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PA201 INTRODUCTION TO PA201 INTRODUCTION TO LEGAL RESEARCHLEGAL RESEARCHUNIT 4 – SECOND UNIT 4 – SECOND AUTHORITIES & CASE AUTHORITIES & CASE FINDING MATERIALSFINDING MATERIALSA. E. Sloan (2009). Basic Legal Research Tools and Strategies (4th ed.). New York: Aspen Publishers
REVIEW OF UNIT 3
Court Opinions FIRAC
Facts Issue Rule Analysis Conclusion
REVIEW OF UNIT 3
Anatomy of a Published Case Case Name Court Editorial Summary Headnotes The attorneys The Judges The Court’s Opinion Docket Number Name of Reporter
CHECKLIST FOR UNIT 4
Review the unit introduction and key terms Read Chapter 3, pages 29-47 and 59-75 in Basic
Legal Research Tools and Strategies Read Chapter 4, pages 77-98; 108-120; and 126 in
Basic Legal Research Tools and Strategies Read about defining the issue in a case brief Learn about Bluebook Rules 10.4 and 10.5 Participate on the Discussion Board Complete and submit the Written Assignment Review the unit’s key terms Prepare for the quiz by completing the practice
exercise Take the Unit 4 Quiz
WHAT ARE SECONDARY SOURCES?
Sources that provide commentary on the law Not binding on Courts Not cited as frequently as primary sources Are excellent research tools
WHAT DOES SECONDARY SOURCES DO?
Summarize or collect authorities from a variety of jurisdictions
Help find a mandatory or persuasive primary authority on a subject
Provide narrative explanations on complex concepts that would be difficult
WHEN ARE SECONDARY SOURCES HELPFUL?
When researching an area of law you are unfamiliar with
When you are looking for primary persuasive authority but do not know how to narrow the jurisdictions that are likely to have useful information
When researching an undeveloped area of the law
When an initial search of primary sources provides either no authority or too much authority
LIMITS ON USING SECONDARY SOURCES
Not binding on the Courts, so not normally cited to in a Brief or memoranda
Never rely exclusively on a primary source that appears in the secondary sources – read the authority yourself!
Two reasons to this: The summary of the primary authority might not
include all of the information necessary to your analysis
The Secondary source may not be completely current
LOCATING SECONDARY SOURCES
There are many Secondary Sources May need to use more than one to complete
a research project You can search by: Citation
Many secondary sources cross-reference other secondary sources
Subject Index Table of Contents
By words in a the document (when searching electronically)
TYPES OF SECONDARY SOURCES
Legal Encyclopedias Treatises Legal Periodicals American Law Reports (A.L.R. Annotations) Restatements of the Law Uniform Laws and Model Acts
LEGAL ENCYCLOPEDIAS
Use for general background information and limited citations to primary authority
Do not provide analysis or suggest solutions to conflicts in the law
Report on the general state of the law Usually used to get background information
on your research topic You will rarely cite a legal encyclopedia Two general legal encyclopedias – American
Jurisprudence, Second Edition (Am.Jur. 2d) and Corpus Juris Secundum (C.J.S.)
LOCATING MATERIAL IN LEGAL ENCYCLOPEDIA IN PRINT
Locate material in a legal encyclopedia in print by:
Using the subject index or table of contents Locating relevant sections in the main
subject volumes The index volumes are published annually,
be sure to use the most current set State encyclopedias provide an overview of
the law in an individual state Fig. 3.1 and 3.3 on page 34 and 35
LOCATING MATERIAL IN LEGAL ENCYCLOPEDIAS: LEXISNEXIS
Locate material in legal encyclopedias in LexisNexis (Am. Jur. 2d) by:
Executing a word search in the database containing a legal encyclopedia
Viewing the table of contents of the encyclopedia
TREATISES
Treatises provide: An in-depth discussion of a single subject
(i.e. constitutional law, torts) and some analysis of an area of law
Citations to primary authority Have a narrower focus than legal
encyclopedias Again this is for research purposes and don’t
cite in your written analysis Figure 3.4 on page 37
LOCATING MATERIAL IN PRINT TREATISES
Locate information within a print treatises by: Using the subject index or table of contents Locating relevant sections within the text
LOCATING MATERIAL IN TREATISES: LEXISNEXIS
Locate material in treatises in LexisNexis by: Executing word searches in databases for:
Individual publications Multiple secondary sources Specific subject areas Individual jurisdictions
Viewing the treatise’s table of contents
LEGAL PERIODICALS
Use legal periodicals for: Background information Citations to primary authority In-depth analysis of a narrow topic Information on a conflict in the law or an
underdeveloped area of the law Often referred to as “law review” or “journal”
articles
LEGAL PERIODICALS (CONT.)
Many law school publishes this as well as commercially published journals, legal newspapers and magazines
The articles are usually focused narrowly on specific issues
Generally well researched and contain citations to many primary and secondary authorities
Can be useful for developing ideas for analyzing a question of first impression or resolving a conflict in the law
LEGAL PERIODICALS (CONT.)
