Law on the ‘Net: A Workshop for Non-Law Librarians An Infopeople Workshop

April 2004 Laura A. Cadra cadra@law.ucla.edu

Agenda n  Sources of Law n  California Law n  Federal Law n  Finding Attorneys n  Legal Forms n  Where to Start When You Have No Idea

Where to Start

What is Law? n  The entire body of principles, precedents,

rules, and procedures intended to assure order and justice in a civilized society. It includes constitutions, legislation, decisions – federal, state, and local, civil and criminal (Mellinkoff’s Dictionary of American Legal Usage )

n  And don’t forget regulations!

Reference Inquiries

n  Are you looking for general information about a legal issue?

n  Is your issue federal? State? Local? n  Are you looking for a specific piece of law?

n  a Vehicle Code section? n  a local ordinance?

n  Are you looking for a form? n  Are you looking for an attorney?

Sources of Law

n  Primary Sources n  Produced by governmental bodies n  Binding!! n  Unofficial and official versions

n  Secondary Sources n  Information about the law n  Best place to start most legal research

Secondary Sources on the ‘Net

n  Nolo Press – Our friends in any format n  Cornell Legal Information Institute (LII)

Law About Series n  California Courts Self-Help Center

n  ¡Se habla español! n  Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese tambien!

Legal Citation

The formalized legal reference to an

authority and the place where it can be found (Mellinkoff’s Dictionary of American Legal Usage)

Citation Formats

n  Cases: Vol. no./Reporter Set/Page no. (date) n  U.S. ex rel. Mayo v. Satan and his Staff, 54 F.R.D.

282 (1971) n  Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98 (2000) n  Lugosi v. Universal Pictures, 25 Cal.3d 813 (1979)

n  Statutes/Codes n  42 U.S.C. §1942 n  CA Penal Code §187

Common Case Abbreviations n  CA Cases

n  Cal. (Cal. 2d , 3d, 4th): California Reports n  Cal. App. (C.A. 2d, 3d, 4th): California Appellate

Reports n  Cal. Rptr. (C.R. 2d): California Reporter

n  Federal Cases n  U.S.: United States Supreme Court Reports n  F. (F.2d, F.3d): Federal Reporter n  F.Supp. (F.Supp.2d): Federal Supplement

Primary Sources of Law

n  Constitutions n  Statutes/Codes n  Judicial Opinions (case decisions) n  Regulations & Regulatory Decisions n  Local Ordinances (cities and counties)

All of these work together to form The Law

California Law

n  Constitution n  Statutes/Codes

n  Pending legislation (bills)

n  Cases n  Regulations

California Bills on the ‘Net

n  1993-94 legislative session to the present n  Searchable by bill number, author, or

keyword n  Lots of information about the bills

n  Status and history n  Committee analyses n  Votes n  Great for students!

Legislative Process

Bills = pending law Statutes = permanent record

Codes = current version

California Statutes and Codes on the ‘Net n  Statutes are available from the 1993-94

Legislative session forward n  Searchable by chapter number or keyword n  No indication whether it’s current

n  Current California Code only n  Updated nightly n  NOT annotated (like West’s and Deering’s)

California Ballot Propositions on the ‘Net n  Passed propositions are incorporated into

the California Codes n  Failed propositions can be difficult to find n  California Secretary of State Voter

Information has propositions from 1996 to the present

n  Hastings College of the Law has a ballot proposition database from 1911 to the present

California Cases

n  Published Decisions n  California Supreme Court cases n  Most California Courts of Appeal cases

n  Unpublished Decisions n  Trial Courts (Superior Court cases)

California Cases on the ‘Net n  California Judicial Council

n  Opinions from 1850 to Sept. 30, 2003 (searchable) n  Slip opinions – October 1, 2003 to the present (not

searchable)

n  Findlaw n  Opinions 1934 to the present n  Must register to view the cases

n  CourtTV n  Sensational trial court cases

California Agency Materials

n  Licenses n  Regulations n  Regulatory Decisions

California Agencies on the ‘Net

n  California State web page contains a list of agencies

n  Materials available vary by agency

n  Forms n  License requirements

California Code of Regulations on the ‘Net n  Includes the regulations of all California

agencies

n  Current version only n  Title 24 (California Building Standards

Code) is NOT available for free on the ‘Net

Municipal Law on the ‘Net

n  City and county charters = structure of local governments

n  Municipal and county ordinances = local laws n  Parking regulations n  Leash laws n  Rent control

Municipal Codes on the ‘Net

n  Check with the city or county web site first

n  Institute of Governmental Studies at U.C. Berkeley

n  Seattle Public Library government info for non-California cities and counties

Federal Law on the ‘Net

n  U.S. Constitution n  U.S. Code

n  Pending legislation

n  Cases n  Regulations

Federal Legislation on the ‘Net

n  Bills – Think Thomas n  Full-text available from 1989-90 (101st

Congress forward) n  Summaries available from 1973-74 (93rd

Congress forward)

n  United States Code n  Not current! Beware! Danger!

Federal Cases on the ‘Net

n  No comprehensive web site n  U.S. Supreme Court

n  Official Supreme Court web site: 1990 forward

n  Cornell’s LII: 1990 forward

n  Courts of Appeals n  9th Circuit web site: 1995 forward

n  District Courts (trial courts)

Federal Agency Materials

n  Agency web sites n  Some are filled with good information

including forms n  Some are not

n  Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)

Finding a Lawyer

Directories and Regulation

Attorney Information on the ‘Net

n  Find an Attorney by Specialty n  Martindale Hubbell Law Directory n  California State Bar Certified Specialists

n  Check Out the Credentials of a Lawyer n  California State Bar Attorney Search

Legal Forms

n  Litigation Forms n  Business Forms

Litigation Forms on the ‘Net n  California Judicial Council

n  Mandatory forms n  Suggested forms

n  Local Courts n  Check the court web site

n  Findlaw n  Links to forms of varying quality

Business Forms on the ‘Net

n  Fedforms.gov n  Primarily fee-based but some are free

n  Legaldocs.com n  Uscourtforms.com n  Lexisone.com n  Lawcommerce.com

Where to Start When You Don’t Know Where to Start n  California Courts Self-Help Center

n  Lots of information on common legal issues n  Where to go for free and low-cost legal

information

n  24/7 Reference includes law librarians n  Your local county law library n  Locating the Law, 4th ed.

Mega-sites

n  Hieros Gamos: If you can only have one n  Jurist n  Internet Legal Resource Guide n  Catalaw n  Findlaw