Cost-Effective Legal Research: Free Sources for Case Law

There is an abundance of free case law available online. Unfortunately, many of the editorial enhancements and finding aids that legal researchers are accustomed to are not available through these free sources. For example, these sources do not provide digests or headnotes, which organize cases by points of law. Instead, these sources utilize browsing and keyword searching as the principal means of finding relevant cases. Researchers should be aware of these limitations and understand that keyword searching and browsing are not necessarily the best methods to find cases.

U.S. Supreme Court Cases

• Library of Congress - Contains the official opinions of the U.S. Supreme Court covering the years 1754 to 2012. This collection will continue to grow as the Supreme Court digitizes more volumes of the U.S. Reports. Browsable by year, justice, and major case topics. Searchable by case title.
• FindLaw -  contains resources and links for both state and federal laws. This includes resources pertaining to constitutions, statutes, cases and more covering 1893 to present. Browsable by year and U.S. Reports volume number, and searchable by citation, party name, and keyword.
• Google Scholar - Uses the Google search algorithm to find and rank cases. Click "Case law" and then "Select courts" to choose the jurisdiction(s) you want to search.
• Justia - Review recent decisions and news, listen to oral arguments, or browse through our free collection of United States Supreme Court full-text opinions from 1791 to the present. Early editions of US Reports. Browsable by year and U.S. Reports volume number.
• Supreme Court - Contains electronic versions of all U.S. Supreme Court opinions that are compiled and printed in the United States Reports, the Court's official publication. Searchable by citation and keyword. Search can be limited by jurisdiction and date.

United States Court of Appeals Cases

(also known as the Federal Circuit Court)

• Federal Court Finder - Use the locator to find individual courts by circuit. 
• FindLaw - Contains cases and resources that vary by circuit. Browsable by year and reporter volume number, and searchable by citation, party name, and keyword. (Circuits have to be searched individually). Cases and resources for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals are searchable here.
• Google Scholar - Uses the Google search algorithm to find and rank cases. Click "Case law" and then "Select courts" to choose the jurisdiction(s) you want to search.
• govinfo - Contains United States Courts opinions. Browsable by circuit then by year.
• Justia - Contains the reported opinions from the U.S. Federal Courts of Appeals. Browsable by year and Federal Reporter volume number.

Federal District Court Cases

• Federal Court Finder - Use the locator to find individual districts.
• Google Scholar - Uses the Google search algorithm to find and rank cases. Click "Case law" and then "Select courts" to choose the jurisdiction(s) you want to search.
• govinfo - Contains United States Court Opinions, including Federal District Courts. Browsable by district then by year.
• Justia - Contains the reported opinions from the U.S. Federal District Courts. Browsable by reporter, state, and year.

State Court Cases

• Ohio Supreme Court provides case dockets back to 1989 and some case documents from 2006.
• Supreme Court of Ohio Reporter of Decisions contains the court's opinions and announcements from 1992 to present. Searchable by year decided, county, case number, author, topics and issues, Webcite No., and citation.
• Findlaw - Contains State Court opinions from a variety of courts:
  • Ohio Court of Appeals Opinions
  • Ohio Probate Court Opinions 
  • Court of Claims of Ohio Opinions 
  • Court of Common Pleas of Ohio Opinions
  • Ohio County Court Opinions
  • Ohio Municipal Court Opinions 

The Taggart Law Library is here to help! Schedule an appointment with a librarian or chat with us using our online chat feature. Open to ONU Law students, faculty, staff, and alumni.