Bachelor’s Capstone in Paralegal Studies Unit 5 Seminar

Agenda Review of Case Briefs Questions on Assignments Researching Legal and Non Legal Sources

Briefing A Case  Citation  Procedural History  Facts  Issue  Answer/ Holding  Reasoning  Disposition

Research: Getting Started Make sure you are familiar with your research question, including vocabulary and components Get to know your firm’s library – collection & librarians Know what type of subscriptions your firm has – and use accordingly Create a research log – keep track of each search as you work Know when to stop – recurring themes, cases, etc. indicate you have found all there is Always UPDATE your research – especially before you hand it in Decide whether online or print searching will work best for your query

Print v. Online Research Print: Analytical and contextual framework Search by rules and concepts Use to provide concepts to use in online searching Statutes, treatises, ordered materials Reading and browsing Online: Broad-based searching Full-text searches Field and segment searching Matching factual situations

What’s Online and Free? Federal Opinions from the U.S. Supreme Court, Courts of Appeals & District Courts (dates of coverage vary widely!) Statutes & Regulations Agency materials State Opinions & Dockets from State Supreme Courts State Statutes & Regulations Agency materials Public Records: Corporate filings, professional licenses Secondary Research Guides

Primary v. Secondary Research Primary Research Case Law Statutes Regulations Treaties Secondary Research Research Guides Dictionaries Law Review Articles

Primary Sources

Court Opinions: Supreme Court SCOTUS Full text of all Court opinions issued from 2004-present Cornell’s Legal Information Institute Comprehensive coverage from 1990-present Selective coverage prior to 1990 Selection criteria = significant historical value Search by topic, judicial author, party name, or date FindLaw Full text of Court opinions from 1893-present Search by publication year, official U.S. citation, party name, or keyword Oyez – Northwestern U. Audio recordings of oral arguments – 1995-present Selected audio from Blogs/Current Awareness resources

Court Opinions: U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Emory’s Federal Courts Finder Search Opinions by party name, keyword, or date of decision Links to the official circuit courts of appeals’ sites Those sites provides access to opinions Villanova’s Federal Court Locator Official Third Circuit Court of Appeals site Portal to other official circuit court sites U.S. Courts Official federal government portal Statistical reports, Code of Conduct, U.S. Judges Search by district, circuit, zip code, area code, county, or state AltLaw.org -- Columbia University & University of Colorado Full text of selected opinions – U.S. Supreme Court, 11 th Circuit Court of Appeals, Federal & D.C. districts Search by keyword or title; may also browse cases

Court Opinions: U.S. District Courts FindLaw Portal access to U.S. district court sites The Federal Judiciary, U.S. Courts Cornell’s Legal Information Institute Portal access to U.S. district court sites, as well as portal access to bankruptcy court sites Chart indicates whether official U.S. district court has information only or information & opinions

Court Opinions: State Supreme Courts LoisLaw Full text of state supreme court decisions 1920s-present (in most cases) Cornell’s Legal Information Institute Portal to all 50 states Judicial Opinions Regulations & Other Agency Info Other State Legal Collections FindLaw Portal to all 50 states

Legislation: Federal Session Laws GPO Access Statutes at Large 2004-present Search by subject, public law number, popular name, statute or U.S. Code citation, or bill number Library of Congress Memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwsl.html Index and lists of Public Acts/Private Acts/Treaties of the Statute at Large from

Legislation: Federal Codifications GPO Access Access to U.S. Code from 1994-present Browse by title, search by keyword Cornell’s Legal Information Institute Search by citation, popular name, or by keyword. Can also browse by title. U.S. House of Rep. Office of Law Revision Counsel Uscode.house.gov Search by keyword or citation Entire U.S. Code can be browsed

Legislation: U.S. House & Senate Bills Library of Congress Pending bills & resolutions from 101 st Congress-Present Search by keyword, index, bill’s sponsor, committee, or date Full text, summary & status, and congressional actions Related bills listed Committee Reports from 104 th Congress-Present Search by keyword, committee, or date Law Librarians’ Society of Washington, D.C. (LLSDC) Legislative Source Book -- Advice on compiling legislative history Examples of legislative history Center for Democracy & Technology Open Congressional Research Reports -- Congressional Research Reports Not comprehensive – access to report requested by individuals from their representatives

Legislation: State & Local OnlineSunshine Florida legislature Portal to Senate and House sites Search statutes from 1997-present Browse FL Constitution, or search through index Digest of general laws from 2003-present Link to Laws of FL (FL department of state website) WashLaw Portal access to links for official state Internet sites Municode.com Free access to full text of many codes and ordinances for 50 states Hyperlinked map lets researcher to choose state Links to counties’ and cities’ codes within state Search by keyword or table of contents

Secondary Sources

Secondary Sources: Research Guides Law Librarians’ Resource Exchange (LLRX) Access to subject research guides – over 35 legal topics Links to court rules and dockets Research assistance for primary sources of law at international, federal, and state levels The Virtual Chase Guides to help locate info about businesses, companies, individuals

Secondary Sources: Dictionaries Merriam-Webster’s Law Dictionary dictionary.lp.findlaw.com/dictionary.html FindLaw website Law.com/Dictionary WEX Cornell’s Legal Information Institute Wiki created site – requires that author be a qualified expert Citations to applicable federal and state statutes & judicial decisions included

Secondary Sources: Law Reviews University Law Review Project Free abstract service Full text search of law journals online List of journals by topic

Secondary Sources: Current Awareness Jurist: Legal News & Research Written & edited by law school staff & students at University of Pittsburgh Continuous legal news from around the world Updated 24 hours/day Search by keyword Google Alerts Researcher selects search terms, can select comprehensive or limited searches Searches ed directly to research Daily, weekly, or monthly

Secondary Sources: Blogs ABA’s Blawg Directory Weekly featured blawg List of most popular blawgs Week, month, all-time Search by subject, author type, region, or law school

Websites to Remember Important Fee Legal Resources

Important Websites: Federal Library of Congress’ THOMAS Federal Legislation Information GPOAccess Service of Government Printing Office Regulations.gov Federal Rulemaking Portal

Important Websites: Free Caselaw LexisONE & FindLaw (ThomsonWest) Limited date/jurisdiction coverage i.e., past 5 years on LexisONE Robust search engine – biggest advantage! Registration (free) is usually required

Important Websites: Municipal Codes Not available on Lexis or Westlaw Use Municode.com Mostly free, some pay content One-stop source for many hard-to-find local laws Unofficial, commercial site, but has solid reputation.

Important Websites: Law Portals Cornell’s Legal Information Institute US primary materials + topical guides User friendly, extensive coverage Law Library of Congress’ Guide to Law Online US primary materials + international guides + topical guides Extensively annotated Justia US primary materials + PACER search engine Innovative search features Florida Law Online (FLO)

Discussion What is the advantage of starting with internet research or secondary source research? How to primary and secondary research work together? How do you know when to stop researching? How does your familiarity with a topic impact your research strategy?

Discussion What research have you done so far for the upcoming assignments and final project? Non-Legal? Legal? What resources have been most helpful? Any stumbling blocks?

Discussion What are the main issues that must be researched for each scenario? What types of cases will you use in your final appellate brief?