# How do you legal types find case citations so fast? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 1, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-legal-types-find-case-citations-so-fast/537982 "2010-05-01T20:43:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-legal-types-find-case-citations-so-fast/537982/21 "2010-05-05T08:31:52Z")
Pike & Fischer, a legal publisher in Silver Spring, MD, used to corner the market on published editions of this sort of information. They have switched to digital media in an attempt to wait out this interwebs fad. ---
**Author:** ![constantine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3bc359/32.png) [@constantine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constantine)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-legal-types-find-case-citations-so-fast/537982/22 "2010-05-06T01:11:40Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > It never fails here that if someone asks a question about, say, fireworks being legal in a certain state, one of the resident legal eagles will come back (usually in minutes) citing a case from New York in 1919 that talks about how the state was within it’s right to outlaw fireworks because of x, y, and z. > > Or if you ask about, say, laws against drunk driving, within a nanosecond they will come back with how New Mexico was the first state to outlaw drunken driving on October 4, 1922 at 3:30pm and the vote was 19-14 in the state senate. > > I’m guessing that there is some super-secret database that you subscribe to that you can put in search terms and get the relevant information. Is that true? If so, can regular people subscribe? Also, how do you do it pre-internet? Did you need case books from all 50 states? If someone is asking an academic, just curiosity kind of legal question, I will try to find the answer on Google, actually. There are a huge number of blogs and forums that have pointers to legal resources these days. Just for a lark, I googled around for New York fireworks law, and quickly found this [forum](http://www.pyrouniverse.com/forum/showthread.php?678-Recent-Information-re-the-NY-State-S-and-S-Bill). Now, how do I know when I can rely on these sorts of sources? Answer: I look to see if they cite any specific cases. If I have a case citation, e.g. 134 N.Y.2d 456, [I just made that case citation up – I’m just giving an example of what a case citation looks like] it is almost always very easy to get the full text of the case. Again, usually, I just type the case citation into google. If I am doing real research for a client who is paying me real money, I use Westlaw. But still sometimes I START with google just to see if I can find something fast. Again, I STRESS that I just use this as a pointer to articles or blogs that can then direct me to real published cases on the issue. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-legal-types-find-case-citations-so-fast/537982/23 "2010-05-10T06:57:05Z")
Further to the question, there are often excellent online resources which are free. For England and Wales, the [British and Irish Legal Information Institute](http://www.bailii.org/), and the Office of Public Sector Information[http://www.opsi.gov.uk/](http://www.opsi.gov.uk/). ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-legal-types-find-case-citations-so-fast/537982/24 "2010-05-11T23:16:42Z")
For statutes, I usually visit [Legal Information Institute](http://www.law.cornell.edu/) of Cornell Law School. In addition to state & federal laws, you’ll find things like the Federal Rules of Evidence and, under Supreme Court Bulletins, relatively brief summaries of recent Supreme Court cases, broken down in a very easy to read way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-legal-types-find-case-citations-so-fast/537982.md?page=1)