Cases on Westlaw & Lexis+ & Bloomberg Law
Cases on Westlaw, Lexis+, and Bloomberg Law
Cases are organized in various ways for easy access. Databases are usually organized by jurisdiction.
Both West and Lexis offer database citations that are specific to the online version of an opinion. Lexis includes a citation with every display of the case. West, on the other hand, will only display a Westlaw citation until a paper citation appears. At that point, the editors suppress the Westlaw citation. However, West still allows one to search using the Westlaw citation, even if it has been suppressed from the case display. All reported (i.e., published in paper) opinions will appear on both services. However, a distinction occurs with unpublished opinions, with the more obscure documents appearing on one or the other, as they get them from the courts.
On Bloomberg Law, select Court Opinions from the drop down menu on the global search interface. Alternatively, under "Popular Links" select, Court Opinions Search. On the right side of the case select "BCITE Analysis" to determine the status of the case.
Cases on Westlaw
Sign into Thomson Reuters Law School Homepage
- Select Westlaw Precision from the Westlaw, TWEN, Practical Law... drop-down (upper right)
- Click on Cases
- Browse Cases categories or can use citation, simple keyword or Advanced search
Cases on Lexis Plus
Sign into Lexis+
Once on Lexis be sure you are in the Legal Research section (tab on left)
Under Content Type tab:
- Click on Cases
- Browse Cases categories or can use citation, simple keyword search or Advanced Search
Cases on Bloomberg Law
Sign into Bloomberg Law
- Within All Content click on Court Opinions
- Main search box can be searched using natural language or Terms & Connectors
- If using Terms & Connectors, click on
for additional guidance - Click on Select Sources to focus search, using keywords, citations, courts, topics, party, case name, judge, attorney or firm and/or date of decision
- Click Go
- Additional Filters can be found on the results screen