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Workflows

Research a Legal Issue

Free

A step-by-step workflow from identifying the legal question to finding leading judgments and saving your research.

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60-second version

  • Start with a keyword search on the homepage, then open the most relevant judgments.
  • Use filters, Advanced Search, or Bare Acts to narrow down by court, act section, or date.
  • Save key judgments (bonus feature), read the AI Summary, and follow citations to build your research file.

In one sentence

Research a legal issue on SooperKanoon by searching keywords, reading judgments, checking the relevant act section, and saving your best finds - all in one workflow.

Before you start

Core research is free - no login needed for searching cases, acts, dictionary, and forms. For saving judgments, notes, tags, or search history, you need a logged-in account with an active subscription and the relevant bonus features activated (see DashboardProfile). Have your legal issue written in plain words before you start (e.g. "whether anticipatory bail can be cancelled").

Steps

  1. Define your issue. Write the question in simple words - e.g. "employer liability for workplace harassment."
  2. Keyword search. Go to the homepage and search your topic. The form posts to case search and shows matching judgments.
  3. Scan and filter. On the results page, use Court and Year filters to focus on the Supreme Court or a specific High Court and time period.
  4. Open top judgments. Click 2–3 promising results. On each judgment page, read the headnote, facts, and court's reasoning.
  5. Use AI Summary. Scroll to the AI Summary section for a quick overview of facts, ratio, and key holdings.
  6. Check the act. Go to Bare Acts, open the relevant section, and click List Judgments citing this section.
  7. Go deeper if needed. Use Advanced Search or Citation Search to find related or cited cases.
  8. Save your work (optional). With Save Judgments activated, click the star icon on key cases and revisit them via Favorites or DashboardSearch History.

What you'll see

You move from a broad results list to individual judgment pages with full text, metadata (court, date, parties), AI Summary panels, and links to related cases. Act section pages show the law text plus a button to list all judgments citing that section. Saved judgments appear under My Favourites with your notes and tags attached.

Legal research workflow: search, filter, read judgments, check acts, follow citations, save favorites
Legal research workflow: search, filter, read judgments, check acts, follow citations, save favorites

Common mistakes

  • Stopping at the first result - read several judgments, especially Supreme Court ones, to understand the current law.
  • Ignoring the act section - judgments often turn on a specific section; check Bare Acts to read the statute itself.
  • Trying to save judgments without an active subscription and activated Save Judgments feature - the star icon only works for eligible accounts.

Tips

  • Start broad (keyword search), then narrow (court filter → advanced search → citation follow-up).
  • Supreme Court judgments on sooperkanoon.com often bind lower courts - prioritise SC results when researching all-India law.
  • Use tags (bonus feature) to label cases by client or matter - e.g. "Sharma bail application" - so you can find them later without remembering case names.

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