How To Research A Legal Problem: A Guide For Non-Lawyers

How to Research a Legal Problem: A Guide for Non-LawyersOneof thefollowingfederalcode versionsused if theis federal:The UnitedStatesfor linksto lawand localgovernment(or citieswillandbecounties).Tryjurisdictionusing the URLwww.state.xx.us,where“xx” Codeis the(U.S.C.), United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.) or United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.). The U.S.C. isstate’s postal abbreviation. Sites such as www.washlaw.edu will also lead to states’ government sites.available at uscode.house.gov, FDsys, and www.law.cornell.edu/uscode. For pending and new federal laws,you’ll probably need to check Congress.gov, the government website for legislative information. RegulationsOneof theagenciesfollowing arefederalcode versionswill beif thejurisdiction(C.F.R.),is federal:UnitedatStates Code (U.S.C.),offederalcontainedin the Codeof usedFederalRegulationsavailableUnited States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.), or United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.). The U.S.C. is available on thewww.ecfr.gov.web at http://uscode.house.gov, although other sites containing the U.S.C., e.g. www.law.cornell.edu/uscode,may provideeasierthewaysto locatebya particularstatute.mustFor pendingfederalandlaws,probably needCourtrules stateprocedurewhich a disputemake itsandwaynewto courthowyou’llthe resolutionof theto checkisThomas,the governmentfor ations offordisputeto be conducted.Court websiterules addresssuch topicsas time atlimitationsand formal requirementspleadingsand othercourt documentsor processes.proceduralcan also be found in statutoryfederal agenciesare containedin the Codeof Federal AlthoughRegulations(C.F.R.) atlawwww.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html.and administrative codes, court rules are generally more detailed and can vary from court to court. You maywishask astatelaw thelibrarianfor helplocatingcourt rulesyour itscourtnot andposthowthemits Web site.Courttorulesprocedureby whicha disputemustifmakewaydoesto courttheonresolutionof thedispute is to be conducted. Court rules address such topics as time limitations and formal requirements forReports or reporters contain opinions (sometimes called decisions or cases) written by courts to explainpleadings and other court documents or processes. Although procedural law can also be found in statutory andhow and why certain legal rules were used to resolve the dispute in a particular lawsuit. These rulesadministrative codes, court rules are generally more detailed and can vary from court to court. You may wish toconstitute the “common law” and are followed by courts deciding later cases with similar facts and issues soask aconsistencylaw librarianfor behelpmaintained.locating courtrules if ofyourcourt doesposton its website.thatmayDecisionsa highercourtnotwillbe themmandatory- that is, those decisionsmust be followed if coming from a higher court in the same jurisdiction or from the U. S. Supreme Court. If aReports orreporterscontainopinionsdecisionsor cases)decisionis notmandatory,a courtmay(sometimesstill find it calledpersuasiveand followit. written by courts to explainhow and why certain legal rules were used to resolve the dispute in a particular lawsuit. These rulesconstitutethe “commonlaw” andare followedby eandmostWithfew exceptions,reporteddecisionsare fromcourtsdecidingof appealscourts.commonis decisionsfederal districtcourtsin thewillFederalSupplement, abbreviatedissues soexceptionthat consistencymay befrommaintained.Decisionsof areportedhigher courtbe ittenifforevery fromcase.aFurther,not everyis selectedthethecourt fordecisionsmustfollowedcominghigher courtin thedecisionsame jurisdictionor byfrompublication.such aascourtthosefoundtheitFederalAppendix(F. Appx.),U.S. SupremeTheseCourt.