Chapter Four Finding the Law: Legal Research

Introduction to Law, 4 th Edition Hames and Ekern © 2010 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 2 Primary Sources Constitutions Statutes Case Law Ordinances

Introduction to Law, 4 th Edition Hames and Ekern © 2010 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 3 Secondary Sources Dictionaries Encyclopedias Form Books Periodicals Treatises Digests

Introduction to Law, 4 th Edition Hames and Ekern © 2010 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 4 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

Introduction to Law, 4 th Edition Hames and Ekern © 2010 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 5 Factual Categories Relevant Facts Explanatory Facts Unnecessary Facts

Introduction to Law, 4 th Edition Hames and Ekern © 2010 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 6 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

Introduction to Law, 4 th Edition Hames and Ekern © 2010 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 7 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

Introduction to Law, 4 th Edition Hames and Ekern © 2010 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 8 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

Introduction to Law, 4 th Edition Hames and Ekern © 2010 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 10 State Case Law Official Reporters Regional Reporters Unofficial Reporters

Introduction to Law, 4 th Edition Hames and Ekern © 2010 Pearson Higher Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 11 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.