Nexis Academic. In Westlaw, restricting by state will only get journals published in that state, and the search techniques are more complex but footnote and other resource linking is stronger. In Lexis, try searching by title or by "at least 3" (instead of keyword) to help narrow down results lists for popular topics. Again, keep note of citations to cases or legislation or other articles that seem important to your topic.

    • Other periodicals -- beyond law reviews, there are other academic and non-academic publications that publish articles on legal issues, many of which can be more accessible than law reviews. Try some of the other databases listed below, or others from the "general/multidisciplinary", "public affairs" or "government" lists on the libraries' database pages. Searching by name of well-known legislation, or by the parties in a case, will generally help to narrow your search. Also available in Lexis-Nexis are newspapers ("General News") and legal newspapers, newsletters and magazines ("Legal News").

      • Databases

      • Westlaw Campus Research (need to agree to license restrictions before accessing)
        Westlaw does a good job of integrating secondary and primary legal sources. Start with the encyclopedia (American Jurisprudence 2d), and move through ALRs and Law Reviews for good subject background. All published federal and state case opinions are in Westlaw as well as in Lexis, below, but our version of Westlaw is easier to use, has a fuller citation linking (and checking) system and includes more briefs.

      • LexisNexis Academic
        Legal Research section has full-text of law reviews and legal newspapers, newsletters and magazines, federal and state case law, Shepard's citations for US Supreme Court cases, federal code and regulations, and state code. "Get a case" section is quickest way to find any U.S. published court decision if you know party names or citation. It also has mostly full-text access to US and international newspapers (including the Washington Post and the New York Times) , journals, wire services, and news transcripts.

      • Academic Search Premier
        Abstracts and some full-text articles from scholarly journals in many disciplines; includes articles from some law reviews.

      • CQ Researcher
        Full-text coverage of the CQ (Congressional Quarterly) Researcher publication from 1992 to the present. Each weekly issue covers a "hot" public policy issue in depth, with extensive background information and lengthy bibliographies.

      • CQ Supreme Court Collection
        Browse for Supreme Court cases on interesting or controversial public policy topics, or search for cases by subject or by case names or citations. Also includes a citation generator.

  3. Read the actual Law -- When you understand the topic area pretty well and know which are the key cases or other documents, you're ready to read the actual publications which make up the law. Case Law and Statutory (legislative) Law are both available in LexisNexis Academic and in Westlaw Campus Research, as well as in printed codes and reporters, and both are much easier to find if you know the exact citation or title.

    When reading cases or legislation, keep an eye out for Headnotes, footnotes, and annotations. These are explanatory materials which will help make sense of the legal wording and explain key concepts or cite other resources you may find helpful for more information. These supplemental materials are usually, with the exception sometimes of footnotes, not actually part of the law. Westlaw's KeyCite can also be used to find further cases which cite any case you are interested in, or which overturn, question or follow the law in that case. (A similar service, Shepard's, is available for SUPREME COURT ONLY on Lexis).

    Federal legislative history, including the development of a law and any hearings, amendments or reports issued during congressional debate, is available through Lexis-Nexis Congressional, and can often be used to research the intent of the law's drafters.

    4. Primary Sources

    • LexisNexis Academic
      Legal Research section has full-text of law reviews and legal newspapers, newsletters and magazines, federal and state case law, Shepard's citations for US Supreme Court cases, federal code and regulations, and state code. "Get a case" section is quickest way to find any U.S. published court decision if you know party names or citation. It also has mostly full-text access to US and international newspapers (including the Washington Post and the New York Times) , journals, wire services, and news transcripts.

    • Westlaw Campus Research (need to agree to license restrictions before accessing)
      Westlaw does a good job of integrating secondary and primary legal sources. Start with the encyclopedia (American Jurisprudence 2d), and move through ALRs and Law Reviews for good subject background. All published federal and state case opinions are in Westlaw as well as in Lexis, below, but our version of Westlaw is easier to use, has a fuller citation linking (and checking) system and includes more briefs.

    • LexisNexis Congressional
      Comprehensive access to US legislative information including legislative histories, an index of congressional publications from 1970 to the present, and congressional hearing testimonies.

    • Maryland Legal Links
      Comprehensive site includes links to the Maryland Code and the Code of Maryland Agency Regulations (COMAR) as well as selected county and municipal code websites.
      http://www.lawlib.state.md.us/mdgen.html

  4. Repeat! -- cases and legislation that you will read might open up more questions or send you down slightly different paths to find more pertinent information. Consult those encyclopedias, dictionaries, databases and websites that you have found helpful again, or search out citations to new cases or statutes you have found along the way.

Citing Legal Resources

Legal citations are very specifically formatted and include many abbreviations, and they can be a challenge to create or understand.

  • The Bluebook : a uniform system of citation, 17th ed. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Law Review Association, 2000.
    LOCATION: MCKREF QCKREF
    CALL NUMBER: KF245.B58 2000
    This is the basic legal citation handbook. Includes great detail but also provides a short list of the basic rules. Also includes helpful tables of abbreviations.

  • Introduction to Basic Legal Citation
    Cornell site based on the 17th edition of the "Bluebook" and other legal citation sources.
    http://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/

  • Reading legal citations, an online guide complied by the Boston College Law Library, provides a more concise guide to the basics of citing legal sources and deciphering citations.
    http://www.bc.edu/schools/law/library/research/researchguides/citations/.

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Evaluating and Citing Web Sources

The Libraries have prepared guides to Evaluating Web Sources and Citing Electronic Resources.

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Last modified: August 13, 2009

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