Econ 371: Law & Economics

Nexis Uni has a fairly simple interface—you can enter any search term into the search box, including a case citation or name. You can also use the Guided Search to narrow your results specifically to cases.

Start on the Nexis Uni home screen and select "Cases." This will change the next box to Jurisdiction. Choose "Federal" or "State." Enter the case citation or name in the "...about" box.

If you enter in the citation, the case you're looking for should be the first result. If you enter in the case name by party names, you may find multiple cases with that name and have to choose yours from a list. Tip: Check the dates and court name to make sure you're looking at the right case!

The case screen will start out with a summary of the case, list "core terms" (subject headings/tags), and the LexisNexis® Headnotes (summaries of each point of law covered in the case). The "case" itself is the opinion of the presiding judge, or, in the case of the Supreme Court, one of the justices writing on behalf of the majority. 

You can determine whether the case is still considered valid law or if it's been overturned based on the icon or signal. Note: most major cases will have the yellow triangle icon indicating that the law is still good but there has been some later dissent.

Pro tip: You can select this icon and will link you to cases, law review articles, and other documents that cite the case. This is called Shepardizing (because the print reference work that keeps track of citations to cases is called Shepard's.) You can also Shepardize by selecting "Shepardize this document."

Nexis Uni has a fairly simple interface—you can enter any search term into the search box, including a case citation or name. You can also use the Guided Search to narrow your results specifically to cases right away.

Enter your keywords into the search field and select the red magnifying glass to run the search.

Nexis Uni includes many different types of content. The results default to news article content.

Choose the "Cases" facet from the menu to narrow your search to find court case results.

You can narrow your results by jurisdiction, date, or other aspects of the case by using other search facets.

Pro Tip: Searching for Law Review articles instead of cases will often net you citations to cases and legal documents on a topic that have already been compiled by expert legal scholars.