“unpublished”If a decision isdecisions,not mandatory,maystillinfindpersuasiveand followit. canhelp one to understand the law. However, it is important to consult a court’s rules on citation of unpublishedopinions before using them to support an argument in a legal proceeding.With few exceptions, these cases are from courts of appeals rather than trial courts. (The most commonexception is decisions from federal district courts reported in the Federal Supplement, abbreviated F. Supp.)Cases decided in the U.S. Supreme Court are reported in the United States Reports (U.S.) and reprinted in theOpinions arenotReporterwritten foreveryandcase.Further,notSupremeevery decisionselectedLawyers’by the courtfor Reports,Edition,first and secondThese “unpublished”suchas thosefoundin theareFederalAppendixAppx.),series(L.Ed., L.Ed.2d).decisions,Newer U.S.SupremeCourtcasesavailableon the(F.Webat can help one tounderstand the law. However,it is importantto Manyconsultcasesa court’son court.gov(see “Opinions”link).can rulesalso beOyez entinalegalproceeding.oyez.org/cases. This site is a complete and authoritative source for all audio recorded in the Court since theinstallation of a recording system in October 1955. Cases from the intermediate U.S. Courts of Appeals, alsocalledCircuitCourts,are printedin arethe reportedFederal Reporter,first,Statessecond,or thirdseries(F., F.2d andF.3d).Cases U.S.decidedin theU.S. SupremeCourtin the UnitedReports(U.S.)and reprintedin theTheFederalSupplement,first andand UnitedsecondStatesseriesSupreme(F.Supp.,CourtF. Supp.2d)fromU.S.DistrictSupremeCourtReporter rtcasescanbefoundatwww.uscourts.gov/courtlinks/or www.law.series (L.Ed. and L.Ed.2d). Newer U.S. Supreme Court cases are available on the web at .(see “Opinions” link). Cases from the intermediate U.S. Courts of Appeals, also called U.S. Circuit Courts, areprinted in the Federal Reporter, first, second, or third series (F., F.2d, and F.3d). The Federal Supplement, firstState appellate court opinions are printed in state reports in many states. They are also reprinted inand second series (F.Supp. and F. Supp.2d), contain cases from the U.S. District Courts. Newer circuit court andWest’s regional reporters, which each contain several states, including the Atlantic (A., A.2d, and A.3d),districtEasterncourt casesfound Northat www.uscourts.gov/courtlinksor E. canandbeN.E.2d),Western (N.W. and N.W.2d),Pacific (P., P.2d and P.3d), South ocourt.(S.E., and S.E.2d), South Western (S.W., S.W.2d and S.W.3d), and Southern (So., So.2d, and So.3d) Reporters.Because California and New York generate a large amount of case law, these states have their own WestState appellatecourt opinionsare (Cal.printedin statereportsandin manystates. Theyin West’sreporters:the CaliforniaReporterRptr.,Cal. Rptr.2dCal. Rptr.3d)and arethe alsoNewreprintedYork rn(N.Y.S. and N.Y.S.2d). Many states no longer print their own reports, so their newer decisions are foundonlyWest’sreporters.If a decisionprintedin moreyou mayfind (S.E.moreandthanone(N.E.inandN.E.2d),North Western(N.W. isandN.W.2d),Pacificthan(P., oneP.2d,publication,and P.3d), ontheWeb,gotheSouth Western (S.W., S.W.2d, and S.W.3d), and Southern (So. and So.2d) Reporters. Because California chYork generate a large amount of case law, these states have their own West reporters: the California Reporteraswww.washlaw.edu.(Cal.Rptr., Cal. Rptr.2d, and Cal. Rptr.3d) and the New York Supplement (N.Y.S. and N.Y.S.2d). Many states3

How to Research a Legal Problem: A Guide for Non-LawyersFindingin reportsmaysobetheirdonenewerin variousways.areinnotarrangedby subject,and the setsno longeropinionsprint theirown reports,decisionsareReportsfound onlyWest’sreporters.If a decisionare not indexed. Often you can find a reference from text or footnotes of texts, encyclopedias, or other cases.is printed in more than one publication, you may find more than one citation to it. These are called parallelAnnotated codes will list cases which have cited a statute following the text of the statute.citations. For availability of state court opinions on the web, go to the individual state government’s websiteor one ofandthe generallisted at canthe beginningthis guide,such ascomputerwww.washlaw.edu.Lawyersthose insiteslaw schoolsfind casesofusingsubscriptiondatabases, but thesesubscription databases are expensive and may not be available to the public. However, as libraries replaceFindingopinionsbe setsdone(seein variousare notarranged accessby subject,and thesetsaccessare notis oftenprintreporterand maydigestbelow)ways.with Reportssome formof electronicto cases,suchindexed. Oftencanusers.find a reference from text or footnotes of texts, encyclopedias, or other cases. Annotatedextendedto all youlibrarycodes will list cases that have cited a statute following the text of the statute.Free court opinions are available on Google Scholar. Additionally, free trials and/or low cost subscriptions areavailablefromthoseVersusLawat www.versuslaw.comand subscriptionfrom Loislawcomputerat www.loislaw.com.LoislawLawyers andin law schoolscan find cases usingdatabases, butthese also