CBA Paralegal Committee November 1, 2012 Public Records and Fact Finding Wanda McDavid Access/Information, Inc.

Public Records and Fact Finding Access/Information Who are we? We are one of the oldest information professional companies in the country and the largest of our type in Denver and the Rocky Mountain region. Our staff is comprised of experienced law librarians and competitive intelligence professionals. We currently provide services to top law firms in Denver and throughout the United States.

Public Records and Fact Finding Class Objective Focus on timesaving techniques and resources using both free and fee based databases to find public records, including court cases and documents; and company information. –Discuss Web-based pathways to free or inexpensive legal research sites Provide search tips for both national and local sources of information. When to search and when not to search the Internet. Provide information on identifying and validating authoritative sources.

Public Records and Fact Finding Coverage will include: Web Browsing Tips Public Records When to search/not search on the Web Legal Portals Primary Sources/Case Law Validating Authoritative Sources

Public Records and Fact Finding Starting Places – Search Tips Domain Restrictors –.edu,.com,.co,.gov,.org, country restrictors such as.fr for France –Caveat - you “will not find web pages that live behind paywalls, password-protected sites, or other sites to which access is restricted.” –Search example: “fungus meningitis” site:.gov –Search specific websites using the domain restrictor feature – “local rules” site:courts.state.co.us

Public Records and Fact Finding Starting Places – Search Tips Recently Deleted Information –Cached files –Wayback Machine - –Caveat – read FAQs for Lawyers Search Operators –Use the minus sign to exclude words –Phrase searching using quotation marks provides more precision –Use OR to search for similar terms

Public Records and Fact Finding Starting Places – Search Tips Advanced Search page Set Alerts Use Date Restrictions To find out the owners of a domain name - look up the “whois” record by searching whois [domain name] Define a word - Type define: [word], to pull up the correct spelling and definitions from online dictionaries

Public Records and Fact Finding Use free online resources for: Becoming acquainted with the language/terminology of legal fields for which you are unfamiliar –Zimmerman’s Research Guide - (follow on Facebook) –Wex – LII’s law dictionary and encyclopedia –Sabrina Pacifici’s Competitive Intelligence – A Selective Resource Guide – Completely Updated July –Public Records Resources Online –bing.com, Google.com, Yahoo.com

Public Records and Fact Finding Use free online resources for: Single-state based research for cases and statutes –Findlaw State Law collection –LLRX.com - Court rules by state Locating government documents and public records

Public Records and Fact Finding Denver Public Library remote access resources - Research Resources –Antiques & Collectibles – Books & Literature – Business – Cars & Trucks – Community Assistance Resources –Government & Patents

Public Records and Fact Finding Go directly to a commercial database for: Comprehensive national searches Specific legal fields for which Lexis or Westlaw have established a specific library. Casemaker through the sitewww.cobar.org

Public Records and Fact Finding Legal Portals A legal portal is essentially a gateway to all sorts of legal and law-related information. Generally portals provide some original content, but mostly they serve as a launch pad to legal sites all over the Internet.

Public Records and Fact Finding Cornell University Law School’s Legal Information Institute (LII): –Introduction to Basic Citation Justia: LexisNexis Communities ent/lexisonelandingpage.aspx ent/lexisonelandingpage.aspx

Public Records and Fact Finding Government Documents – Federal USA.gov: Law Library of Congress: (Follow on Facebook) Library of Congress - Thomas:

Public Records and Fact Finding Public Records Business records – Corporate affiliations, Incorporation information, UCC records, SEC documents, etc. Judgments Liens Real Property Professional licenses Court Records – Complaints, Pleadings, Docket sheets/registers of actions (Courtlink docket sheets are very abbreviated) Inmate records Tax records

Public Records and Fact Finding Public Records Social Security Numbers Verification of Date of Birth and Death Records Marriage and Divorce Records Place of Residence Driver’s License and Vehicle Registration Political Contributions and Voter Registration Charitable Contributions Websites and Web Information addresses Education News

Public Records and Fact Finding Public Records – State and Local Searchsystems.Net: Public Records Directory:

Public Records and Fact Finding Odds and Ends HeinOnline – Law Journal Library (short term subscription) Social Science Research Network – SSRN - The Blawg Directory

Public Records and Fact Finding Validating Information Plan the search Limit the field Identify and review the original source Evaluate the source Verify the date of publication Beware

Public Records and Fact Finding Documenting and Citing Sources: Following links to original sources Citing sources ( uebook1_7.cfm ) in your deliverableCiting sourceshttp:// uebook1_7.cfm Documenting your search strategy

Public Records and Fact Finding We provide: –Public Records Research and Retrieval, including court document research and retrieval –Expert Witness Due Diligence –Patent Prior Art Compilation and Retrieval –Insurance Rate Research and Retrieval –Document Delivery –Customized Web Training –Law Library Management –Records Management –Free Newsletter