Bachelor’s Capstone in Paralegal Studies

Unit 5 Seminar

Agenda

• Review of Case Briefs

• Questions on Assignments

• Researching Legal and Non Legal Sources

Briefing A Case

Citation

Procedural History

Facts

Issue

Answer/ Holding

Reasoning

Disposition

Research: Getting Started

• Make sure you are familiar with your research question, including vocabulary and components

• Get to know your firm’s library – collection & librarians

• Know what type of subscriptions your firm has – and use accordingly

• Create a research log – keep track of each search as you work

• Know when to stop – recurring themes, cases, etc. indicate you have found all there is

• Always UPDATE your research – especially before you hand it in

• Decide whether online or print searching will work best for your query

Print v. Online Research

• Print:• Analytical and contextual framework• Search by rules and concepts• Use to provide concepts to use in online searching• Statutes, treatises, ordered materials• Reading and browsing

• Online:• Broad-based searching• Full-text searches• Field and segment searching• Matching factual situations

What’s Online and Free?

• Federal • Opinions from the U.S. Supreme Court, Courts of Appeals

& District Courts (dates of coverage vary widely!)• Statutes & Regulations• Agency materials

• State• Opinions & Dockets from State Supreme Courts• State Statutes & Regulations• Agency materials• Public Records: Corporate filings, professional licenses

• Secondary• Research Guides

Primary v. Secondary Research

Primary Research

• Case Law

• Statutes

• Regulations

• Treaties

Secondary Research

• Research Guides

• Dictionaries

• Law Review Articles

Primary Sources

Court Opinions: Supreme Court

• SCOTUS • www.supremecourtus.gov• Full text of all Court opinions issued from 2004-present

• Cornell’s Legal Information Institute• www.law.cornell.edu/supct/supremes.htm• Comprehensive coverage from 1990-present• Selective coverage prior to 1990• Selection criteria = significant historical value

• Search by topic, judicial author, party name, or date

• FindLaw• www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html• Full text of Court opinions from 1893-present• Search by publication year, official U.S. citation, party name, or keyword

• Oyez – Northwestern U.• www.oyez.org• Audio recordings of oral arguments – 1995-present• Selected audio from 1955-1995

• Blogs/Current Awareness resources

Court Opinions:U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

• Emory’s Federal Courts Finder• www.law.emory.edu/FEDCTS• Search Opinions by party name, keyword, or date of decision• Links to the official circuit courts of appeals’ sites

• Those sites provides access to opinions

• Villanova’s Federal Court Locator• www.law.villanova.edu/library/researchandstudyguides/federalcourtlocator.asp• Official Third Circuit Court of Appeals site• Portal to other official circuit court sites

• U.S. Courts• www.uscourts.gov• Official federal government portal• Statistical reports, Code of Conduct, U.S. Judges• Search by district, circuit, zip code, area code, county, or state

• AltLaw.org -- Columbia University & University of Colorado • www.altlaw.org• Full text of selected opinions – U.S. Supreme Court, 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, Federal & D.C.

districts• Search by keyword or title; may also browse cases

Court Opinions:U.S. District Courts

• FindLaw• www.findlaw.com/10fedgov/judicial/district_courts.html• Portal access to U.S. district court sites

• The Federal Judiciary, U.S. Courts• www.uscourts.gov

• Cornell’s Legal Information Institute• www.law.cornell.edu/federal/districtbystate.html• Portal access to U.S. district court sites, as well as portal

access to bankruptcy court sites• Chart indicates whether official U.S. district court has

information only or information & opinions

Court Opinions:State Supreme Courts

• LoisLaw• www.loislaw.com/product/information/state.htm• Full text of state supreme court decisions• 1920s-present (in most cases)

• Cornell’s Legal Information Institute• www.law.cornell.edu/opinions.html• Portal to all 50 states• Judicial Opinions• Regulations & Other Agency Info• Other State Legal Collections

• FindLaw• www.findlaw.com/casecode/statelaw• Portal to all 50 states

Legislation:Federal Session Laws

• GPO Access• www.gpoaccess.gov/index.html• Statutes at Large 2004-present• Search by subject, public law number, popular

name, statute or U.S. Code citation, or bill number

• Library of Congress• Memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwsl.html• Index and lists of Public Acts/Private

Acts/Treaties of the Statute at Large from 1789-1875

Legislation:Federal Codifications

• GPO Access• www.gpoaccess.gov/uscode/index.html• Access to U.S. Code from 1994-present• Browse by title, search by keyword

• Cornell’s Legal Information Institute• www.law.cornell.edu/uscode• Search by citation, popular name, or by keyword. Can also

browse by title.