allowsusersto subscribefor justfew days,andat ivemay not be available to the public. However, as libraries replaceprint reporter and digest sets (see below) with some form of electronic access to cases, such access is oftenSome of the Web sites mentioned in "The Internet," above, will lead you to free sites that allow limitedextended to all library users.keyword searching, but this will vary from court to court.Using a credityou omor LexisNexisDigestsare thecard,traditionalfinding atcases.West Publishing Co. publishesdigestsatfor federalhttp://web.lexis.com/xchange/ccsubs/cc prods.aspforabout 10perdocument.Freeand lowjurisdictions, most states and several of the regions that correspond to the regional trialsreporters.For .there is a Federal Practice Digest (Fed. Prac. Dig.), a California Digest (Cal. Dig.) and a Pacific Digest (Pac.Dig.). The Decennial Digest (Dec. Dig.) covers all jurisdictions in 10-year increments. The most commonlySomedigestof the systemwebsitesismentionedin “The internet”on pagewhich1, willdivideslead youfreeintositesaboutthat 400allowtopics.limitedEachusedWest’s AmericanDigest System,thetolawtopicis subdividedkeywordsearching. into principles or points of law which are each assigned a "key" number. Pigeonholedunder each key number are brief paragraphs abstracted from cases, which summarize the points of eachcase,andarecitationsto wheremeanseach ofcasecan befound.It ispossible Co.to godirectly digeststo the topicin the digest andDigeststhe traditionalfindingcases.WestPublishingpublishesfor federalscanthrough thenumbers,but it isofusuallyless thatconfusingto startin theDescriptiveWordto thejurisdictions,mostkeystates,and severalthe regionscorrespondto theregionalreporters.ForIndexexample,digest. This index uses common words to lead to the right topic and key number. The digest also contains athere is a Federal Practice Digest (Fed. Prac. Dig.), a California Digest (Cal. Dig.) and a Pacific Digest (Pac.case table, which can be used to look up a citation if only the name of a case is known.Dig.). The Decennial Digest (Dec. Dig.) covers all jurisdictions in 10-year increments. The most commonlyused digestLawsystemis West’sAmericanDigestSystem,which dividesthecaseslaw intothan has a digestof leadingonmorea particularandEachas antopic tois subdividedintowhichprinciplesor pointslaw,inwhichareandeachassigneda “key”index"annotations,"reviewa legaloftopicdepthanalyzecourtcasesnumber.from allPigeonholedjurisdictions onundereach key number are brief paragraphs abstracted from cases, which summarize the points of each case,thesubject.and citations to where each case can be found. It is possible to go directly to the topic in the digest and scanthrough thenumbers,but it iscourtsusuallyorlessconfusingto startin the TheseDescriptiveto suchthe digest.Reportsandkeydigestsfor certaintopicsare y,militaryjustice,education,and tax.agencies,whichact astribunalsThis index usescommonwordsto lead tolabor,the righttopicAdministrativeand key number.The digestalsooftencontainsa casetable,inwhichtheir canareasjurisdiction,publishreportsof theirofopinions,be ofusedto look upalsoa citationif onlythe namea case is oftenknown.with digests, on their own websites.Looseleafservicesare (A.L.R.)useful toolsthat bothpull togethertext,regulations,and opinionsof courtsAmerican LawReportsfunctionsas a digestofstatutes,leading caseson a particulartopic andas anand administrative agencies on specific important topics that need constant updating. Examples includeindex to “annotations,” which review a legal topic in depth and analyze court cases from all jurisdictions onStandard Federal Tax Reporter, Federal Tax Coordinator, Employment Coordinator, Bankruptcy Law Reporter,the subject.Consumer Credit Guide, Family Law Reporter, Criminal Law Reporter, and many others. Some law librarieswill have these in electronic format.Reports and digests for certain courts or topics are also beneficial. These cover legal areas such asbankruptcy, military justice, education, labor, and tax. Administrative agencies, which often act as tribunalsin their areas of jurisdiction, also publish reports of their opinions, often with digests.Looseleaf services are useful tools that pull together text, statutes, regulations, and opinions of courts andadministrative agencies on specific important topics that need constant updating. Examples include StandardFederal Tax Reporter, Federal Tax Coordinator, Employment Coordinator, Bankruptcy Law Reporter, ConsumerCredit Guide, Family Law Reporter, Criminal Law Reporter, and many others.4

