Headnotes are specific points of law discussed in a case. When you already have a case on point, you can find other cases that discuss the same point of law by clicking on the appropriate headnote.
On the lower right-hand side of the Law Schools Home page, select “Get by Citation” and enter the citation of a case that’s on point. Click “Go.”
Scroll down to the case's “LexisNexis Headnotes.”
Look through the headnotes and identify any that seem relevant. Once you have identified a relevant headnote, you have two options:
(1) Click on “More Like This Headnote” at the end of the headnote. (This will retrieve all cases with language similar to the headnote you selected.)
Once you have clicked on "More Like This Headnote", you must select your Jurisdiction. (You can also restrict the search by date, but this is optional.) Click “Search.”
Lexis will provide you with a list of search results.
You can narrow your results by using Lexis’s “FOCUS” feature. Enter your FOCUS terms near the top of your results page (directly under the tabs) and click “Go,” or click “Advanced” to conduct a more advanced FOCUS search.
Lexis will provide you with a list of your FOCUSed search results. For more information about reading and navigating search results, click here.
(2) OR… Click on the "all" icon at the end of the relevant topic. (The "all" icon means "Retrieve All Headnotes and Additional Cases on This Topic.” This will retrieve all headnotes classified to the relevant topic and cases that discuss the relevant topic, even if there isn't a specific headnote.)
Once you select "All", you must set your Jurisdiction. (You can also restrict the search by date, but this is optional.) Click “Go.”
Again, Lexis will provide you with a list of search results which you can narrow just as you did above thorugh the Focus feature.
