FINDING COURT CASES


Prepared by Karen Kimber, Social Sciences and Humanities Team Leader
Paul Laurence Dunbar University, Wright State University

See also How the Court System Is Organized

Researching Case Law

• Shepard's Citations lets the user check case and statute citations to find prior history and subsequent treatment
  • Available in LexisNexis Academic
• These legal encyclopedias compile court decisions by subject:
  • American Jurisprudence. KF 154.A422
  • Ohio Jurisprudence. KFO 65.O37

Federal Court System

United States Supreme Court

• LexisNexis Academic (U.S. Supreme Court Lawyer's Edition) - 1790-present
• Supreme Court of the United States - 1999-present
• U.S. Supreme Court Opionions Archive - 1992-1999
• Federal Law Materials - Judicial Opinions (Cornell Univ. Law School)
  Includes "Recent Decisions," "Landmark Decisions," and supplementary information
• United States Reports - v.379 (1964)-present - KF101.A5 - Recent years on 3rd floor; earlier vols. at SW Depository
• West's Supreme Court Reporter (formerly Supreme Court Reporter - 1882-present - KF101.A512 - Vols. older than 20 years at SW Depository

United States Courts of Appeals (also called Circuit Courts of Appeals)

• LexisNexis Academic
• Federal Law Materials - Judicial Opinions (Cornell Univ. Law School)
  Allows search of all circuits simultaneously
  Provides multiple links to individual circuits
• Federal Courts Finder (Emory Univ. School of Law)
• Federal Court Locator (Villanova Univ. School of Law)

United States District Courts

• LexisNexis Academic - 1789-present
• U.S. Courts: The Federal Judiciary
  Official list of district courts under each circuit, with links to web pages
  Coverage varies by district
• Federal Court Locator (Villanova Univ. School of Law)
  Includes links to U.S. District Court web sites where available

The Ohio Court System

• LexisNexis Academic
  
  • Supreme Court of Ohio cases - 1821-present
  • Courts of Appeals cases - 1913-present
  • Miscellaneous lower Ohio courts - 1894-present
• Supreme Court of Ohio - 1992-present
• District Courts of Appeals - Content of website varies by district
• Court of Claims of Ohio
• Gongwer News Service - Includes links to the Supreme Court of Ohio, the Ohio Court of Claims, and the Ohio Courts of Appeals
• Ohio Courts - By county, links to available websites for Courts of Common Pleas, County Clerks of Court, and county and municipal courts