How to Research a Legal Problem: A Guide for Non-LawyersBEFOREBEFOREYOUYOUSTOPSTOPCheck supplements. These sometimes appear as “pocket parts” inserted into the back covers of volumes toCheck supplements.Thesematerial.sometimes appear as “pocket parts” inserted into the back covers of volumes toprovideupdates and newprovide updates and new material.Check Citators. Shepard’s is the most common. These must be used to ascertain whether the validity of acaseor citators.statute hasbeen affectedin someway, Thesesuch asbeingreversed,overruledor ruledCheckShepard’sis the mostcommon.mustbe usedto ascertainwhethertheunconstitutionalvalidity of hasbeencitedbyanother.Instructionsfor use,case or statute has been affected in some way, such as being reversed, overruled, or ruled rrent(for statutes). They are also used to determine if one case has been cited by another. Instructions for use,citatorinformation,you must usean onlinecitator, suchShepard’sonvolume.LexisNexis Westlaw’sillustrations,and abbreviationtablesare containedin theasprefaceto eachFor theormostcurrentKeyCite.Access to these citators will depend on whether your library makes Lexis or Wesltaw available to thecitator information, you must use an online citator, such as Shepard’s on LexisNexis at www.lexis.com (seepublic. Similarly, a short-term subscription to Loislaw at estore.loislaw.com will include access to its citator,menu selection for credit card use) or Westlaw’s KeyCite at http://creditcard.westlaw.com. Each costs aboutGlobalCite. 6 per cite. Some form of citator is usually included as a feature within computerized case law databases.WHEN TO STOPWHEN TO STOPYou’ll keep reading the same legal rule. You may notice that once you have thoroughly covered all thesources listed above, the same legal rule, whether set out in statute, regulation, or court opinion, will appearYou keep reading the same legal rule. You may notice that once you have thoroughly covered all the sourcesin several places. You can usually take this as confirmation that your research has been complete enough tolisted above, the same legal rule—whether set out in statute, regulation, or court opinion—will appear ingive a reliable answer to your legal question.several places. You can usually take this as confirmation that your research has been complete enough to givea reliable answer to your legal question.MORE INFORMATIONMORE INFORMATIONAn attorney may still be required to help find and understand legal information. Word of mouth, the YellowPages, or state and local bar associations can help you find one. Attorney directories are available online atwww.martindale.com and lawyers.findlaw.com.An attorney may still be required to help find and understand legal information. Word of mouth, the Yellowor state andbar associationscan helpyou Checkfind one.Attorneydirectoriesare available oronlineAPages,law librariancan localhelp butcannot give legaladvice.withlocal courts,bar associationslaw hools.Call yourwww.martindale.comlocal public library fora listingof area law libraries.A law librariancan morehelp butcannotadvice. Callyourarelocalavailable,public libraryfor a listing of areaManualsthat givedetailon givehow legalto research.Severalincluding:law libraries. Finding the Law (2005)of LegalResearch(2009)Manuals thatFundamentalsgive more detailon howto research.Several are available, including: — FindingLegal Research:How to Find & Understand the Law (2012)the Law (2005) — FundamentalsLegal Researcha Nutshell(2013)of inLegalResearch(2009)— Legal Research: How to Find & Understand the Law (2009)— Legal Research in a Nutshell (2007)5

How to Research a Legal Problem: A Guide for AngusNesbitfor LegalInformationServicesthe PublicThis guideguide waswas preparedandAngusNesbitfor LegalInformationServicesto thetoPublic(LISP), a(LISP), a Special Interest Section of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL). Revisions by Lesliespecial interest section of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL).Greenwood and Brian Huffman for LISP.LISPprovidesprovides supportsupport ltsLISPfor brarieslibrar

Legal encyclopedias are a good starting point to get an overview of a topic. There are two general legal encyclopedias: Corpus Juris Secundum (C.J.S.) and American Jurisprudence 2d (Am. Jur. 2d). Many states also have encyclopedias of state law. Begin with the index and look for different synonyms of your term. The text will