You now have a good background on abuse of process in Wisconsin. You should understand what the elements are, defenses, and information on the attorney's role in abuse of process cases. However, we have not read any citable material for our brief. So, the next step is to take one of the cases you found on the previous page and use it to find the mandatory law in Wisconsin.

Since everyone may have different cases, we will do a general discussion on what to find with each case. Remember to put the information in your research log, too.

You can choose to research in Lexis or Westlaw or both, but read through both descriptions since there may be helpful information in both.

Lexis

I found Brownsell v. Klawitter, 102 Wis. 2d 108 (1981) through Lexis. The secondary source said that it should lay out the elements of abuse of process. I can go to Brownsell either in Westlaw or Lexis.

Looking first on Lexis I read through the headnotes. HN2 is on abuse of process but mostly speaks of differentiating abuse of process from malicious prosecution. So I will continue to read through the headnotes to see if I find something more closely related to my facts.

Headnotes 4-6 are more on point to my case. I will use the hyperlink (HN4) to jump to the opinion about abuse of process HN4 and read through the end of the case. Reading here I can find the cases the court relied on to decide the elements of abuse of process. In legal research 1 we called this looking backward. You may find cases that set out the law of the land and should be quoted or you may find cases that the court is overturning with this opinion.

The next step is looking at the headnotes and topics or keynumbers for an area of law. In Legal Research 1 we called this looking sideways. On Lexis, looking at HN6 I can find additional cases that discuss the elements of abuse of power by selecting the hyperlink that says "more like this headnote". Of those results I can use the court filter on the lefthand side to select only my mandatory courts which are the WI Supreme Court and the WI Ct. of Appeals. Now I have 18 cases that I can use. I can also look at the topics Intentional Torts>Abuse of Process>Elements above HN6 that will give me more cases on these topics that I can filter by jurisdiction. Just select the down arrow next to the word Elements and "get documents".

Next, I can look at the Citing Decisions tab to see the cases that cite my case. I can sort these cases by headnote and look at the cases the deal with HN4-6 first as I look for additional cases. In Legal Research 1 we called this looking forward.

Finally, I will want to shepardize this case and make sure it is still good law. I see that on Lexis it has a green plus which means there are no cases that overturn it.

Using the same case we used above here is the process of looking backward, sideways, and forward on Westlaw.

Looking at Brownsell v. Klawitter, 102 Wis.2d 108 (1981), I first look at the headnotes to find the information about abuse of process. Like Lexis HN4-6 are the main abuse of process headnotes. Do note that Westlaw HN3 is similar to HN2 in Lexis, so they do often have different numbers.

HN5 discusses the two essential elements laid out originally in Thompson v. Beecham, 72 Wis.2d 362. I can use looking backward to find cases that my case depended on to come to its decision.

Returning to the top of the case where the headnotes are I can now look at the key numbers. This is looking sideways. Key Numbers are an indexed list of cases so all cases on a specific legal subject are all grouped together. Here I can look at 313K173 which is about Process at the largest legal subject and nature and elements of abuse of process at its smallest. By selecting 313k173 I can see other cases about this specific issue.

Note that when you jump to a key number like this it will keep you in the jurisdiction of the case you were just in. This is an easy change if you are not currently in your mandatory jurisdiction and especially helpful if you found a case in a national secondary source and are now looking for your specific jurisdiction. I can look through this list for additional cases that discuss the elements of abuse of process.

I can now look forward to cases that cite my own case. I can look for headnotes 4-6 to find the most on point cases listed.

Finally I will look to KeyCite's Negative Treatment. Here, unlike Shepard's it has pointed to AnchorBank as distinguishing itself from my case on HN 5-6, so I will want to read further on that case and why it was distinguished.

Case finding tools can help you find on point cases. You can find them through your secondary sources, key numbers, other cases, and searching. Our Prepare to Practice video series on case finding tools can help you navigate the different ways to find the best cases for your facts.

You can also look at key numbers (WL) and topics (L) at the start of your primary source search.

Westlaw

Begin in Content types>Key Numbers

Going to 313 "Process" I can now look through IV Abuse of Process for the topic I want to research. This will have all cases that are on this legal subject.

Lexis

Select the Topics Tab

Select Torts>Intentional & Other Torts>Abuse of Process

You can select Defenses, Elements, or General Overview

One of my favorite tools with Lexis Topics is using Ravel view after selecting a topic. Ravel view is the circle interconnected with other circles on the top right. You can filter for mandatory courts, then see how each case is interconnected. It also helps you see, by size of the circle, cases that are cited most often. For instance, on elements, Thompson v. Beecham is cited most often. The case we used (Brownsell) is cited 2nd most.