Your First Legal Search

We'll connect LawForge to Claude and perform our first legal search. By the end, we'll have searched for cases, retrieved case text, and validated a citation.

What You'll Need

• Access to Claude (Pro subscription or above) or Claude Desktop
• About 5 minutes

Step 1: Connect LawForge

On Claude Web (claude.ai)

1. Log in to claude.ai
2. Click your profile icon, then Settings
3. Go to Integrations
4. Click Add Integration or Add Custom MCP Server
5. Enter Name: LawForge and URL: https://mcp.lawforge.io/mcp
6. Click Add

On Claude Desktop

1. Open Claude Desktop
2. Go to Settings (gear icon) > Integrations
3. Click Add Custom MCP Server
4. Enter Name: LawForge and URL: https://mcp.lawforge.io/mcp
5. Click Add

You should see a confirmation that LawForge is connected. Claude now has access to legal research tools.

Step 2: Search for Cases

Start a new conversation with Claude. Type:

Search for Supreme Court cases about free speech in schools

Claude will use LawForge to search the database. You should see results like:

• Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) — Students' First Amendment rights
• Morse v. Frederick (2007) — School speech and drug messages
• Mahanoy v. B.L. (2021) — Off-campus student speech

Notice that each result includes the case name, citation, court, and date.

Step 3: Get the Full Text

Now let's pick a case and read the full opinion. Ask Claude:

Get the full text of Tinker v. Des Moines

Claude retrieves the complete opinion text, including the court's reasoning and holding.

Step 4: Validate a Citation

Legal citations follow specific formats. Let's verify one:

Validate this citation: 393 U.S. 503

Claude checks the citation against the database and confirms:

• The citation format is valid
• It corresponds to Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District
• The case exists in the database

Step 5: Explore Citations

Let's see what Tinker relied on:

What cases does Tinker v. Des Moines cite?

You'll see the precedents the court relied on, which helps trace the legal foundation of the decision.

What We Covered

We connected LawForge to Claude and used four tools:

1. Search — Found cases by topic
2. Get Document — Retrieved full case text
3. Validate Citation — Verified a citation format
4. Citation Network — Explored case relationships

Next Steps

• Try Building a Case Brief for a more advanced workflow
• See the Guides for specific tasks like searching regulations or running SQL queries