1. Legal Ease: Legal Reference for Public Librarians
Sue Lyons & Mary Stewart Erm Eastern Monroe Public Library

2. Why Public Libraries?
In Philadelphia, since 2008, only 5% of homeowners facing foreclosure were represented.
At least one party was unrepresented in 80% of Family cases in Allegheny County.
In Dauphin County in 2012, at least one party was unrepresented in 69% of child custody cases.
In Monroe County, 50% of the litigants in custody conciliation are unrepresented.
Many county law libraries are unstaffed.

3. What can we tell patrons?
No Unauthorized Practice of Law!

5. Good bibliographic help is always appropriate
Help patrons locate cases, rules, and statutes
Help them to use indexes
Help them find relevant forms
Ask about jurisdiction
Show them appropriate online resources
Create a legal reference web page to assist both staff and patrons in locating online legal resources

6. Primary Legal Sources (Stuff that is actually the law)
Constitutions – Federal and State
Statutes – laws made by the legislature
Regulations – rules made by administrative agencies but rooted in statutory authority
Case law – Decisions of appellate judges that interpret the law
Municipal Codes

7. Secondary Sources
Publications that describe or explain primary law, e.g.,
Form Books
Nolo Guides
Practitioner Guides
Treatises, Hornbooks, Textbooks
Restatements of the law
Law Review articles

8. Statutes Regulations Case Law

9. Statutes Regulations Case Law

10. Interpreting legal citations
The first number is the volume or title number
Letters in the middle signify the source (reporter, code, etc)
The second set of number indicates the page or section
A citation is better than just a name – it’s a unique identifier
Examples:
New York Times Co. v. Tasini, 533 U.S. 483 (2001)
Robinson Tp., Washington County v. Com., 83 A. 3d 901 (2013)
Robinson Tp., Washington County v. Com., 623 Pa. 564 (2013)
42 U.S.C. 1983
36 CFR 703.7
Act 48 (session law) or
24 P.S. § , et seq. (codified law)

11. Secondary Sources

12. The County Courthouse library may have the books your patron needs

13. I just need the form! Like Legal Zoom but free!
Types of legal forms available:
Sample boiler-plate text: copy and re-type
Fill-in the blank forms: some available as fill-in PDFs
Forms that interview the litigant like Turbo Tax or Legal Zoom (A2J forms) and produce a form ready to take to court.

14. Pennsylvania A2J forms: child support and custody

15. Reliable and free online sources Make your own list

16. https://monroepl.org/?page_id=830
Eastern Monroe Public Library Legal Resources Page:

17. Questions?