Nevada Case Law Research Guide

The Nevada Appellate Courts website lets you see recent decisions from the Nevada Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, but it’s not the best for research. You can look up cases by number or by the names of people involved, but you can’t search the text of the cases. The site also shows recent decisions that haven’t been printed yet. For older cases, you can find them if you know the volume and page number. For better searches, try tools like Google Scholar, Fastcase, Bloomberg Law, Lexis+, or Westlaw, which have more features and better search options.

Limitations of the Website

While the Nevada Appellate Courts website provides immediate access to recently issued opinions from the Nevada Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, it is not ideal for comprehensive case law research.

Features of the Website

Case Lookup Search

• The homepage offers a case lookup tool for active files, but the search options are limited to:
  • Case Number
  • "Caption Contains" (which includes party names but not subject matter keywords).

Access to Nevada Reports

• The website links directly to the Nevada Reports, where you can locate cases using a citation (volume and page number). However, there is no full-text search capability for opinions.

Unpublished Orders

• Nevada Supreme Court Unpublished Orders are organized by date. To locate a specific order, you need to know the party name and the approximate date it was issued.
• Similarly, Nevada Court of Appeals Unpublished Orders are available but require the same information for retrieval.

Advance Opinions

• For recently issued opinions that have not yet been included in a printed volume of the Nevada Reports, the website provides links to advance opinions. Advance Opinions are typically released on Thursdays, but there is no guarantee that opinions will be released on any given Thursday.

Forthcoming Opinions

• The website also posts forthcoming opinions, which are opinions scheduled for release by the appellate courts. This list is typically released on the preceding Wednesday.

Overview

The Caselaw Access Project (CAP) combines scans from Harvard Law School’s Library print collection of official state and federal case reporters with annual updates from Fastcase to provide free public access to U.S. law.

Scope

CAP covers cases from:

• State Courts
• Federal Courts
• Territorial Courts, including:
  • American Samoa
  • Dakota Territory
  • Guam
  • Native American Courts
  • Navajo Nation
  • Northern Mariana Islands

The collection spans cases from 1658 to 2020. For Nevada, CAP includes case law from the Nevada Reports from 1868 to 2013 (volumes 1 Nev. to 129 Nev.).

Document Quality

CAP relies on scans of original publications, so the quality of the scans may vary.

• Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology is used to identify words for keyword searches. However, due to scan quality, some search results may be incomplete or inaccurate.

Search Features

CAP allows searches by:

• Citation, including Nevada Reports citations and recent regional decisions published in the Pacific Reporter.
• Note: Only the third edition (P.3d) of the Pacific Reporter is currently available through Fastcase.

Another alternative for free, full-text searching for Nevada judicial opinions, try Google Scholar. Google Scholar claims to have state appellate cases beginning in 1950.

For information on how to search Google Scholar, please visit the Law Library of Congress for an explanation on how to use Google Scholar to research case law. 

If you are an active Nevada State Bar member, your membership includes Fastcase. 

From the Nevada State Bar's website, "Fastcase includes access to federal and Nevada caselaw, local federal rules, reporters, links to court forms, Attorney General’s opinions, bankruptcy decisions, administrative regulations and other information important to state bar members" 

The library offers public access to Bloomberg Law, Lexis+, and Westlaw Precision through patron access computers. These platforms provide a comprehensive case law collection and advanced search tools, surpassing Google Scholar and the Caselaw Access Project.

Search Options Include:

• By Citation: Search cases using known citations (e.g., 115 Nev. 321).
• Keyword Searches: Use plain language or Boolean connectors (e.g., AND, OR, NOT).
• Digest/Topic: Retrieve cases by topic within a digest.
• Party Names: Search by the names of involved parties.
• Proximity Searches: Find terms near each other (e.g., car /2 accident).
• Date Ranges: Specify exact dates (e.g., 1/1/2021–6/3/2021).
• Judge or Attorney: Search by judges or attorneys involved in cases.
• Opinions: Narrow searches to concurring or dissenting opinions.