• U.S. House of Rep. Office of Law Revision Counsel• Uscode.house.gov• Search by keyword or citation• Entire U.S. Code can be browsed

Legislation:U.S. House & Senate Bills

• Library of Congress• www.thomas.loc.gov• Pending bills & resolutions from 101st Congress-Present• Search by keyword, index, bill’s sponsor, committee, or date• Full text, summary & status, and congressional actions

• Related bills listed• Committee Reports from 104th Congress-Present

• Search by keyword, committee, or date

• Law Librarians’ Society of Washington, D.C. (LLSDC)• Legislative Source Book -- www.llsdc.org/sourcebook• Advice on compiling legislative history• Examples of legislative history

• Center for Democracy & Technology• Open Congressional Research Reports -- www.opencrs.com• Congressional Research Reports• Not comprehensive – access to report requested by individuals from their

representatives

Legislation:State & Local

• OnlineSunshine• www.leg.state.fl.us• Florida legislature• Portal to Senate and House sites• Search statutes from 1997-present• Browse FL Constitution, or search through index• Digest of general laws from 2003-present• Link to Laws of FL (FL department of state website)

• WashLaw• www.washlaw.edu• Portal access to links for official state Internet sites

• Municode.com• Free access to full text of many codes and ordinances for 50 states• Hyperlinked map lets researcher to choose state• Links to counties’ and cities’ codes within state• Search by keyword or table of contents

Secondary Sources

Secondary Sources:Research Guides

• Law Librarians’ Resource Exchange (LLRX)• www.llrx.com• Access to subject research guides – over 35

legal topics• Links to court rules and dockets• Research assistance for primary sources of law

at international, federal, and state levels

• The Virtual Chase• www.virtualchase.com• Guides to help locate info about businesses,

companies, individuals

Secondary Sources:Dictionaries

• Merriam-Webster’s Law Dictionary• dictionary.lp.findlaw.com/dictionary.html• FindLaw website

• Law.com/Dictionary

• WEX• http://topics.law.cornell.edu/wex• Cornell’s Legal Information Institute• Wiki created site – requires that author be a

qualified expert• Citations to applicable federal and state statutes

& judicial decisions included

Secondary Sources:Law Reviews

• University Law Review Project• http://www.lawreview.org/• Free abstract e-mail service• Full text search of law journals online• List of journals by topic

Secondary Sources:Current Awareness

• Jurist: Legal News & Research• http://jurist.org/• Written & edited by law school staff & students at

University of Pittsburgh• Continuous legal news from around the world• Updated 24 hours/day• Search by keyword

• Google Alerts• http://www.google.com/alerts• Researcher selects search terms, can select comprehensive

or limited searches• Searches emailed directly to research• Daily, weekly, or monthly

Secondary Sources:Blogs

• ABA’s Blawg Directory• http://abajournal.com/blawgs/• Weekly featured blawg• List of most popular blawgs• Week, month, all-time

• Search by subject, author type, region, or law school

Websites to Remember

Important Fee Legal Resources

Important Websites:Federal

• Library of Congress’ THOMAS• Federal Legislation Information

• GPOAccess• Service of Government Printing Office

• Regulations.gov• Federal Rulemaking Portal

Important Websites:Free Caselaw

• LexisONE & FindLaw (ThomsonWest)• Limited date/jurisdiction coverage • i.e., past 5 years on LexisONE

• Robust search engine – biggest advantage!• Registration (free) is usually required

Important Websites:Municipal Codes

• Not available on Lexis or Westlaw

• Use Municode.com• Mostly free, some pay content• One-stop source for many hard-to-find local

laws• Unofficial, commercial site, but has solid

reputation.

Important Websites:Law Portals

• Cornell’s Legal Information Institute • US primary materials + topical guides• User friendly, extensive coverage

• Law Library of Congress’ Guide to Law Online• US primary materials + international guides + topical guides• Extensively annotated

• Justia• US primary materials + PACER search engine• Innovative search features

• Florida Law Online (FLO)

Discussion

• What is the advantage of starting with internet research or secondary source research?

• How to primary and secondary research work together?

• How do you know when to stop researching?

• How does your familiarity with a topic impact your research strategy?

Discussion

• What research have you done so far for the upcoming assignments and final project?• Non-Legal?• Legal?

• What resources have been most helpful?

• Any stumbling blocks?

Discussion

• What are the main issues that must be researched for each scenario?

• What types of cases will you use in your final appellate brief?