How do I search for specific legal cases?

How do I go about searching for a specific kind of lawsuit or class action? I’ve got decent Google-Fu but I want to know if there are legal- specific search engines I can use. Do I have to pay for them?

Trying to cut through lots of dead leads and find answers.

Thanks !

US Supreme Court and some appeals court decisions are generally available through findlaw or justia. I think some state’s supreme court decisions can also be accessed through regular search engines and websites. But for any serious legal research, you need access to Lexis or Westlaw. It’s possible there are short-term subscriptions available, but it’s probably much better for you to go to the law library in your county courthouse, or at a nearby law school. There you can possibly get a librarian to help you get started.

Yep, LexisNexis and WestLaw is the answer.

Lexishas a free site that is useful. It is restricted to the last ten years (except S.Ct cases which go all the way back). Might want to try Google Scholar as well…it’s pretty rough, but might be worth a try.

Excellent stuff, thank you !