FYRW Case Law  

I. Courts and Publication of Decisions

II. Reading a Case in Print

III. Full-Text searching for Case Law

1. Natural Language vs. Terms & Connectors (T & C)
2. T & C Search Syntax: Lexis and Westlaw
3. SCENARIO 1: Single concept search
4. SCENARIO 2: Two concepts; use of proximity connectors
5. SCENARIO 3: Three or more concepts
   • Search construction
   • Editing search

IV.  Using One Good Case to Find Other Cases

1. Overview of methods to use one case
2. Headnotes as Indexing Tool
   • Westlaw's Topic and Key Number System
   • Lexis Headnotes

V.  Other tools

1. Google for Case Law research
2. Next week: Updating Utilities

Take the citation written on the index card.

Locate the volume on the cart that matches the citation.

Turn to the cited court decision.

Questions:

1. What Court decided this case?
2. When was the case decided?
3. Who wrote the decision?  
4. What the outcome / result?
5. How many headnotes did the publisher create?

Find the Iowa Supreme Court decision from 2009 on same-sex marriage.

Search Iowa court decisions for cases that identify the elements of stalking, a crime.

Find California case law on this issue:

Louis is invited to a birthday party that his friend Joanne is throwing at her apartment. After being buzzed into the front door of the apartment building, Louis walks to the elevators. While he is standing there, the door to a nearby apartment is opened; and a dog runs into the hallway and bites Louis on the leg. Louis suffers serious injuries before the dog is pulled away by its owner.

Though clearly responsible, the dog owner has limited financial resources. Louis is upset that he was exposed to this dangerous animal while in the building. He would like to sue the landlord to recover for his injuries.

Is the landlord liable under California law? What duty does the landlord owe to people like Louis when they are in the building?

Use these before and/or after class.

Please log in at the beginning of class: