Arizona Legal Research
Carolina Academic Press Legal Research Series Suzanne E. Rowe, Series Editor Arizona Tamara S. Herrera Arkansas Coleen M. Barger Florida, Third Edition Barbara J. Busharis & Suzanne E. Rowe Georgia Nancy P. Johnson, Elizabeth G. Adelman, & Nancy J. Adams Idaho Tenielle Fordyce-Ruff & Suzanne E. Rowe Illinois Mark E. Wojcik Michigan Pamela Lysaght Missouri Wanda M. Temm & Julie M. Cheslik Oregon, Second Edition Suzanne E. Rowe Pennsylvania Barbara J. Busharis & Bonny L. Tavares Tennessee Sibyl Marshall & Carol McCrehan Parker Washington Julie Heintz
Arizona Legal Research Tamara S. Herrera Sandra Day O Connor College of Law Arizona State University Suzanne E. Rowe, Series Editor Carolina Academic Press Durham, North Carolina
Copyright 2008 Tamara S. Herrera All Rights Reserved. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Herrera, Tamara. Arizona legal research / by Tamara Herrera. p. cm. -- (Legal research series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-59460-354-9 (alk. paper) 1. Legal research--arizona. I. Title. KFA2475.H47 2008 340.072'0791--dc22 2007048761 Carolina Academic Press 700 Kent Street Durham, North Carolina 27701 Telephone (919) 489-7486 Fax (919) 493-5668 www.cap-press.com Printed in the United States of America.
Summary of Contents Contents List of Tables Series Note Acknowledgments vii xiii xvii xix Chapter 1 The Research Process 3 Chapter 2 Researching Secondary Authority 19 Chapter 3 Researching Constitutions 31 Chapter 4 Researching Statutes and Court Rules 37 Chapter 5 Researching Legislative History 51 Chapter 6 Finding Cases in Reporters and Online 63 Chapter 7 Researching Cases in Digests and Online 75 Chapter 8 Researching Administrative Law 93 Chapter 9 Researching Arizona Tribal Law 103 Chapter 10 Updating Research 109 Appendix A Legal Citation 123 Appendix B Glossary of Legal Research Terms 141 About the Author 147 Index 149
Contents List of Tables Series Note Acknowledgments xiii xvii xix Chapter 1 The Research Process 3 I. Arizona Legal Research 3 II. The Intersection of Legal Research and Legal Analysis 3 III. Types of Legal Authority 4 IV. Court Systems 6 A. Arizona Courts 6 B. Federal Courts 7 C. Courts of Other States 8 V. Overview of the Research Process 9 A. Generating Research Terms 9 B. Selecting Print or Electronic Media 12 C. Composing a Word Search for Electronic Media 14 D. Choosing a Starting Point for Research 16 E. Other Helpful Hints 17 F. Researching the Law Organization of This Text 17 VI. Rules Governing Attorney Conduct 18 Chapter 2 Researching Secondary Authority 19 I. Arizona Secondary Sources and Practice Aids 20 A. Continuing Legal Education Materials and Handbooks 20 vii
viii Contents B. Jury Instructions 21 C. Legal Forms 21 II. Encyclopedias 22 III. Treatises 23 IV. Dictionaries 24 V. Legal Periodicals 24 VI. American Law Reports 27 VII. Restatements of Law 29 Chapter 3 Researching Constitutions 31 I. Arizona Constitution 31 II. United States Constitution 34 Chapter 4 Researching Statutes and Court Rules 37 I. Print Media 37 A. Arizona Print Media 38 B. Federal Print Media 41 C. Researching Print Media 41 1. Find the Relevant Statute 42 a. Starting with a Citation 42 b. Using the Conversion Table 42 c. Beginning with a Popular Name 43 d. Scanning the Title Outline 43 e. Using the Topical Index 44 2. Read the Statute 44 3. Read the Relevant Cases 45 4. Update the Statute 45 II. Electronic Media 46 A. Arizona Electronic Media 46 B. Federal Electronic Media 47 C. Researching Electronic Media 48 III. Court Rules 49
Contents ix Chapter 5 Researching Legislative History 51 I. How the Arizona Legislature Operates 51 A. Arizona Bill Tracking 52 B. Arizona Legislative History 54 1. Research Using Electronic Media 54 2. Research Using Print Media 56 C. Research at the State Capitol 57 II. How the Federal Legislature Works 57 A. Federal Bill Tracking 58 B. Federal Legislative History 60 Chapter 6 Finding Cases in Reporters and Online 63 I. Print Media 64 A. Editorial Enhancements of an Arizona Case 66 B. Arizona Print Media 68 C. Federal Print Media 69 II. Electronic Media 71 A. Arizona Internet Resources 72 B. Federal Internet Resources 72 Chapter 7 Researching Cases in Digests and Online 75 I. Print Media 75 A. Organization of the Digest System 77 1. Headnotes 78 2. Topics and Key Numbers 78 B. Research Using the Digest System 78 1. Determining the Correct Digest 78 2. Locating Relevant Topics and Key Numbers 79 a. Beginning with a Relevant Case 79 b. Beginning with a Topic 79 c. Beginning with the Descriptive Word Index 80 3. Reading the Headnotes Organized under the Relevant Topics and Key Numbers 80 4. Updating the Research 81
x Contents C. Using the Digest System with a Case or Party Name 82 D. Using the Digest System s Words and Phrases 82 II. Electronic Media 83 A. LexisNexis 83 1. Word Searching 83 2. Subject Searching 83 3. Segment Searching 84 B. Westlaw 85 1. Word Searching 85 2. Subject Searching 86 3. Field Searching 86 Chapter 8 Researching Administrative Law 93 I. Researching Arizona Administrative Law 94 A. Arizona Administrative Code 95 B. Arizona Administrative Register 96 C. Other Sources for Arizona Administrative Law 97 II. Researching Federal Administrative Law 98 A. Code of Federal Regulations 98 B. Federal Register 100 C. Other Sources for Federal Administrative Law 100 III. Arizona Attorney General Opinions 100 Chapter 9 Researching Arizona Tribal Law 103 I. Introduction to Tribal Law and Federal Indian Law 103 II. Tribal Treaties, Constitutions, and Codes 104 III. Tribal Case Law 104 IV. Secondary Sources 106 Chapter 10 Updating Research 109 I. Shepard s 110 II. KeyCite 112
Contents xi Appendix A Legal Citation 123 I. The ALWD Manual 125 A. Incorporating Citations into a Document 125 B. Case Citations 126 1. Essential Components of Case Citations 126 2. Full and Short Citations to Cases 128 3. Prior and Subsequent History 130 4. Cases Available Electronically Only 130 C. Statutes 131 1. State Statutes 131 2. Federal Statutes 131 D. Signals 132 E. Explanatory Parentheticals 133 F. Quotations 133 G. Citation Details 134 II. The Bluebook 135 A. Bluebook Citations for Practice Documents 135 1. Quick Reference Guide and the Bluepages 136 2. Index 136 3. Case Citations 137 4. Statutes 137 5. Signals and Parenthetical Information 138 6. Quotations 138 7. Tables in the Bluebook 138 8. Comparison of Arizona Citations in ALWD and Bluebook Formats 138 B. Bluebook Citations for Law Review Articles 139 III. Editing Citations 140 Appendix B Glossary of Legal Research Terms 141 About the Author 147 Index 149
List of Tables Chapter 1 The Research Process 3 Table 1-1. Examples of Authority in Arizona Research 5 Table 1-2. Overview of the Research Process 10 Table 1-3. Generating Research Terms 11 Table 1-4. Boolean Connectors and Commands 15 Chapter 2 Researching Secondary Authority 19 Table 2-1. Outline of the Research Process in a Print-Media Encyclopedia 22 Table 2-2. Outline of the Research Process in a Print- Media Legal Periodical 25 Table 2-3. Selected LexisNexis and Westlaw Databases for Legal Periodicals 26 Table 2-4. Electronic Media for Arizona Legal Periodicals 27 Table 2-5. Outline of the Research Process in a Print- Media A.L.R. 28 Table 2-6. Outline of the Research Process in a Print-Media Restatement of Law 29 Chapter 3 Researching Constitutions 31 Table 3-1. Arizona Constitution s Articles 33 Appendix 3-1. Sample Arizona Constitution Article 36 Chapter 4 Researching Statutes and Court Rules 37 Table 4-1. A.R.S. Titles 39 xiii
xiv List of Tables Table 4-2. Outline of the Research Process for Statutes in Print Media 42 Table 4-3. Finding Features for Statutes in Print Media 43 Appendix 4-1. Sample Arizona Statute with Annotations 50 Chapter 5 Researching Legislative History 51 Table 5-1. Sample Arizona Bill Tracking on ALIS 53 Table 5-2. Outline of the Research Process for Legislative History and Preferred Media 54 Appendix 5-1. Sample Arizona Legislative History on ALIS 62 Chapter 6 Finding Cases in Reporters and Online 63 Table 6-1. Coverage of Regional Reporters 65 Table 6-2. Arizona Reporters 69 Table 6-3. Federal Reporters 70 Appendix 6-1. Editorial Enhancements of an Arizona Case 73 Chapter 7 Researching Cases in Digests and Online 75 Table 7-1. Coverage of Regional Digests 76 Table 7-2. Outline of the Research Process in a Print- Media Digest 79 Table 7-3. Selected Court Abbreviations in Arizona Digest Entries 81 Table 7-4. LexisNexis Databases Containing Arizona Cases 84 Table 7-5. Westlaw Databases Containing Arizona Cases 85 Appendix 7-1. Sample Arizona Case on LexisNexis 87 Appendix 7-2. Sample Arizona Case on Westlaw 90 Chapter 8 Researching Administrative Law 93 Table 8-1. Outline of the Research Process for Arizona Administrative Law 94 Table 8-2. Arizona Agencies that Hear Contested Cases 98 Appendix 8-1. Sample Arizona Rule from Arizona Administrative Code 101
List of Tables xv Chapter 9 Researching Arizona Tribal Law 103 Appendix 9-1. Arizona Tribal Court Information 106 Chapter 10 Updating Research 109 Table 10-1. Shepard s Signals for Cases on LexisNexis 110 Table 10-2. KeyCite Status Flags on Westlaw 113 Table 10-3. KeyCite Stars on Westlaw 114 Appendix 10-1. Sample Excerpt from Full Shepard s Report for an Arizona Case 115 Appendix 10-2. Sample KWIC Shepard s Report for an Arizona Case 117 Appendix 10-3. Sample Full History KeyCite Report for an Arizona Case 119 Appendix 10-4. Sample Excerpt from Citing References KeyCite Report for an Arizona Case 120 Appendix A Legal Citation 123 Table A-1. Purposes of Legal Citations 124 Table A-2. Examples of a Citation Sentence and a Citation Clause 126 Table A-3. Examples of Full Citations 129 Table A-4. Common Signals 132 Table A-5. Comparison of ALWD Manual and Bluebook Formats 136 Table A-6. Comparison of Selected Word Abbreviations in the ALWD Manual and the Bluebook 137 Table A-7. Comparison of Arizona Citations in ALWD Manual and Bluebook Formats 139
Series Note The Legal Research Series published by Carolina Academic Press includes an increasing number of titles from states around the country. The goal of each book is to provide law students, practitioners, paralegals, college students, and laypeople with the essential elements of legal research in each state. Unlike more bibliographic texts, the Legal Research Series books seek to explain concisely both the sources of state law research and the process for conducting legal research effectively. xvii
Acknowledgments I owe a great debt of gratitude to Suzanne Rowe, series editor, for her support of this project. She generously provided both her time and her material for Chapter 1 and Appendix A, for which I am grateful. I also owe many thanks to others who supported me throughout this project with advice and materials: specifically, Marianne Alcorn, Kirsten Davis, Beth DiFelice, Amy Langenfeld, Chad Noreuil, Sigmund Popko, Judith Stinson, and Connie Strittmatter. Both the Ross- Blakely Law Library staff and the legal writing department at the Sandra Day O Connor College of Law (Arizona State University) are composed of wonderfully talented individuals. The law school simply could not function without them, and they are the best colleagues one could hope for in any job. In addition, no acknowledgement would be complete without thanking my parents, Thom and Carol Havelaar, for their support of all my writing projects, from the first book review I wrote at the age of twelve that they lovingly tucked in the pages of a scrapbook to all of my current work. Finally, my greatest thanks go to my husband, William, and my son, Eric, for understanding my need to write and reminding me why life is beautiful. xix