Finding Old English Cases

- In this tutorial, we'll show you how to find an English Reports decision, using HeinOnline.

HeinOnline contains scanned PDFs of the English Reports, from 1220 to 1867.

In the Irwin Law text, Libel and Slander, we came across an English Reports decision; "Lynch versus Knight". That discusses special damages.

The English Reports are available in print within our collection. However sometimes older English decisions, take a while to locate in print. Since they can go by two different citations. A nominative citation, such as the one we see highlighted in the Irwin text, and in English Report citation. And while finding a decision using an English Report citation, is relatively straightforward in print.

Finding a decision using a nominative citation, such as the one provided in this Irwin Law text, it's a complex process that requires the help of additional print resources.

The good news is, HeinOnline has simplified these steps.

Once you're signed in to HeinOnline through the lawyers reading room, select English Reports. You can search for a case by directly entering the case name, the nominative citation, or the English Report citation. Eliminating the need for any additional resources. There is also the option to do a keyword search, but we recommend using this database to find English Reports decisions using a known citation,

Whether it's a nominative, or an English Report citation or using a case name.

In this instance, we'll use the case name "Lynch versus Knight" to search for the decision.

Enter the name into the search box, and make sure Case Name is selected. Then click locate.

From here we can download and print the decision directly, and we can also view decisions that have cited this case.

To view the case simply click on the citation. From here we can flip between the pages, go to a specific page, download and print the decision, increase or decrease the page size, and make the decision full screen.

That brings us to the end of this tutorial, if you have any additional questions, please don't hesitate to contact us here at Courthouse Libraries BC.