Research Review For Grimes Moot Court February 4, 2010 Joan Shear, Legal Information Librarian and Lecturer in Law Where to Start Figure out what you re looking for 1
What is legal research? The search for authority: to predict a likely outcome to advise a client or to advocate for a client Building a Foundation Understand the facts - read your record. Understand legal terms - legal dictionaries, words and phrases. Understand general legal principles and what general areas of law are involved - general secondary sources. 2
Treatises (Books) Used for: general overview citations to primary sources persuasive authority Suggested Title: American Constitutional Law, 3rd ed. Vol. 1, by Laurence H. Tribe. Foundation Press 2000). use 2nd ed. for Chapters 9-18 3
Suggested Title: Constitutional Law, 7th ed. by John E. Nowak and Ronald D. Rotunda (Thomson-West 2004). Hornbook Series Constitutional Law Hornbook Series Suggested Title: Constitutional Law: Principles and Policies, 3rd ed., by Erwin Chemerinsky (Aspen 2006). [On Course Reserve] 4
Suggested Title: Treatise on Constitutional Law: Substance and Procedure, 4th. ed. by Ronald D. Rotunda & John E. Nowak [6 volumes] (Thomson-West 2007). Suggested Title: Understanding Constitutional Law, 3rd ed. by Norman Redlich, John Attanasio, Joel K. Goldstein (LexisNexis 2005). 5
Thorough Research Types of Authority Primary (Can be binding) Secondary (Can only be persuasive) Sources Constitutions Cases Statutes Regulations Commentaries e.g. Law Reviews Background Materials e.g., Records and Briefs Citation Theory Why we cite To provide authority for our pronouncements What cites do Identify source of authority Tell where to find source of authority Provide limited information on weight of authority such as date, jurisdiction, or relevant subsequent history 6
Statutes and Constitutions Annotated codes to find interpretive cases. 7
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American Law Reports (ALR) Case Finding Tool Provides: historical background; citations to primary sources; structure/ organization Available on Westlaw and LexisNexis Case Finding - Digests Digest Searches Useful for finding cases under legal concepts and principles. Brings together cases with a variety of fact situations. 11
Digest Searching on Westlaw Digest topic: Constitutional Law (Designated as topic # 92) Key Number: 580 Write as 92Hk580 in Westlaw searches Full Text Searching Terms and Connectors Search words Combined with Boolean connectors To find all exact matches Natural Language Search words Weighted according to algorithms To find most relevant based on ranking criteria 12
Terms and Connectors Connectors Alternatives or Conjunctions Joining: and & Proximity: w/# /# Ordered Proximity: pre/# +# Grammatical: /s /p Exclusions but not When you need everything using particular terms When terms are unique When you want to include a field search When you need to know how many cases use these terms Natural Language Is really Relevancy Ranking When you don t know much about a subject When you don t want just a casual mention When you are willing to take a close match When you need an extensive discussion 13
Topical Services United States Law Week (BNA) (latest two years at Law Permanent Reserves) Available through Alphabetical List of Databases. 14
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Law Reviews Uses recent developments citations to primary sources persuasive authority Start with Indexes Indexes lead you to articles about a particular topic. Full text searching leads you to any use of a term. 17
Law Review Indexes - ILP Index to Legal Periodicals & Books (back to 1980) through Westlaw - ILP Lexis - Index to Legal Periodicals ILPand ILP Retrospective can be accessed through Alphabetical Databases Link Law Review Indexes - CLI Current Law Index Westlaw LRI Lexis Legal Resource Index Alphabetical List of Databases LegalTrak 18
Law Review Indexes - CILP Current Index to Legal Periodicals Westlaw CILP Alphabetical List of Databases Current Index to Legal Periodicals Law Reviews Full Text LEXISNexis Legal Publications Group File contains: law reviews, bar journals, ABA journals, legal newspapers, legal newsletters, specialty legal publications, and CLE materials WESTLAW TP-ALL contains: law reviews, texts, American Law Reports (ALR), legal encyclopedias (American Jurisprudence 2d and Corpus Juris Secundum), CLE course materials, bar journals, and legal practice-oriented periodicals. 19
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Supreme Court Rules In Print: Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (West 2009-2010 Educational Ed.) 2008 Revised Edition Federal CIVIL JUDICIAL PROCEDURE and RULES Law Course Reserve KF 8816.A2 F42 Supreme Court Rules page 510 [Does not include latest amendments] 21
Records & Briefs Landmark Briefs and Arguments of the Supreme Court of the United States. Records and Briefs of the United States Supreme Court in Microfiche. 22
Oral Arguments May It Please the Court: Landmark Cases Argued Before the Supreme Court, Transcripts and Cassettes Oral Arguments of the Supreme Court of the United States in Microfiche. 23
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Find Books in QUEST 25
E.g., Advocacy Manuals on Reserve 26
Updating Do you have the latest information? Check dates whether print or online. Citator Services KeyCite and Shepard's When to Stop Don't stop too soon Don't waste your time 27
Any Questions? Reference Librarians are on duty: Monday - Thursday 9:00-8:00 Friday 9:00-5:00 Saturday and Sunday 1:00-5:00 Joan.shear@bc.edu 617-552-2895 http://www2.bc.edu/~shearj 28