Chapter Four Finding the Law: Legal Research

Primary Sources Constitutions Statutes Case Law Ordinances

Secondary Sources Dictionaries Encyclopedias Form Books Periodicals Treatises Digests

Facts and Issues A factual situation must exist before a legal issue can be identified The facts come first The facts help define the legal issue The legal issue is ultimately decided by the court ( if the case does not settle) Law is applied to the facts

Factual Categories Relevant Facts Explanatory Facts Unnecessary Facts

How to Sort the Facts A fact is relevant if the fact pattern changes substantially when the fact is removed or changed A fact is explanatory if it simply helps the researcher what actually happened A fact is unnecessary if when removed it does not alter the fact pattern

What is Case Law? An opinion is a reported case written by a judge. Once a dispute has been presented to the Court, the judge writes an opinion explaining the reasoning of the Court

Federal Case Law United States Reports Supreme Court Reporter Lawyer’s Edition Federal Reports Federal Supplement Specialty Reporters

How to Read a Case Citation Miranda v. Arizona, case name 384 U.S. 436, 86 S. Ct. 1602, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694 (1966) official citation parallel citations year 384 U.S. 436, 86 S. Ct. 1602, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694 (1966) official citation parallel citations year

State Case Law Official Reporters Regional Reporters Unofficial Reporters

What is Statutory Law? Federal Statutes are found in the U.S.C., U.S.C.S and the U.S.C.A. State Statutes are also found in annotated and unannotated format. Statutes, often referred to as Codes, are laws enacted by the legislature.