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Legal Research Manual

This edition of Legal Research Manual builds on many previous editions. While the manual is designed principally for use with the first year legal research classes, upper year law students will also find it a useful reference.

Lexis Advance Quicklaw - QuickCite

Note Up a Case Name or Citation

  1. As a shortcut, in the main search box, type cit: and then a case name or citation. It will suggest close matches as you type. When you select the case name or citation you would like, it will display the citator document for the case.

Note Up a Case Displayed on the Screen

  1. Click the treatment signal beside the case name OR click a link in the "About this document" box to the right of the case.  These links will take you directly to a particular section in the citator document.
  2. The note-up screen displays the History of the Case, Citing Cases (which can be sorted by treatment, court, year and jurisdiction), and commentary referring to the case. You can also search within the cases or filter the results. The cases are fully linked, which enables you to go directly to any cases of interest.

You can also consult this video tutorial on QuickCite.

Case Treatment Indicators

Signal Summary Explanation
Citation Information Indicator Case citation information A case citation information signal indicates a case citator record is available, but no known history or treatments. Select the signal to view the case citator record.
Positive Treatment Indicator Positive treatment A positive (green) signal indicates the decision has positive history (affirmed, judicial review denied, or leave to appeal refused by a higher court) or positive treatments (followed or followed in a minority opinion of by subsequent court).
Cautionary Treatment Indicator Cautionary treatment A cautionary (yellow) signal indicates the decision has been subsequently distinguished by a subsequent court.
Negative Treatment Indicator Negative treatment A negative (red) signal indicates the decision has a negative history (judicial review allowed, reconsideration allowed, reversed, quashed, or varied by a higher court) or negative treatments (not followed or questioned by a subsequent court).
Neutral Treatment Indicator Neutral treatment

A neutral signal indicates the decision has neutral treatments (mentioned, explained, cited, or cited in a dissenting opinion) or has history (abandoned, abated, leave to appeal granted, reconsideration denied, related proceeding, same case, or supplementary reasons by a subsequent court) where the citing court does not comment on the case.

 Note: A neutral signal is also given to cases that have been added to Lexis Advance within the past 3 business days, but which have not yet been assigned a QuickCITE treatment.
Legislation Citator Information Indicator Legislation citation information

A legislation citation information signal indicates a legislation citator record is available. Select the signal to view the legislation citator record.

from help.lexisnexis.com

Case Treatment

Annotation Explanation
Distinguished Cited case is held to be inapplicable due to a difference in fact or law.
Explained Citing case adds to, expands upon, or interprets cited case. The cited case is not decisive, but is given some kind of consideration.
Followed Citing case in a majority or plurality opinion applies a principle of law from the cited case. The judge expressly relies on the cited case as a precedent on which to base a decision.
Followed in minority opinion Citing case, in an opinion other than a majority, plurality, or dissent, applies a principle of law from the cited case.
Cited

Case is cited and may receive a more substantive treatment within 72 hours for recently added cases.
Cited in dissenting opinion

Case is cited in a dissenting opinion.
Mentioned

Citing case provides no more information about the cited case than what is available in the cited case itself.
Not Followed

Citing case overrules or refuses to apply the cited case for some reason other than it was distinguishable.
Questioned

Citing case criticizes the conclusion or reasoning of the cited case, without refusing to follow it. Alternatively, legislation in force at the time the cited case was decided has been amended to the extent that the cited case might have been decided differently under the amended legislation.

from help.lexisnexis.com

Search for Judicial Treatment of a Case in a Full-Text Case Database*

*This method is imprecise and should only be used when the other methods do not work. It is best for new cases that may not yet have their judicial treatment entered into QuickCite or for unreported cases that may be mentioned in other cases but are not themselves available on Lexis Advance Quicklaw.*

  1. Enter the name of the case in quotation marks as a search term (so it is considered as a phrase) in the red search box.  Because cases can be referred to in a variety of ways, you may want to search for a distinctive word or phrase from the style of cause.
  2. Add a date restriction to your search results by using the Timeline filter on the left side of the page. Choose "Date is after" and enter the date of your decision (You don't want any cases from before your decision is released, since you're trying to find cases referring to that decision).
  3. Your results will include any mention of the case name you selected. You will need to check your results to make sure they are not referring to a different case of the same name.