Archived Content

Casemaker offers you not just current statutes, rules, and session law - but archived versions as well. There are a number of ways to locate the archive versions of content. If you are reading the content of a rule or statute, you will see a tab in the grey bar labeled “Archive.” Clicking on that tab will show you a page of years giving you the ability to see the rule or statute in previous years. If you click on a state library you can also find a tab labeled “Archive” in the blue bar at the top of the list of library sections. If you click on Federal materials you will find a similar link in the grey bar above the list of Federal materials. These archive links on the library pages will take you to a page that allows you to choose which archive you would like to view. You can also find the archives in Tree View by expanding any section that has archives and clicking on the year you wish to view. 
 
Changing Font Size
You have the ability to increase the font with just one click. When you are viewing a document in Casemaker you can click on the button labeled Aa in the gray bar above the document content. By clicking on this button the text size gets significantly larger. Click it again and it returns to standard size.
 
Narrowing your Search
Are your results just too much? If you are finding too many documents, you can always narrow your search. Once you have submitted your query you can see the various document types that your results included in a list on the left side of the screen. Click on the category you prefer to get all the results in that document category.  Once your results load, you will notice a new menu will appear on the left side of the screen. This menu offers you a variety of ways to further narrow your search. For example, you can narrow by state, court, date, and keyword. Casemaker will automatically filter your results after you click the checkbox next to your choice. Take note, in some cases, you may have to click the Show All link to see all the possible options.

Sorting Results
Did you know you can sort your results by more than just relevance? Once you have completed a search, click on the View All link to see all the results in the document category you prefer. Once you do this you can sort these results by selecting a sort method from the dark gray bar above the results list. You can sort by Relevance, Most Cited, Date Decided or State (Ascending or Descending).
 
Selecting Jurisdictions
Need to search all the documents in a state? How about all the documents in more than one state? You can select a jurisdiction or any combination of jurisdictions to search by clicking the Jurisdiction menu. This is located in the box located between the search box and the blue search button. There is a blue downward pointing arrow in the right side of this box. Clicking on this arrow will pull up the pop-up menu and from here you can check as many or as few boxes as you need. Special boxes are located at the top of each column. Related Federal will pull documents from any states you selected as well as the related Federal District and Circuit courts. All States will pull documents from all the state libraries. All Federal will pull documents from all Federal libraries.
 
Comprehensive Federal Law
Federal laws and regulations are complex and ever-changing. Casemaker not only offers the current Federal Register but archives of the Register back to 2001. Casemaker also offers you the Code of Federal Regulations with notations to alert you to future effective changes. Of course, Casemaker offers you both current and archived United States Code as well as current and archived Public Law.
  

Citing References and Citing Cases Graph
When viewing search results, the number of cases that cite the case in question is provided as part of the result set in the right margin.  In addition, a "Citing Cases Graph" is also available that provides a graphic display of the citing cases, by count, on a timeline.  Once in the graph, a user can pick a point in time to see the citing cases and link to them if desired. When you are reading a case, you will see a tab labeled “Citing References” along the top grey bar. This lists all the cases which cited the case you are viewing. You can see Casecheck+ results here and you can also search within this list of cases as well.
 
Tree View

The Tree View interface consists of an expandable hierarchy is contained in a left-hand sidebar while the center area displays the document content when requested. To navigate you click on the plus and minus symbols to expand and collapse sections of the “tree.” The Casemaker Tree View interface includes all data types and the full archive of data for each respective state.
 
Weekly Tip Archives

Want to review a previous tip? Starting this month, You can find archives of this and other Weekly emails by clicking on Help in the upper right-hand corner of Casemaker.  

Getting Help Using Casemaker
Sometimes you just need a little help! Casemaker offers plenty of options to get you going. At any time you can click on the Help link in the upper right corner of Casemaker to find these options. Support is available between 8 am and 8 pm Eastern Standard Time, Monday- Friday. If you would like to speak with a Customer Support representative simply call 1-877-659-0801. You can email for assistance at [email protected]. Casemaker offers a live chat service during support hours as well by clicking on the Live Chat link in the upper right corner of Casemaker. Free webinar training is offered regularly as well. To sign up click on the webinar link in the upper right-hand corner of Casemaker. Training webinars are free and you can take them as often as you like. You can also find a user guide by clicking on the Help link in Casemaker if you prefer to learn at your own pace.
 