Although useful to your research, avoid citing it to it if you can support with primary authority
If you can’t find a primary authority, you may cite to a persuasive article
An article persuasiveness depends on number of factors: year it was published, author’s experience, reputation of article, the depth of the research and analysis, expert vs. student
LOCATING PERIODICAL ARTICLES: ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
Locate legal periodicals in LexisNexis by searching in the databases for multiple or individual publications
Selected periodicals may be available on the Internet
AMERICAN LAW REPORTS
Use A.L.R. Annotations for an overview of an area of law and citations to primary authorities
Especially useful for locating persuasive authority from other jurisdictions
LOCATING MATERIAL IN A.L.R. PRINT
Locate material within A.L.R. in print by: Using the A.L.R. Index; Locating relevant Annotations in the main
volumes Fig. 3.7 and 3.8 on page 42-43
RESTATEMENTS
Use Restatements to: Research common-law subjects Locate mandatory and persuasive authority
from jurisdictions that have adopted a Restatement
Look at the rules in the majority of United States jurisdictions; Sometimes state emerging rules
Also provides commentary on the proper interpretations of the rules, illustrations demonstrating how the rules should apply in certain situations, and summaries of cases applying and interpreting the Restatement
LOCATING INFORMATION IN RESTATEMENTS
Locate information within a print Restatement by:
Using the subject index or table of contents to identify relevant sources
Locate selected Restatements electronically in LexisNexis by:
Executing a word search in a Restatement database
Viewing the Restatement table of contents
UNIFORM LAWS AND MODEL ACTS
Use Uniform Laws and Model Acts to: Interpret a law adopted by a legislature Locate persuasive authority from other
jurisdictions that have adopted the law Locate selected uniform laws and model acts
in LexisNexis by: Executing a word search in the appropriate
databases Viewing the act’s table of contents Fig. 3.11 on page 48-49
ANY QUESTIONS?
DEFINING THE ISSUE IN A FACT PATTERN
Defining the issue in a case is usually not difficult because the case itself or the editor often sets forth the issue for you.
However, spotting and defining the issue in a fact pattern which you are being asked to research for relevant cases can be more challenging.
DEFINING THE ISSUE IN A FACT PATTERN
To properly define the issue, you must be sufficiently familiar with the area of law to recognize the questions raised by the scenario.
To formulate the issue, you should recognize the position that each party in the dispute would take and then state the question that describes the unique facts to this case in neutral terms that does not favor one party over the other.
DEFINING THE ISSUE IN A FACT PATTERN - EXAMPLE
In an employment dispute, a 50-year-old Spanish-surnamed black female employee who was fired from her job may feel that the employer was discriminating against her because of her age, her sex, and her ethnic origin (all classifications that are protected from discrimination by the civil rights law). The employer may feel that its action was justified because the woman’s declining eyesight made it impossible for her to perform her job as a bus driver safely. The employee may counter this defense by stating that she has an annual eye exam and wears corrective lenses that correct her vision to 20/30, and that other younger drivers whose vision is not as good as hers have been retained.
WHAT’S THE ISSUE?
POSSIBLE ISSUE
Is it discriminatory for the school board to terminate for safety reasons a 50-year-old black, Spanish-surnamed female bus driver whose vision has been corrected to 20/30 while retaining Caucasian male drivers over the age of 50 whose vision is 20/30 or worse?
DEFINING THE ISSUE IN A FACT PATTERN
When reading the facts, start thinking about what area of law may need to be researched (criminal, constitutional, etc.)
Begin matching the facts to the area of law – brainstorming
Know what position each side is taking and based on that develop a question that the Court needs to answer
Do your research! As you increase your research you can finalize the issue that is before the court
ANY QUESTIONS?
BLUEBOOK 10.4 AND 10.5
Court and Jurisdiction Every case citation must indicate which court
decided the case In the parenthetical that immediately follows
the citation, it must include the court, date or year of decision
Example: U.S. v. John Doe, 123 A.2d 456 (Court, year of
decision)
BLUEBOOK 10.4 AND 10.5
For Abbreviations look at T.1 which begins on page 193; T.7 which begins on page 337; T.10 which begins on page 342
Gives information for Federal and State Courts
BLUEBOOK 10.4 AND 10.5
Example: Commonwealth v. Virelli, 620 A.2d 543 (Pa.
Super. Ct. 1992) Case Name: Commonwealth v. Virelli Volume: 620 Page case is found on: 543 Name of Reporter: A.2d which stands for
Atlantic Reporter Second Edition Name of Court: Pa. Super. Ct. which stands
for Pennsylvania Superior Court (see T.1 on page 229)
Year it was decided: 1992
BLUEBOOK
It may take time to get used to, but the more you use it the easier it will get
T.1 – provides abbreviations and citations Separated by Federal and State T.13 – provides periodicals abbreviations The inside covers of Bluebook and preceding
page provides a “Quick Reference” on how to cite to Court Documents
QUIZ FOR UNIT 4
Is hand graded by me, will not be automatically graded like the past 3 units
You will be graded on Bluebook citation – take your time, use the Bluebook
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT
For this week's Written Assignment, you will continue to practice your case briefing skills by preparing a case brief of Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. Practice makes perfect, so here's another chance to hone your skills.
First, review the Unit 3 materials on “How to Brief a Case” under “The Anatomy of a Case Brief”.
Next, click listen to the opinion announcement. Then review the written opinion of the court. Finally, prepare a brief for the case. Be sure
to provide the: facts, issues, rules, analysis and conclusion sections of your brief.
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT (CONT.) In addition to fulfilling the specifics of the
assignment, a successful case brief must also meet the following criteria: Length should be 2-3 pages, excluding cover page
and references page Double Spaced and in a 12-point font Viewpoint and purpose should be clearly
established and sustained Assignment should follow the conventions of
Standard American English (correct grammar, punctuation, etc.).
Writing should be well ordered, logical and unified, as well as original and insightful
Your work should display superior content, organization, style, and mechanics
Appropriate citation style should be followed
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT (CONT.)
Make sure you follow ALL the criteria set out in the written assignment – don’t lose points on something simple (font, pages, etc.)
Remember to spell check and grammar check!
Use FIRAC method – review the PowerPoint if you need to refresh how to do it
Start early! That way you can go back and revise if necessary. Don’t wait until last minute to do this assignment.
ANY QUESTIONS?