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Basic resources and strategies for legal research
Davida Scharf, SoM Librarian [email protected] Heather Dalal, Information Literacy Librarian [email protected] NJIT Van Houten LibraryLast updated October 2011
Facts of the Case & Part I
Suppose college officials knew that there has been a number of assaults on or attempted rapes of female students in a certain area on campus, where a stairway was hidden by foliage and trees. Suppose they chose not to publicize these incidents and had not warned students in any way. Then another attack occurred, and the male assailant used a modus operandi similar to the one that had been used previously on the same stairway. In view of these circumstances, from the standpoint of law, and of ethics, evaluate and answer the following questions:
• Can the plaintiff, meet the requirements of negligence against the defendant? Is it foreseeable? Is the plaintiff likely to win?
• Should a college be responsible to protect its students from crime?
• Check: Peterson v. San Francisco Community College District, 685 P.2d 1193 (Calif. 1984)
Can you find this case using
Lexis-Nexis?
Research – Part 2
1) Is there a trend for or against holding them legal responsible?
2) What are the arguments pro and con?
Research – Part 2
1) Is there a trend for or against holding them legal responsible?
• Who are the parties? What is the issue? • Who was liable? • What year was the Peterson case resolved?
(Appeals?)• What are the arguments of each party? • How many cases must you read to see a trend?• Has anybody already synthesized this?
2) What are the arguments pro and con?• What were the outcomes?• On what arguments were they based?
Break it down!
You will need to:
1. Find the ‘Peterson’ case & read it• What was the outcome?• On what legal arguments was it based?
2. Use it to find more recent similar cases & read them
3. Find out what else has been written on the issues4. Analyze your findings for
1) trends and 2) arguments5. Cite your sources correctly
Accessing Legal Information @ NJIT
Academic
Remote access for catalog and ILL
Library Subscription Databases
Including Lexis-Nexis
Library website http://library.njit.edu
Get Help
2 pathways – A to Z:
Find under “L”
by Subject Find under “Legal”
Select “Legal” databases from website
Find a case when you know the citation
or use advanced search
Use the widget . . .
Show me! Watch a YouTube Video
Results for Peterson v. SF CCD
Here is the citation you were given
1983 decision was superseded
Understand the parts of the full case document
DOCUMENT HEADINGS
Disposition – how was it resolved- who won
Procedural posture –
Overview
Outcome
Torts
Summary
Opinion
Look up words you don’t know !
Understand the parts of the full case document
the law on which the suit was based
complete document
Full citation for the document
4 different addresses for the same document; only one is required
Sometimes just the address is also called a ‘citation’.
1. Use the automatic citation generator inside Lexis-Nexis
2. Copy the proper citation for the case—make sure all the elements are there.
Scroll down to CASE HEADINGSfor ideas for keywords to find similar cases
CORE TERMS are prominent legal and factual terms taken directly from the opinion
HEADNOTES (HN1 … HN26) are key legal points of a case drawn directly from the language of the court. Click on the HN# to see the reference.
To understand trends. . . find cases that cite this one-- Shepardize
When you Shepardize® a case, LexisNexis provides a report showing every opinion where that case has been referenced, all treatments of the case, and, most importantly, whether or not the case is "good law." If the case has been overruled, it is considered "bad law" and may no longer be cited as a legal precedent.
Shepard’s Summary
For HELP on Shepardizing see http://wiki.lexisnexis.com/academic/index.php?title=Shepard%27s_Citations
182 citing decisions
Scroll down for cases that cited yours
Positive/Negative analysis
Elements of a legal citation
• What? What is the thing cited, a case, a statute, a law review article, etc.?
• Where? Where can the reader go to find the information? e.g. 617 F. Supp. 341
• When? When did this information come into being? Usually the date is given as a year but
• sometimes more specific information is required.
• Who? Who is the author of the information? A court? A legislature? A law student?
