MGT 365 Employment Law

Finding a Case

Do a "big box" search for an issue and add a company name if you wish.  Do the search and then limit to cases using the facets in the Snapshot area in the left column of the results list.  You will probably want to use the "limit to practice areas" facet also located in left column of the results list, you will need to scroll down to see it.  Possible practice areas include "business & corporate" and "labor & employment law."

Tip: Put quotes around phrases when searching.

Familiarizing Yourself With a Case

Step 1. Find a case of interest in Nexis Uni (see Searching for a Case above).

Step 2. Read the case including the headnotes at the top of the case.  (Note: Only cases found in Nexis Uni have headnotes)

Step 3. Make note of the core terms and headnotes, they will help you identify the legal topics of the case for your case description paper.

In this part you will want to begin your in-depth research.  You will need at least two credible sources.  You might look up the topics of the case in a legal encyclopedia such as American Jurisprudence 2d which can be found in Nexis Uni (see Using American Jurisprudence 2d below).  This source will be immensely helpful in developing an understanding of the topics you identified when you read the case.  You could also find law review articles on those topics (see Finding Law Review Articles below).  You may also want to use the Shepard's links in the right column to see how other cases have commented on yours (see Using Shepard's below). 

Using American Jurisprudence 2d

You can search or browse the American Jurisprudence 2d.  To search this source, follow the steps for browsing and then enter your search terms in the box above the outline.  To browse the encyclopedia articles, begin to enter American Jurisprudence.  As you do, Nexis Uni will begin to suggest terms below the search box.  You will see American Jurisprudence 2d appear on the list, look to the right of it and you will see an icon which represents an outline.  Click on the icon to see the outline.  Since the American Jurisprudence 2d is an encyclopedia the outline is an alphabetical list of the articles.  You can drill down to the topics using the plus signs in the outline or enter a search term in the text box above the outline.  Once you have selected a section of the article to read, you can navigate to the next or previous section of the article by clicking on the <Previous and Next> links near the top of the article.

Finding Law Review Articles below

Enter your search terms using the big box search and narrow the results to Law Reviews and Journals using the facets in the left column of the results list.  These articles often provide background information on a legal topics and site other sources which might be helpful.  The default is to search article from the previous 2 years, you wish to expand the search to older articles.  To the right of the big box search you will see a dropdown box which says Previous 2 Years. 

Using Shepard's

The Shepard's links will be found in the right column of your case.  They track what cases have cited the case you are looking at and give you some indication how the citing case treats your case.  For example, you might see a yellow triangle next to the word "Caution" in the right column, that means that the case(s) criticizes your case.  If you were to click on that link it would give a list of cases that have treated your case negatively.  If you hover over the triangle or any of the icons you see in this database it will tell you what they mean. 

In this section of the paper you will continue to do in-depth legal as well as company research (see the Company Research tab of this guide).  You may have received feedback from your professor.  Perhaps you may need to find additional cases or more information about the issues of your case.  To find additional cases you could use the links in the headnotes as discussed above or use the Shephard's links in the right column of your case.  You may also want to explore additional topics in American Jurisprudence 2d, or look at other law review articles using the techniques described in the Part 2 box above.

Law encyclopedias- They are a great place to start, once you have taken a look at your case.  American Juris Prudence 2d is a legal encyclopedia which has in-depth articles on legal topics.  Like a regular encyclopedia, the articles are arranged alphabetically.  It can be found in Nexis Uni and in print at Bracken library.  You can limit your big box search to this source by starting to type American Jurisprudence in the box.  When you do, it will begin to suggest source titles.  When you see it, click on the outline icon to the right of the title.  You will see a list of all of the articles, put a checkmark next the articles you to search (e.g. Employment Relationships, Labor and Labor Relations).

To use American Jurisprudence in print, head to the east side of the third floor and look for the call number KF65 .A54 1962.  Look for the General Index at the end of the set.  Look up your topic and will refer you to an article section.  You will something like Labor § 2532.  Go to the volume with the article on labor and find the page which includes that section of the article.  Note that these articles often span multiple volumes.  The names of the articles on the spine the books. 

Law review articles- Law reviews are a great source too.  They often provide background on legal issues like an encyclopedia article would.  They cite relevant cases and statutes.  You can find law review articles by doing a big box search in Nexis Uni and select Law Reviews and Journals in the left column of the results list. Then use Practice Areas & Topics facet to limit to Labor & Employment Law. Law reviews will cite cases and existing statutes related to your topic. Also, they often include a history of the issue and make an argument for why current policy should be changed.

Other cases- Once you have chosen a case, you can use the headnotes in Nexis Uni to see what legal issues the case addresses. You can click on the hyperlinks in the headnotes to find other case on the topic which you click on.