Search Operators in Casemaker
Casemaker has a number of search functions that allow you to create complex searches to locate the information you are looking for. Let’s have a quick review of them!
AND searching – Example: Contract Binding
To perform the AND search, simply leave a space. Casemaker sees the space as the AND operator. Our example will give us documents that have the word contract as well as the word binding.
OR searching – Example: alimony OR support
Using OR as the operator will find documents that use either word in the query. In our example, this query will pull up documents mentioning either alimony or support anywhere in them.
NOT searching – Example: property NOT commercial
Using the NOT operator will tell the system to find the documents that mention the first term but do not mention the second. In our example, the query will pull up documents that refer to property but do not mention the term commercial
Grouping searching – Example: (alimony OR support) AND divorce 
This would be the one case where you should use the word AND in Casemaker. Using the parentheses tells the system we want to group these queries. In this example, the system will return documents that mention alimony or support but also mention divorce.
Phrase searching – Example: “right of way” 
This search type tells the system to treat everything in the quotations as if it were one search term. In our example, this means it will only pull cases that mention right of way but not cases that mention the words right, of and way by themselves.
Thesaurus searching – Example: ~parole
The thesaurus search not only locates your search term but also words with the same meaning. In our example query, the search will pull up documents that mention the word parole as well documents that mention any synonyms of the word parole.
Suffix searching – Example: run*
This search will pull up documents that mention terms that begin with the letters prior to the asterisk. In our example, the query will find documents that mention not only run but also any words that start with run such as runner, runs, running and so on.
Proximity searching – Example: tax w/10 property
This search will pull up documents that mention your first term within the number of words you specify of the other term. In our example, this will bring us documents where tax is mentioned within ten words of the term property.
 
How does Casemaker stay Current?
Our headquarters in Charlottesville, VA has ten editors with over 275 years of experience in legal publishing. Data for State and Federal acts are obtained daily. The Acts are analyzed by a state editor, classified and effective dates determined.  Then they are processed into the code which includes amendments, enactments, repeals, and re-numberings.  The code is then published.  Data is converted and delivered to the editorial team within 24 hours of receipt and the Acts are published in Casemaker within 24 hours of receipt.  Statutes are updated and published within 7 business days of receipt of the Acts.  This means statutes are kept up-to-date throughout sessions; statutes have added editorial value such as linked history lines, effective dates for all states, sections set out twice for postponed amendments, and retention of repeals in most states for historical reference; and materials are quality checked for completeness and accuracy.

Using History

The History Link in the upper right will provide you with a complete history of all the searches you’ve created, and documents you’ve viewed since logging into the Casemaker system. Each item in the History comes complete with a date and time stamp, as well as a client label if you performed it while logged in to a client. So if you spent Friday evening searching for a particular statute and forgot to save it to a folder, you don’t need to worry! Just click your history to find it again without the hassle. The date and time stamps will help you be able to navigate which of these descriptions is the right one. 
 
Always Available -  Folders

Perhaps you often print cases that you need, or maybe you download them to your work computer. As you have likely found, the file on your computer or the case you printed are only useful if you have them with you. However, you can access Casemaker from anywhere using a web browser! So instead, you can save the items you need to a folder in your Casemaker account which is accessible from anywhere you can access the web.
The first thing you'll need to do is to create a folder. Click on the save to folder icon and type a folder name here into the new folder name field. Then just click create. 
There are two methods to save a document to a folder. You can click on the Save To Folder icon from the Dark Gray toolbar, choose your folder, and click Save. Or you can click on the orange My Folder Icon next to the search button, and then choose the folder you'd like to use and click OK. This allows the orange folder icon to represent the folder that you've selected. Then you can simply click, drag, and drop documents into that folder for saving.
When you are ready to view the contents of your folders, you can click on the white My Folders link at the top of the search area. The listing of your folders is displayed on the left and clicking on your folder will display its contents in the central area of the screen. Once the folder has loaded you have the opportunity to move, rename, or delete the entire folder. You can also utilize the individual check boxes to print, download, email, or throw away individual contents.
 
Casemaker Features
On the toolbar above the list of states on the homepage, you will find the Features link. The Features link gives you access to CasemakerDigest and Citecheck, descriptions of our additional services as well as information about what Casemaker covers. You also can find information about our partners and what services they offer. If you are unfamiliar with Casemaker the Features link is a great place to get an idea of all you can do with the service.

Emailing Documents
Have you have been viewing a document in Casemaker and wanted to just email it to your client or colleague? Casemaker allows for just that! To email a document to your client, your colleague, or even yourself – you first need to click on the envelope icon located in the upper right-hand corner of the document in the dark gray bar. A pop-up window will appear giving you a number of options to choose from. You can select the document format. You can choose to send a PDF, Word or WordPerfect document as well as chose dual or single column format. You can also decide to include your notes or any highlighted terms. If you would like, you can attach the list of citing references and any negative treatment found as well. Make your choices then enter the recipient's email address (or addresses), a subject for the email, and a short message if you wish. Then hit the blue email button and Casemaker will email the document for you. It is that simple!
 
Make a Note of it!
You can add notes to any document you find in Casemaker. The note is unique to your account and cannot be seen by anyone else. When you are viewing a document you can add a note by clicking the “Notes” drop-down in the light gray bar and then selecting “Add Note.” A new window will appear and you can type in what you wish. Once you are done typing click save. The note is the stored at the top of the document. You can use the same notes menu to determine if notes or visible or hidden. Clicking the pencil icon on the note will allow you to edit the note and to delete it permanently click the “x” icon
 
Statutes and Administrative Code by Citation
Below the search bar, you will find a series of small labeled circles that are called radio buttons. They are Keyword, Citation, Party, Section, and Docket. If you click on the radio button for Section you can then enter the citation for not just statutes as you might expect, but administrative codes as well, and Casemaker will pull up the code section you are seeking. Of course, you can always browse administrative codes, statutes, and other materials by clicking the appropriate link under the state or federal library of your choosing

Casemaker On the Go!
 
