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Legal research guides and case-law tips
Plain-English guides for lawyers, paralegals, and small firms: finding cases, reading citations, checking good law, and writing a memo.
ChatGPT for Legal Research: What It Can and Cannot Do, and How to Use It Safely
ChatGPT for legal research works for explaining doctrine, outlining, and drafting, but not for finding cases. It has no case law database and no citator, so it generates citations that look right instead of retrieving citations that are right.
Read articleHow to Find Federal Court Opinions: Free Sources, PACER, and What Each One Misses
How to find federal court opinions: govinfo for authenticated official PDFs, CourtListener for the broadest archive, the circuit websites for the newest filings, and supremecourt.gov for slip opinions. What none of them give you is a citator.
Read articleHow Much Does PACER Cost? The 2026 Fee Schedule, the $30 Waiver, and What Is Free
How much does PACER cost: 10 cents per page, capped at 3 dollars per document, and nothing at all if you accrue 30 dollars or less in a quarter. Written opinions are always free. What the fee schedule really charges, and how to cut the bill.
Read articleCan You Trust AI for Legal Research? Accuracy, Hallucinations, and How to Verify
Can you trust AI for legal research? Only as a starting point. The best legal AI tools are right about 80 percent of the time, so verify every case, confirm the citation exists, and run a citator before you rely on it.
Read articleWhat Is a Citator? How Shepard's, KeyCite, and Modern Alternatives Verify Case Law
What is a citator: the legal research tool that tells you whether a case is still good law by tracking every decision that cited, followed, distinguished, or overruled it. How Shepard's and KeyCite work, and the alternatives.
Read articleHow to Find Case Law: A Step-by-Step Guide
How to find case law that controls your issue: where opinions live, how to search by issue and jurisdiction, and how to confirm a case is still good law before you cite it.
Read articleHow to Write a Legal Research Memo (With a Template)
How to write a legal research memo using the IRAC structure: question presented, short answer, facts, analysis, and conclusion, with a fill-in template you can reuse.
Read articleHow to Read a Legal Citation: Every Part Explained
How to read a legal citation: what the case name, volume, reporter, page, court, and year each mean, with worked examples for cases, statutes, and parallel cites.
Read articleWhat Is a Legal Precedent? Binding, Persuasive, Stare Decisis
What a legal precedent is, how binding and persuasive precedent differ, the meaning of holding vs dicta, examples, and how stare decisis decides which cases you must follow.
Read articleHow to Shepardize a Case and Confirm It Is Still Good Law
How to shepardize a case: read the treatment signals, spot a case that has been overruled, reversed, or questioned, and confirm a precedent is still good law before you cite it.
Read articleBoolean vs Natural Language Legal Search: Which to Use
Boolean vs natural language legal search compared: how each works, when terms-and-connectors beats plain English, when it does not, and how to combine both for better results.
Read articleAI Hallucinations in Legal Research: How to Avoid Fake Citations
AI hallucinations in legal research can invent cases that do not exist. Here is why it happens, the sanctions lawyers have faced, and a checklist to verify every citation.
Read articleBest Legal Research Tips for Solo Lawyers and Small Firms
The best legal research tips for solo lawyers: research faster without an enterprise seat, build a citation routine, reuse your own work, and keep costs predictable.
Read articleBest AI Legal Research Tools for Small Law Firms (2026)
The best AI legal research tools for small law firms in 2026, compared honestly on price, search style, accuracy, and fit, from free databases to enterprise seats.
Read articleLegal Research Software Cost: Westlaw, Lexis and AI Prices
How much legal research software costs in 2026: free databases, self-serve tools from 39 dollars a month, and enterprise Westlaw and LexisNexis seats, compared.
Read articleWhat Happened to Casetext? The Shutdown and Your Alternatives
What happened to Casetext: Thomson Reuters bought it in 2023, shut down the standalone product on March 31, 2025, and moved its technology into CoCounsel, plus what solos and small firms should use instead.
Read articleBinding vs Persuasive Authority: How to Tell Which Cases You Must Follow
Binding vs persuasive authority explained: what binding precedent means, when a case is only persuasive, how jurisdiction and court hierarchy decide, and how to distinguish an unfavorable precedent.
Read articleWhat Is Stare Decisis? Meaning, Examples, and How It Works
What stare decisis means: the doctrine that courts stand by decided cases, how horizontal and vertical stare decisis differ, real US examples, and when courts overturn their own precedent.
