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Legal Studies 101-301: Introduction to Law and Legal Process
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The Supreme Court website has an easy, user-friendly interface for finding current cases. Scroll over Oral Arguments, then choose Argument Calendars. Choose your term of interest (in this case, Session Beginning October 03, 2011). I suggest clicking on the HTML link for each session, rather than the PDF link. This will allow you to directly link through to dockets of interest. These links provide you with pertinent information about the case, include the Questions Presented.
Cornell University's Legal Information Institute is a great resource for legal research, including previews for oral arguments. Previews contain analysis of cases, performed by legal experts (here at the liibulletin, a Cornell Law School journal), preceding oral arguments. The main page lists recently published previews, but you can click on See all 2011-12 oral argument previews link to see a list of all previews available for the current term. Or, click on term highlights to view cases by subject or issue at hand.
The American Bar Association website also publishes its own previews. The ABA also publishes the Merit Briefs and Amicus Briefs filed for each case. Use the lefthand menu to navigate between cases based on oral argument dates.
SCOTUSblog is written by lawyers and law students, re: current and recent cases argued in front of the Supreme Court. Use the drop-down menu on the right ("OT11 Merits Cases") to navigate to current term cases. Beyond blog-style coverage, you can expect to find links to briefs and other case documents as available.
Find audio recordings and full-text transcripts from oral arguments using the Oyez Project.
LexisNexis resources
LexisNexis Academic can help you find briefs, document information, and lower court cases. Click on US Legal in the lefthand menu, then Supreme Court Briefs to search by keyword (ie golan v holder) to find briefs for your case of interest. To track lower court cases leading to your Supreme Court case, click on Federal & State Cases in the lefthand menu, then search by keyword for your case again.
LexisNexis is an even more powerful search tool than LexisNexis Academic; however, it can be difficult to search and may require a great time commitment. The Lippincott Library has one username and password to
access this system, so you must come into the library and ask at the Reference Desk for a librarian to log you in.
To perform an easy search for cases, click on View More next to Cases - U.S. in the top left. Then click on Supreme Court Cases and Materials, then US Supreme Court Cases, Briefs & Cases Preview,
Combined. Now you can enter keywords of interest, like golan v holder. Find your case of interest. LexisNexis includes links to briefs, motions, appellate history, etc.
LexisNexis Academic contains state, federal, and US Supreme Court cases and briefs, as well as a large volume of articles from law reviews and journals -- all in an easy-to-use format. Click on US Legal in the lefthand menu, then Law Reviews. Enter a case of interest as a keyword (ie golan v holder) or limit by date and subject.
Hein Online has a large library of law journals, all in page-image format. Scroll over Content and choose List of Libraries, then Law Journal Library. Now you can browse a list of all 1500+ titles, view the Most-Cited Journals, etc.
Find research guides put together on this subject from a variety of sources.
- Zimmerman's Research Guide to the United States Supreme Court from LexisNexis
- US Supreme Court from Duke University Law Library
- How to Find a Court Case from the University of California at Santa Cruz University Library
- US Supreme Court Oral Arguments from Cornell University Law Library
Get in touch with me in a variety of ways -- I'd be happy to help you go through these and other resources for your project!
Mia Wells
Document Delivery & Business Research Librarian
Lippincott Library
kirstien@wharton.upenn.edu
215-898-5553