You can access Casemaker on the go. Visit the iTunes or Google Play store and download the Casemaker App to your iOS or Android device.
After downloading the Casemaker mobile application you will need to register online. Access the Casemaker website using your computer as you normally do. Once you have entered Casemaker look on the left side of the screen for the “Mobile Application” link. Clicking this will direct you to a form to fill out and submit to receive a reference code. Now, open the mobile application on your device. You will be asked for a username and password or for a reference code. Your username is the email address you used to register the mobile application. Your password is the reference code you received when you registered. Please note that the reference code is case-sensitive.
That is all it takes to have the comprehensive power of Casemaker in the palm of your hand.
 
Searching by Party
 
Searching by party works best if the party or parties in question have a less than common name. Obviously, searching for the party name of Smith is going to yield a large number of results compared to other less common names. 
 
To search by party simply type the name of the party in the search bar and select the circle (often called a radio button) under the search bar labeled party. This will pull up all cases where that name is mentioned as a party in the case. 

My Settings

Clicking on My Settings from the homepage allows you to customize Casemaker in several ways. You can set the primary email you would like to send cases to. You can set the default jurisdiction for your searches. You can also set preferred document types and page formatting as well. In addition, you can set the preferred sort method of your results from this page if you wish.
 
Searching for Cases with Citation

The most frequently used function of Casemaker for most users is searching by citation. From the home page, you can simply type your citation in. You do not have to worry about being too picky if you use the wrong spacing, punctuation, or capitalization; Casemaker will automatically correct that for you. You do however need to make sure you are using only the reporter citation and the proper abbreviation. Casemaker goes by the Blue Book citation guidelines if you have any questions regarding abbreviations. For example, with Kearns v. Ford Motor Co., 567 F.3d 1120 (9th Cir. 2009), all you would put in the search bar is 567 F.3d 1120. Be sure you select the correct jurisdiction, however – you will not be able to pull up a New Hampshire Superior Court case when searching in US Court of Appeals!

Sometimes a particular citation brings up more than one result, and there is a very good reason for this. The other case shares a page with the case you were searching for. For example, your case may end on page 104 and another case begins on the same page of the reporter. This means even if you are typing in a pin cite, you will still be able to locate the case you are looking for.
 
Saving Searches

Do you find yourself using the same search query often? Maybe you would just like to come right back to the search you just did? In Casemaker you can save your searches! Once you have entered your query and submit the search you will notice the blue “save search” link will appear under the jurisdiction menu. You can click on this to save the search you just performed. Later when you want to access this search again, you can find it in the left sidebar on the homepage by clicking “My Saved Searches”

Keyword Searching
The most basic Casemaker search is the keyword search. It can also be the most complex if you wish – just use the search operators found in the blue Search Tips link under the Search button. To search first select your jurisdiction from the jurisdiction menu, then type in your word or words in the search bar and hit the blue search button. The keyword search can be found in other places as well. When you are viewing the list of cases you discovered in a previous search you can narrow that search by keyword in the left menu. If you are looking at a list of citing references you can also narrow that list by keyword on the citing references page.
The radio button selections below Casemaker search bar defaults to keyword. You may find that you can still enter things that are not keywords and get results, however, they may not be as accurate. You certainly can leave keyword selected and enter in a case citation – but you may get more than just the result you were seeking. In those cases, you may wish to choose a more specific search type.
 
Additional Security Option

Casemaker takes pride in being safe and secure – but we understand if you would like another layer of security. This is why we give you the option to add an additional password to Casemaker. Simply click Setup Password in the My Accounts section of Casemaker. Here you will be able to set a password and security question to further secure your research and notes. You will be asked to enter this password after you login to Casemaker via your Bar. If the password is not entered or entered incorrectly, your history, folders, clients, and personalization will not be available.
 
Video Learning
While Casemaker offers regular live webinar training, you may find that you are unable to attend those sessions. You can learn how to use Casemaker at any time with our recording videos.  In the upper right corner of the Casemaker screen is a link labeled Videos. Here you will find our Introductory Training Video as well as other informative presentations available 24 hours a day. 

Follow us on Social Media
You can get news and tips about Casemaker on social media as well. Find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/casemakerlegal/ or on Twitter at https://twitter.com/casemakerlegal

Using the OR Search
Sometimes you may find you actually want a case that mentions either one term OR another term. That is where the OR search comes in. For example using the query alimony OR support will give you cases which mention either word.

Seeing more with the Combined Link
While you are browsing administrative code, statutes, rules and other materials you may sometimes notice an italicized chapter or section title with the word combined at the end in parentheses. Clicking on this link will give you not just one statute or rule, but all the statutes or rules in that chapter or section. This is helpful if you wish to print the entire chapter or section. It is also useful if you simply do not want to be forced to navigate to each individual statute or rule and would like to view them together.