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How to Search for Federal Cases

Click on the "Legal" tab underneath "Search."  At the top in the left column, you will see the federal case law databases.

  

 
  • If you want to look at federal cases from the district courts, appellate courts, and Supreme Court, we recommend clicking on the text for the database "Federal Court Cases, Combined."
  • If you want to look at cases from the Supreme Court only, we recommend clicking on the text for the database "U.S. Supreme Court Cases – Lawyer's Edition."
 
  • If you want to look at federal cases from the 9th circuit, click "View More Sources."
Intitial search
 
 If you clicked on "View more Sources," click "Federal Cases By Circuit" on the next screen.
 
Narrow to federal circuit
 
Next, click "9th Circuit – US Court of Appeals Cases & Bankruptcy Appellate Panel."
 
Narrow to 9th Circuit
 
After you have chosen your database, you are ready to run a search. On the search page, choose either "natural language" or "terms and connectors."  Type in your search terms and click "Search."  For more information about formulating successful searches, click here.
Search
 
Lexis will provide you with a list of search results. For more information about reading and navigating search results, click here.
 
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