Assessing the Precedential Value of a Citation Using TheLaw.net 
(Don't miss the detailed sample searches provided way below.)
 

     It is very easy to check the precedential value of a citation using TheLaw.net. You can find cases citing your case or ask for cases citing your case only for those reasons you specify.

1. Click the Big Red Button that says Click Here to Search Case Law

2. Select a jurisdictional path. Federal Circuits, State Appellate, etc.

3. Click the checkbox of the originating jurisdiction.

   

4. Click the button for V. Cite and enter your citation, as below.

   

5. Click the Submit Button

6. View results. The first case is the original opinion. The other three are the opinions
    in Florida that have cited the original opinion. Click the link of any opinion you wish
    to view. The opinion ranked first is the opinion that cites the original opinion most often.

   

7. To expand the search to include any state court that may have cited the original opinion, scroll to the bottom of the list in the left hand frame, and hold the Shift Key while clicking on the last item in the list. This will highlight the entire list. Then click the Submit Button. To search multiple selected jurisdictions, click on each jurisdiction while holding the CTRL Key.
 


8. If after expanding your search, you find an unmanageable number of opinions, consider
    refining your search by adding a critical term in the Search Text Field provided. This will
    winnow the results to only those opinions that cite your opinion for the reason you specify
    so that you don’t have to view opinions that may have cited your opinion for a Rule 404(b)
   
reason when what you really care about are opinions that cited your opinion in the context
    of resolving an income tax question.  


6. Now click the Find Button or using your keyboard press Ctrl-F to display the Find Window
    which will allow you to scan the opinion for each instance of the citation. The Find Function
    will pause at each instance of the citation each time you click Find Next. You will then be
    able to quickly see why the Court cited your opinion. Note: You can move the Find Window
   
around the screen if it is covering text you want to read by simply holding your cursor down in
    the title bar of the Find Window and moving your mouse.


CITE CHECKING USING
STANDARD SEARCH QUERIES

Everything explained above can be accomplished using Standard Search Query and simply entering 343 So.2d 611 and income tax as your search query. The results would be the same.

To find opinions in the database in the jurisdictions selected that cite your opinion enter the citation just as you would in a brief or memo then click SUBMIT.
Example: 100 F.3d 200

To find opinions in the database in the jurisdictions selected that cite your opinion for a specified reason enter the citation and a critical term then click SUBMIT.
Example: 100 F.3d 200 AND medical malpractice

To find opinions in the database in the jurisdictions selected that cite your opinion for alternative reasons, enter the citation, then group your alternative critical terms in parenthesis separated by the word OR then click SUBMIT.
Example: 100 F.3d 200 AND (404(b) OR death penalty)

To find opinions from the database in the jurisdictions selected that cite your opinion for more than one reason, enter the citation and multiple critical terms separated by the word AND then click SUBMIT.
Example: 100 F.3d 200 AND 404(b) AND death penalty

To find opinions from the database that may have cast your opinion in a negative light, enter the citation followed by terms that one would expect to see in an opinion reversing the ruling of a lower court, then click SUBMIT.
Example: 100 F.3d 200 AND death penalty AND (remand* OR reverse*)

 





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