Internet Legal Research for Professor Mika’s Legal Drafting

Class

April 21, 2010

Outline

Forms – form sites, gov’t, statutorySample transactional docs & pleadingsCase MapInteractive Forms

Free Web v. Lexis/Westlaw

It’s Free!May have info on current topicsBe careful of reliability/currency of web

pagesLexis/Westlaw better search

mechanisms

Forms

Forms and Practice Materials Resource Guide

Forms and Sample Contracts

Who publishes the site? A legal publisher? bar association?

Does the site sell forms?Who wrote the form?Use with caution, tailor to your facts

Sites for Pro Ses

Franklin County Law Library - frequently requested forms are prepared by the library.

Cleveland Law Library’s FAQs ex. Living Wills/Durable Power Of Attorney

Attorney Work Product Sites

• JDSupra - Documents are tied to attorney profiles

• Scribd

• DocStoc

• LawLink

TRY IT

Look for a lease form on JD Supra

Find information about the attorney who submitted the form

Evaluating Web Sites

Credibility: author; possible bias, accuracy. 

Currency / Updating, CoverageWriting Quality Ease of useStability

Transactional Documents via SEC EDGAR

• sample SEC filings

• documents attached: management contracts, executive compensation plans, articles of incorporation, by-laws, material contracts, voting trust agreements See Item 601, Regulation S-K.

SEC Edgar Full Text Search Features

Fields for company name, SIC code, date, form type (but not exhibit type)

Natural language or BooleanPhrase (“”), AND, OR, NOT, truncation

(*, communicat* ), proximity operator (general NEAR1 motors )

Past 4 years

Try it

Find an executive compensation plan which provides for a parking space

More sophisticated SEC Filing databases

Lexis and WestlawMergentonline – Available via University

Library, Cleveland PublicSECInfo.com

Government Agency Forms

Forms.gov State of Ohio - Agency Forms

Court Forms

Casemaker – Ohio court & agency formsCourts’ web sitesLLRX- Court Rules, Forms and Dockets

- links to federal & state courts Forms and Practice Materials Guide

Court Dockets

PACER – Federal Court docketsLLRX to find state court dockets

See – Legal research on the Web- Dockets

Dockets - Ohio

Ohio – full text of documents on Summit and Montgomery County & others

Full text on Ohio Supreme Court docket, 2006 and later

PACER

8 cents a pageMoney savers:

Justia Federal District Court Dockets FreeCourtDockets.comRecap PACER Recycling Center

Court Dockets

May search a case opinion database first, find case, then go on docket

Free Case Law

Google Scholar Ohio Supreme Court More:

Legal Research on the Web – Case Law

A2J Author

• Creates question and answer session to help fill out a form

• For law schools, legal service organizations, courts and members for non-commercial use

• Kansas Divorce Forms

• NPADO.org – noncommercial use only

Statutory Forms

American Law Sources On-Line (ALSO) Ohio Revised Code

Legal Drafting Advice

• Cleveland Marshall Law Library’s Research Guide: Forms and Practice Materials

• AdamsDrafting Blog