Library Transcripts

Nexis Uni: Create a Shepard’s Report

 

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Visual: Nexis Uni search page

Narration: Hello. My name is Hadeer Elsbai, and I’m a Reference and Instruction Librarian at Walden.

Welcome to this quick tutorial on creating Shepard's Reports within Nexis Uni.

First, what does it mean to Shepardize? Shepardizing a court case allows you to see the citation history of that case. Essentially, you can see all of the other cases that have cited your case, and whether they have cited it favorably or unfavorably. This is important because you do not want to cite a case that has been cited unfavorably and is no longer considered good law. For example, a case that has been overturned is not a case that should be cited as a leading source. 

Nexis Uni provides a thorough guide on Shepard’s Reports within its Help section. To access this, click on “Help,” in the upper right corner of the screen.

Visual: Nexis Uni Help page, clicking on options on left side

Narration: Then, navigate to the sidebar, and click on  “Searching Using Nexis Uni. “ Then click on “Citation Searches.” 
Let’s then click on the Shepard’s Signal Indicators.

Visual: Shepard’s Signal Indicators page

Narration: Before Shepardizing a report, it is important to understand the Shepard’s Signal Indicators and the meaning behind them. Shepard’s Signal Indicators are integrated into case law documents and provide an immediate indication of the subsequent history and treatment of a particular case. Let’s quickly go over them.

Visual: Citation Searches page (from Help menu), scrolling through list in center of page

Narration: The red Shepard’s Signal Indicator  indicates  that citing references in the Shepard's Citations Service contain strong negative history or treatment of your case. For example: overruled by or reversed. 

The red exclamation point Shepard’s Signal Indicator  indicates  that citing references in the Shepard's Citations Service contain strong negative treatment of the Shepardized section For example the section may have been found unconstitutional or void. 

The orange Shepard’s Signal Indicator indicates  that the citing references in the Shepard's Citations Service contain treatment that questions the continuing validity or precedential value of your case because of intervening circumstances, including judicial or legislative overrule .
The yellow Shepard’s Signal Indicator indicates that citing references in the Shepard's Citations Service contain history or treatment that may have a significant negative impact on your case. For example: limited or criticized by. 

The green Shepard’s Signal Indicator indicates that citing references in the Shepard's Citations Service contain history or treatment that has a positive impact on your case For example, affirmed or followed by.

The blue "A" Shepard’s Signal Indicator indicates that citing references in the Shepard's Citations Service contain treatment of your case that is neither positive nor negative. For example: explained.

And finally, the blue "I" Shepard’s Signal Indicator indicates that citing references are available in the Shepard's Citations Service for your case, but the references do not have history or treatment analysis. For example: the references are law review citations. 

Visual: Document: Peatros v Bank of America, 22 Cal.4th 147. Options on right side of screen.

Narration: Now, how do you actually Shepardize a case in Nexis Uni?

When you’re viewing a case opinion, you can view a summary of the Shepard’s citations to the right of the screen. Here, you can link to the top citing reference, view any negative subsequent appellate history, and link to the citing decisions.  You can link to various treatments of the case as well. 

Finally, clicking on ‘Shepardize this document’ will create a full Shepard’s report of the case.

Visual: Clicked on link "Shepardize this document" on right side

Narration: From here, you can view a list of the citing decisions.

Visual: scrolling down page to locate options on left side 

Narration:  You can narrow down by analysis, court, publication status, depth of the discussion, and headnotes. You can also search within these results by keyword and narrow down by date. You can view any of the citing cases in full detail. 

Visual: scrolls back up page to locate 'download button' above the first result. 
Narration: From here, you can also download the Shepard’s report as a PDF by clicking on the “Download” button and selecting the pdf option.

Thank you for watching this quick tutorial.
 

Created June 2022 by Walden University Library