Source: Handout on Legal Citation, Northeastern University, School of Law, Library http://www.slaw.neu.edu/library/citation.pdf
Case Citations
A complete case citation has four elements
1. PARTIES The parties' names
2. ADDRESS At least one ID or address for the case
3. DATE
4. COURT
Pay attention to formatting and details (e.g. italics, brackets, abbreviations, etc.)
Peterson v. San Francisco Community College District, 685 P.2d 1193 (Calif. 1984)
How to read a case citation
Pacific Reporter 2nd series(abbreviation)
1. WHO are the parties?
Volume No.
Starting Page #
State court
2. WHERE can the reader go to find the case? (The “reporters” are the books where the legal decisions are published.)
4. WHO is the author of the information? The court.
3. WHEN=Year
More Sources of Legal Information
• Cases [Primary sources]
• Law reviews and journals [Secondary sources]
What is the difference between primary and secondary sources? http://researchguides.njit.edu/primaryandsecondary
Law Reviews and Journals (Secondary)
Law Reviews
A law review is a scholarly journal focusing on legal issues, normally published by an organization of students at a law school or through a bar association (e.g. Harvard Law Review, NYU Law Review)
Law Journals (Peer-reviewed or scholarly)
Feature articles written by researchers and practitioners. Recognized researchers in the field will evaluate a manuscript and recommend its publication, revision, or rejection. (e.g. Journal of Law and Health)
Search Law Reviews & Journals
Search by topic: campus AND assault
Search by topic: campus AND assault997 articles in law reviews & journals
Or refine—add termsView tagged
Sample article from Law Review
Cite this source: Author, Title, Volume #, Journal Name, Page #, (Year)
Griffaton, Michael C., Forewarned is Forearmed: The CrimeAwareness and Campus Security Act of 1990 and the Future ofInstitutional Liability for Student Victimization, 43 Case W. Res.525 (1993).
Cases may be embedded in the text. Law Review articles should befootnotes or endnotes.
Find relevant info, click on the in-text reference…
n341
It links to the footnote reference
n341
…which links you to full text of case
Case Law and Case Reporters (Primary)
In the United States, opinions and decisions of federal and state courts create precedent which is binding on other courts; therefore, many of the opinions and decisions of these courts are published.
Source: BU Law Library http://www.bu.edu/lawlibrary/training/classes/findcaselaw.html
When to quit searching for new cases…
Did the courts continue to side with the victim (plaintiff) rather than the institution (defendant)?
Were the conditions similar?
• Look for a few of the most current cases• Sample cases from early 2000’s and later• What happened immediately following the case – 2001?• Try other states? Compare to NJ?Do you need to look at cases older than Peterson?. . . Until you feel you understand whether or not the tide turned.
YOU MUST READ MORE CASES THAN YOU CITE
Online Legal Citation Guides
• William and Mary
http://law.wm.edu/library/research/researchguides/howto/citation/index.php
Including list of Reporter abbreviations
http://law.wm.edu/library/research/researchguides/howto/citation/index.php#Reporter_Abbreviations
• Cornell
http://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/index.htm
Rutgers Research Guides – Law*Federal Government Information Resources http://libguides.rutgers.edu/federal by Stephanie Bartz - last updated on Sep 30th, 2011Links to online resources and starting points for research.
International and Foreign Governments http://libguides.rutgers.edu/intl_gov by Stephanie Bartz - last updated on Aug 10th, 2011
Law http://libguides.rutgers.edu/law by Paul Axel-Lute - last updated on Sep 1st, 2011Selected resources for legal and law-related research.
NJ State & Local Governments http://libguides.rutgers.edu/nj_government by Stephanie Bartz, Mary Fetzer - last updated on Sep 8th, 2011Links to websites and online resources for researching information from New Jersey state and local government.
United Nations and United Nations Organizations http://libguides.rutgers.edu/un by Stephanie Bartz, Mary Fetzer - last updated on Aug 15th, 2011
* http://libguides.rutgers.edu/cat.php?cid=25854
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