Common Legal Research Assignments
LexisNexis Academic is our premier database for legal research. For this research scenario, the topic of "human trafficking" is used to explore legal developments over time. Below is an example of this type of assignment:
Find the federal statutes related to human trafficking. Determine when these federal statutes were enacted and what changes have been made to the statutes since their enactment. Looking at the time when the statutes were first enacted, was there one event or series of events that prompted Congress to take action? What were some of the arguments for and against passing these specific pieces of federal legislation? Have there been any significant convictions under these statutes? In terms of the state where you live, are there similar laws? Were they enacted before the federal laws or in response to them?
Law School 101: Case Citations
Legal Search: Get A Case
The easiest way to look up a case is to use the Look Up A Legal Case widget on the Easy Search Form. Below, is another way.
After clicking the US Legal Tab,
- Click the "Federal & State Cases" link on the right side of the screen.
- If you would like to get a case by case name, enter a name (or both names) in the box. Although the formal name of the case is "Roe v. Wade", entering "Wade v. Roe" will return the same results. If you would like to get a case by citation number, enter the citation inside the "Citation Number" box.
- Select Party Name or Citation from the drop-down box depending on which field you would like to search under.