Legal Research

Westlaw?s Directory

By Diane Murley

To conduct your Westlaw research as efficiently and economically as possible, you must choose the right database. Westlaw has thousands of databases, and the best database for your search may not be included in the options listed on the first screen.

For example, the only database on the Law School default screen that includes cases from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, is “All Federal Cases.” But the “All” databases are huge and will retrieve many documents you don’t want. All Federal Cases will retrieve cases from all the other federal courts in addition to 9th Circuit cases. In practice, it is also more expensive to search databases labeled “All” than to search smaller databases.

Even the “Additional materials” page does not include a database that only contains cases from U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. To see all your database options on Westlaw, follow the Directory link on the light blue navigation bar near the top center.

Under U.S. Federal Materials, follow the link for Cases.

Then Court of Appeals Cases by Circuit.

Westlaw has three databases that contain only cases from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit: all 9th Circuit cases, and smaller databases limited to reported or unreported cases. Searching any of these 9th Circuit databases instead of All Federal Cases will save time and money. Without running a complex search, you will limit your search results to the 9th Circuit, and you won’t have to sort through a list of cases from other circuits.

Full post as published by Ross-Blakley Law Library Blog on October 22, 2008 (boomark / email).