Read articleHolding vs Dicta: How to Tell the Rule From the Aside
Holding vs dicta explained: what a case holding is, what obiter dicta means, why only the holding binds under stare decisis, and how to find the holding of a case fast.
Read articleWestlaw vs LexisNexis: Pricing, Features, and Which to Pick
Westlaw vs LexisNexis compared honestly on corpus, search, AI assistants, KeyCite vs Shepard's, and price, plus why solos and small firms often need neither enterprise seat.
Read articleHow to Distinguish a Case: Beat an Adverse Precedent
How to distinguish a case: what distinguishing a precedent means, the material-facts test, when following precedent is required, and a step-by-step way to argue a case does not control.
Read articleHow Much Does CoCounsel Cost in 2026? Real Pricing
How much does CoCounsel cost in 2026: the roughly 104 to 639 dollars per user per month range, why it is bundled with Westlaw, what former Casetext users now pay, and cheaper options.
Read articleHow Much Does Westlaw Cost in 2026? Real Pricing
How much does Westlaw cost in 2026: the published 155 to 400 dollar solo tiers, the quote-only Precision with CoCounsel range, why jurisdiction drives the price, and cheaper research options.
Read articleHow Much Does LexisNexis Cost in 2026? Real Pricing
How much does LexisNexis cost in 2026: the 114 dollar Essential tier, the realistic 175 to 400 dollar solo range, the separate Lexis+ AI premium, the fine print, and cheaper research options.
Read articleRatio Decidendi Explained: The Binding Part of a Case
Ratio decidendi is the rule essential to a court's decision, the binding part of a precedent. What it means, how it differs from obiter dicta, how to find it, and why it binds later courts.
Read articleHow Much Does CaseMap Cost in 2026? Real Pricing
How much CaseMap costs in 2026: the reported 50 to 75 dollar per user tiers, what changed when it became CaseMap+ AI, what drives the quote, and why fact management is a separate budget from research.
Read articleDo You Need Westlaw to Practice Law? An Honest Answer
No US jurisdiction requires Westlaw. What the competence rules actually demand, what the platform is genuinely hard to replace for, the cheaper stack that covers the daily work, and when to keep a seat.
Read articleHow to Search Case Law With AI (Without Getting Burned)
How to search case law with AI: frame the question with facts and jurisdiction, triage the holdings, check the treatment signal, and open every opinion you cite. Plus where AI search fails.
Read articleCan You Cite an Unpublished Opinion? Federal and State Rules
Can you cite an unpublished opinion? Federal courts allow it under FRAP 32.1 for decisions issued since 2007. California bars it outright. What the rules say state by state, and what weight an unpublished case carries.
Read articleHow Much Does Fastcase Cost? vLex Fastcase Pricing in 2026
How much does Fastcase cost? Free through more than forty bar associations, about 995 to 1,140 dollars per year direct, and around 65 to 69 per user per month for vLex plans with Vincent AI.
Read articleHow to Shepardize a Case: Citation Checks and Negative Treatment
How to Shepardize a case step by step: run the cite through a citator, read the signal, filter to negative treatment in your jurisdiction, and open the citing decisions. Plus how to do it without Lexis.
Read articlePublished vs Unpublished Opinions: What You Can Cite
Published vs unpublished opinions: what the difference means, when an unpublished decision may be cited under the federal and state rules, and how to tell whether an opinion is precedent before you rely on it.
Read articleHow to Find a Case by Citation: A Step-by-Step Guide
How to find a case by citation: read the reporter cite, pull the opinion from a free or paid source, handle parallel and public-domain cites, and confirm you have the right case before you rely on it.
Read articleWhat Court Decisions Are Binding in My State?
What court decisions are binding in your state: how to tell binding precedent from persuasive authority, why the answer depends on your court and jurisdiction, and a state-by-state guide to which opinions you must follow.
Read articleIs Google Scholar Good for Legal Research? An Honest Look
Is Google Scholar good enough for legal research? What its free case law database does well, the citator and coverage gaps that create malpractice risk, and when a paid research tool is worth it.
Read articleFastcase vs Westlaw: Cost, Coverage, and Who Each Fits
Fastcase vs Westlaw compared for solo and small-firm lawyers: what each costs, how coverage and citators differ, where the bar-association free tier fits, and how to pick without overpaying.
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Put the guides into practice
Ask a legal question in plain English and get cited cases, plain-language holdings, and a still-good-law signal in seconds. A research tool, not legal advice.