legal research on the internet
DESCRIPTION
10/08/08 presentation at the SL Bar Assn. by Cat Galileo (Kate Fitz). Handouts available at: http://slba.info/speakers/links.pdfTRANSCRIPT
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Legal Research on the (Free) Internet
Presented by:
Kate Fitz
Public Services Librarian
Sacramento County Public Law Library
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Sources of law
Primary Sources contain the law Actual statements of the law Codes, Cases, Regulations Generally available online
Secondary Sources explain the law Material “about” the law, often starting point
for research Limited availability online
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Search Techniques on the Internet
Boolean, wildcards, “exact phrase,” proximity
Always take a peek at the “help” or “search tips”
Broken links? Site map, URL trimming, Google’s “site:” search
Alternative terms, terms to focus
Introduction
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Primary Sources
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Case Law
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http://findlaw.com/cacases/
•1934 to the present
•Free, but registration required
California cases
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http://findlaw.com/cacases/
Cases citing this case
Pin cite
No indicationof total hits
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http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/
AdvancedSearch
More Search Terms
California Courts –Powered by LexisNexis
•Cases since 1850•Registration not required•Many search options
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Print or email
Focus w/inresults
Validationsymbols
California Courtshttp://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/
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Other State Case Law
FindLaw a good source, but varies in coverage
Cornell Legal Information Institute (LII): http://www.law.cornell.edu/states/listing.html
Check with your local public law library! http://aallnet.org/sis/sccll/membership/libraries.htm
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Federal Case Law
All Supreme Court, F2d and F3d
West Rptr citations w/ pagination
Advanced search available
http://www.precydent.com/
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Federal Case Law – other options
Altlaw: http://altlaw.org/. All Supreme Court cases, 40+years of federal appellate cases, most with West Reporter citations, but not pagination. Advanced search functions available.
Justia: http://law.justia.com/ Federal and state cases, including some access to current case dockets. Citations, but not pagination. Google search (no built-in advanced search)
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Statutes
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California statuteshttp://www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.htm
Click here For CA code
•Current code only•Not annotated •Keyword searchable
NO INDEX!!
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fence
Searching the California Codes
Can my neighbor build a 12-foot high fence next to my property just to annoy me?
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.htm
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The plain statement of the law
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.htm
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leave keyword blank
Browsing Table of Contents
Choose a code to view, then…
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.htm
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Browsing Table of Contents
No wayto plugin cites!
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.htm
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Other State Statutes
FindLaw a good source, but varies in coverage
Cornell Legal Information Institute (LII): http://www.law.cornell.edu/states/listing.html
Check with your local public law library! http://aallnet.org/sis/sccll/membership/libraries.htm
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United States Code U.S. House of Representatives
http://uscode.house.gov/search/criteria.shtml Plug in citations or search text. Many search options including cross-references to a citation. Classification Tables (recently enacted changes). Prior versions of Code.
Cornell Legal Information Institutehttp://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/ Plug in citations or search text. Table of Popular Names; advanced search options.
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Regulations
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California Code of Regulations
http://www.calregs.com/
Regulations of all California agencies
Only the current edition is available
Title 24 (CA Building Standards Code) is NOT available on the Internet
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Click forTable ofContents
http://www.calregs.com/
California Code of Regulations
Plug in citation
Search for words
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http://www.calregs.com/
California Code of Regulations
What insects can be imported without a permit?
import AND insects AND permit
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http://www.calregs.com/
California Code of Regulations
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Other State Regulations
Cornell Legal Information Institute (LII): http://www.law.cornell.edu/states/listing.html
Check with your local public law library! http://aallnet.org/sis/sccll/membership/libraries.htm
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e-CFR: http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov Federal Register:
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/
Federal regulationshttp://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html
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Municipal law
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California City & County Codeshttp://igs.berkeley.edu/library/calcodes.html
Also see:California City Websites & City Codeshttp://law.justia.com/california/cities/
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Other Municipal & County Codes
http://tinyurl.com/3rppn
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Sacramento City Code Online
http://www.qcode.us/codes/sacramento/
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Public Records Searching
Types of records available varies from County to County and from State to State
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Cal. Secretary of State
http://kepler.ss.ca.gov/list.html
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www.freeprf.com
Links to many free public records databases around the U.S.
Can limit by state Also many links to
pay searches
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Court Recordshttp://courtinfo.ca.gov/courts/find.htm
California Many California courts offer online case index More and more offer online documents Find California courts on the Judicial Council site
http://courtinfo.ca.gov/courts/find.htm
Other States Available records vary Find court websites at Cornell Legal Information
Institute (LII): http://www.law.cornell.edu/
Federal dockets and documents: see PACER. Some free at Justia.com and public.resource.org
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Secondary Sources
Secondary sources such as: CEB practice guides Rutter Group materials Matthew Bender pleading
and practice guides
…are NOT available for free on the Internet
$215.00
$361.25
$4201.00
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Cornell Legal Information Institute: Wexhttp://topics.law.cornell.edu/wex
Articlesarranged
alphabetically
Keyword Search
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FindLaw: “Learn About the Law”http://public.findlaw.com/
Arranged topically or alphabetically
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Nolo.com: Self Help Publisherwww.nolo.com
Commercial site, but many helpful articles available free
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www.courtinfo.ca.gov
California Judicial Council
Self-HelpCenter
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Local court websiteshttp://www.caeb.uscourts.gov/
•Info on specific topics and local practice•Forms, instructions, samples•Links to more resources•Find your jurisdiction: www.law.cornell.edu/soj.html
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Law Reviews
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Washburn Legal Research on the Webwww.washlaw.edu/lawjournal/
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Law Review Home Pages (D’Angelo Law Library)
www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/law/lawreviews.html
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Google Scholar – article search
http://scholar.google.com/
Links to full text sometimes availalble
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Keeping current – Law Blogs
Written by practitioners or scholars
Regularly updated news, case reports, and commentary on specialized topics
RSS feeds can deliver the news to you
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Finding blawgs - Justiahttp://blawgsearch.justia.com/
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Law Professor Blogshttp://www.lawprofessorblogs.com/