Using Lexis, Westlaw & Bloomberg Law

There are a few ways to locate secondary sources in Bloomberg Law. First, if you know the name of the resource you're looking for, you can start typing it in the main search box on the home page and select it from the options in the drop-down menu. For example, if you want to find the International Libel and Privacy Handbook, you can start typing the title into the box and Bloomberg will suggest relevant results you can select:

Secondary sources can also be accessed on the law school home page by clicking on the type of resource you are looking for under "Secondary Sources." Bloomberg Law's books and treatises collection includes publications from the American Law Institute and the American Bar Association as well as the Bloomberg BNA publications, manuals, and portfolios.

First, as described in our Secondary Sources research guide, it is generally a good idea to start with a secondary source when researching a topic as they will often identify important cases for you. If, however, you do want to run a search directly for cases in Bloomberg Law, there are a few ways to do so efficiently. If you have a known case you're interested in finding, type the citation into the main search box on the home page and select it from the drop down option.

To search for cases, select "Court Opinions" from the home page. That will lead you to the search screen shown below. From this screen you can enter the keyword(s) related to your search as well as narrow by jurisdiction, topic, date, and more.

BCite is Bloomberg Law's citator for case law. BCite's Indicators exist at both the "Composite Analysis" and "Case Analysis" levels. The "Composite Analysis" is a "visual representation of the Direct History and Case Analysis portions of BCite, displaying the overall status of the case." The "Case Analysis" "summarizes the analysis of the main opinion by cases that subsequently cite the opinion." Below are charts outlining the available indicators for each.

For additional instruction on finding court opinions on Bloomberg Law and using BCite, see this page or check out the following tutorial video:

To browse the U.S. Code or any state code, use the Laws & Regulations section under the browse menu. If you know the exact citation you're looking for, you can type it into the main search box.

For more information about finding statutes, check out these tutorial videos:

Bloomberg Law's Dockets resource gives you access to court filings from both federal and state courts. To verify coverage for a particular court you are interested in, check out their coverage list. The list includes information about what date range documents are available for by specific court. For example, in Washington State, coverage for U.S. Bankruptcy and District Courts goes back to 1989 while coverage for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals goes back to 1982. Note that coverage for state courts is more variable and the available records are often "selected" (which basically just means that its not comprehensive).

Additional information about searching and navigating the Dockets database is available in these tutorial videos:

You can find all of the Bloomberg Law training materials here: