Case Law

Searching case law can be challenging if you’re not sure where to begin. The HJF Library provides access to the HeinOnline Academic Library, a comprehensive database that includes government documents, case law, and many related collections.

Another straightforward way to search for case law is through Google Scholar, which features a built-in case law search option. This section of the Google Scholar help guide will introduce the basics of searching case law using Google Scholar, to help you get started.

Getting Started

To begin searching case law, go to scholar.google.com. Just below the main search bar, you’ll see the option to select either “Articles” or “Case law.” Choose Case law and additional search options specific to legal research will appear.

These new options allow you to narrow your search by Federal courts, Iowa courts, or manually select specific courts to search (see Figures 1 and 2).

Video 1: Searching Google Scholar for Case Law

Figure 1: Selecting Case Law in Google Scholar.

Figure 2: The expanded court listing you can select from in Google Scholar.

Examining the Search Results

Figure 3: Google Scholar search result for a case.

You can search for specific cases or for general legal concepts. For example, searching for “American Library Association” will return results containing that term. Each result, just like in article searches, provides a title, publication information, a brief summary, and action options such as Save to “My Library,” Cited By, How Cited, and Versions (see Figure 3).

Case law differs from articles in how “Cited By” and “How Cited” work. Articles do not include a “How Cited” feature. For case law, “Cited By” only shows cases that have referenced this particular case to support or challenge an argument. Because legal decisions often rely on precedent, previous cases are cited to help judges determine outcomes. To see the full list of cases that have cited a particular case, click the “Cited By” link in the result.

We will discuss the “How Cited” feature in more detail next.

Video 2: Understanding Case Law Search Results

Understanding the Case

Unlike articles, legal cases in Google Scholar are all open access and do not include PDF links. Instead, case law appears in a standardized format within Scholar. Simply click the linked title of a case to view the full text.

When you open a specific case, you will see the entire case displayed along with several important pieces of information. Figure 4 below highlights the different types of information you’ll find within a case record.

Video 3: Understanding the Case

Figure 4: Example of a case from Google Scholar

The official published location of the decision in legal reporters.
1. 539: The volume number of the United States Reports (the official reporter of Supreme Court Decisions).
2. U.S.: Abbreviation for United States Reports.
3. 194: The page on which the opinion begins.
4. (2003): The year the decision was issued.
The plaintiff (also called petitioner or appellant depending on court level)
The defendant (also called respondent or appellee)
Docket or Case Number
1. 02: Refers to the term year, 2002 in this example.
2. 361: Indicates the case number of that term.
The court level that this specific case was argued at.
Dates the case was argued and then decided.
If the case was brought from a lower court, it is stated here.

How Cited

Figure 5: How Cited location

Video 4: How Cited in Google Scholar

In Figure 5, you can see that in the top left of the image there is an option to select "How Cited." Figure 6 gives you an example of what this will look like, including the snippets of how an case was used and a list of "Cited by" on the right.

What “How Cited” Does:

It shows a list of other judicial opinions and cases that have cited the current case.
For each citing case, Google Scholar provides snippets—brief excerpts—showing how your case was referenced or quoted in those later decisions.
This helps you quickly understand the influence and legal significance of the case, and see how particular arguments, principles, or rulings from this case were interpreted or used by courts in subsequent cases.

Figure 6: Example of How Cited looks in Google Scholar

Why it’s useful:

You can trace the legal “afterlife” of a decision to see its impact on later cases.
It gives context for how courts relied upon, distinguished, or disagreed with the decision in their own opinions.
It’s a powerful research tool for understanding both the authority and application of the precedent set in your case.

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