Case Posting Instructions
1. Your case must first be in the appropriate format. It is easiest to copy from Westlaw and paste into Notepad or other software that removes all html/encoding.
2. Once you have copied it in to Notepad, you will need to remove the numbers left behind that correspond to “KeyCites.” These numbers usually appear in front of paragraphs.
3. Once you are in our Drupal database, go to the gray bar at the top of the page and click “Add Content.”
4. From there, you will see a list of our Content types. Click on Case.
5. This brings you to the area where you will input information from the case into various fields.
6. The first field is called Title. Add the short or common name of a case here (People v. Jones).
7. Next, you will see a blue link under the Body Field for “Edit Summary.” Click on that to expand that field. Here is where you will enter a summary for the case. This summary should be at least 3-5 sentences long. It must be an original summary and not pasted directly from another database source (i.e., Westlaw).
8. The actual text of the case is pasted into the Body field. Again, this must be in a plain text format. Once you paste it into the field, you usually will need to reformat it to add spacing between paragraphs. Additionally, go back to the original case on WL to see if there are any words emphasized in italics or block quoting. Those are added by using the formatting menu bar at the top (WYSWIG). The bar is fairly standard. Do not change anything on the text formatting pull-down that appears at the bottom of the Body Field.
9. Ignore the fields entitled “Main Page Summary” and “Documents.”
10. Put the name of the court in the Court Name Field (i.e., Michigan Supreme Court or United States District Court, E.D. Tennessee, At Chattanooga).
11. Put the docket number in the Docket Number Field.
12. Under Topics, scroll to the most relevant topic(s). To select more than one, hold the Control button while selecting with the mouse. These will be reviewed by an editor so just select what you think best reflects the case (and be sure to scroll all the way down as the best suited topic may be near the bottom).
13. The Judge Name field is for the judge(s) who authored the opinion. Past his or her name in that field.
14. The Judges Field is for the panel of judges who decided the case. You can simply paste the list from WL into one field. You may also paste each individually into the Field by selecting “Add another item.”
15. Jurisdiction level is the level of the court. Select the appropriate jurisdiction in the pull-down. Be sure to keep the jurisdiction at Federal for federal district court cases and not the state name.
16. The Tags Field is for search terms. Add 5-10 search terms separated by commas. For example, a federal Sec. 1983 action for police shooting a pet might have: “civil rights, Section 1983, police, law enforcement, seizure, shoot pet, qualified immunity”
17. The Species Field should only be selected if the case is strictly limited to one species. If it is about dogs and cats generally, do not select from this pull-down. If it is a case specifically about ferrets, select that species from the pull-down.
18. Put the date the case was decided/issued in the Date of Decision Field.
19. The Primary Citation field is for the Reporter Citation. It is very important that you put the jurisdiction and date in the parenthetical if possible: 964 N.E.2d 931 (Ind.App.,2012). It gives a reader the jurisdiction at first glance.
20. Use the WL or state citation or other reporter citation in the Alternate Citation field.
21. Put the appropriate county in Country of Origin.
22. Full Case Name is where the long case name with all the parties and intervenors goes. Just copy and paste.
23. Put both sides’ attorneys in the Attorneys Field.
24. MOST IMPORTANTLY click SAVE once done entering fields.
25. This will take you to a Preview of the case. From here, you can double-check your work. You may need to adjust some spacing in the case after you look at it on this view. If you are satisfied, you can just leave it and an Editor will review it for publication. You may also be able to click “Needs Review.” I do not know whether that option appears in the yellow moderation status panel under the gray editing tabs.