BY PARTY NAME (BEST PRACTICES)

     The best way to reference a known opinion using our database or any database is by party names. You have one simple, easy to remember process for referencing an opinion regardless of the jurisdiction and you don't need to fuss with dots and spaces as you do with citations. When you use party names to retrieve opinions you may well surface additional opinions involving the same litigants in the same cause of action; opinions that you may have otherwise missed.


Sample Search (Print this page and try on your own)

1. Click into the Case Law Database by clicking the big red button located on the upper right hand corner of this page.
   
2. On the resulting page, under Section B, click the checkbox for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
   
3. Click CONTINUE
   
4. On the resulting page, under Section One, click the checkbox for the Second Circuit.
   
5. In this sample search we will look for United States v. Lussier, 219 F.3d 217 (2nd Cir. 2000)
   
6. Under Section Two where you are invited to enter your search enter the following:
   
   United States and Lussier
   Note: Our search engine already knows that if the search terms appear in the Party Field of the opinion that matching opinions should be ranked at or very close to the top of the list.
   
7. Click SUBMIT
   
8. For search results we receive more than four dozen opinions. The second opinion on the list, however, is our case. Also, in looking at the results, we notice that there are at least four additional opinions involving these litigants.
   
9. If you know the year an opinion was issued, at your discretion, you can restrict your search to the year of the case by populating the date fields provided. Ex: 01/01/2000 12/31/2000. This will shorten the results list and make for a faster search.

BY CITATION

Select V. Cite and enter the citation as in the example below.