1. Basic Law Reference
Tips from the Maryland State Law Library for Maryland AskUsNow! March 2008

2. What do we mean by “the law”?
BLR 3/2008

3. Types of Law Regulations (Issued by executive agencies)
Cases (Decisions from the courts)
Statutes (Passed by the legislature)
BLR 3/2008

4. Levels of Law Federal Legislative: U.S. Congress Regulatory:
Federal Agencies
Judicial (Case):
Federal Courts
State (Maryland)
Legislative:
General Assembly
Regulatory:
State Agencies
Judicial (Case):
Court of Appeals
Court of Special Appeals
Local
Legislative:
County Council
Regulatory:
Rare
Judicial (Case):
none
BLR 3/2008

5. Don’t get thrown off by the vocabulary – look it up!
Terminology
Glossary at:
Black’s Law Dictionary or other legal dictionary
Don’t get thrown off by the vocabulary – look it up!
COMMON TERMS:
Judicial (case) law: case, docket, decision, opinion, reported, unreported
Statutory law: legislation, bill, act, statute, code
Regulatory law: regulation, rule, agency, register
BLR 3/2008

6. The Maryland Court System
District Court
Circuit Court
Court of Special Appeals
Court of Appeals
Other courts
BLR 3/2008

7. District Court
Created in 1970 to replace municipal and people’s courts
Administered on a State level (Chief Judge)
Criminal jurisdiction: all misdemeanors and some felonies
Civil jurisdiction:  landlord-tenant cases  small claims ($5000 and below)  some domestic violence  some civil claims between $5000 and $25,000
Arguments are before a judge only; no juries
Issues a DECISION, but not a written OPINION
BLR 3/2008

8. Circuit Court One in each county; administered on a county basis
Civil jurisdiction:  amounts over $25,000  jury trials  divorce
Criminal jurisdiction: serious felony cases such as murder
Appeals: from District Court, Orphans’ Court and certain administrative agencies
BLR 3/2008

9. Court of Special Appeals
Appeals from the Circuit Court, and others
Hears ALL appeals presented to it
There are thirteen (13) judges; cases are heard before a panel of three (3)
Oral arguments are presented by each side; no witnesses; no facts argued
Issues a written OPINION, but not all opinions are REPORTED
BLR 3/2008

10. Court of Appeals Highest (“supreme”) court in Maryland
Selective about the cases it hears – writ of certiorari (“cert”) or by choice, except death penalty cases which they must hear
There are seven (7) judges; every case is heard by all seven
No facts are argued
Adopts rules of procedure for all Maryland courts
BLR 3/2008

11. The Legal Reference Question
Interpretation vs. Information
Process vs. Theory
Identifying the level and type of law required
Primary vs. Secondary Sources
BLR 3/2008

12. Forms
A note on forms: though there are official forms from the Maryland District Courts for many issues (garnishment, peace orders, etc.), there are very few actual forms for the Circuit Courts (with the exception of family law matters). Filings submitted to the Circuit Courts follow format rules provided in the Maryland Rules. Some of the Rules have nice specific formats, some just inform the filer of the content necessary.  
There are many, many commercially-published forms books with samples for litigants to follow. These are available in law libraries, and probably a few public libraries. There is also an online database, available from Gale, of suggested forms. The State Law Library is currently evaluating this product with the idea of purchasing a subscription for patron use.
BLR 3/2008

13. Primary vs. Secondary Sources
Primary: comes from or is designated as official by the actual body creating the law:  Legislative – codes, statutes, legislation  Executive – regulations, orders  Judiciary – cases, court rules
Secondary: provided or generated by a non-primary-creating source, such as a commercial publisher or non-profit legal agency:  Legal encyclopedias (AmJur, CJS, MLE)  American Law Reports (ALR)  Treatises (textbooks)  Law reviews and journals  Locating tools: digests and citators (Shepard’s, KeyCite)
BLR 3/2008

14. Annotated Code of Maryland
Annotated simply means added notes that are a secondary source
Code means that the statutory language has been organized (codifed) by topic
Black volumes vs. Red volumes
The 1957 Code
Replacement volumes
Pocket parts
BLR 3/2008

15. A word on Code organization…
“Annotated” means containing research and case notes to aid in further research. These notes are added by the publishers and are therefore copyrighted, and only available in the print version of the Code or the fee databases
“Article” refers to the breakdown by topic within the Code. An older edition of the Code (1957 ed.) used number designations to break up topics. Beginning in the 1970s these numbered breakdowns have been “recodified” – rewritten for clarity, reorganized and renamed by topic rather than number.
“Title” refers to the breakdown within each Article. “Subtitle” further breaks down the topics
See citation slides for breakdowns…
BLR 3/2008

16. Law Citations: Codes & Statutes
Ann. Code Md. Family Law §13-102(a)
Ann. Code Md. Family Law §13-102(a)
Ann. Code Md Family Law (a)
Ann. Code Md Family Law (a)
Article
Article
Title
Title
Subtitle / Section
Subtitle / Section
Annotated Code of Maryland
Annotated Code of Maryland
BLR 3/2008

17. Law Citations: Court Rules
Md. Rule 6-301
Md. Rule
Title
Chapter
Maryland Rules of Procedure
BLR 3/2008

18. Law Citations: Regulations
COMAR
COMAR
Regulation
Chapter
Subtitle
Title
Code of Maryland Regulations
BLR 3/2008

19. Law Citations: Cases
Batson v. Shiflett, 325 Md. 684, 602 A. 2d 1191 (1992)
Batson v. Shiflett Md A. 2d (1992)
Reporter
Parallel citation
Volume
Page
Date
Parties to the case
BLR 3/2008

20. Print Resources: Best Bets
Annotated Code of Maryland
Maryland Rules (accompany the Code set)
Maryland Law Encyclopedia
Nolo / Sphinx publications
Other key Maryland titles: Maryland Recommended Titles list for Maryland Circuit Court Libraries available at:
BLR 3/2008

21. Law on the Internet: Website Reliability
What does the domain name indicate? (.edu, .gov, .us, .com, .net, .org)
Are references cited and documented?
Is the content updated and up-to-date?
Is there contact information for owner(s), editors and/or authors?
Has the site been recommended by a reliable source?
BLR 3/2008

22. Web Resources (Maryland)
Maryland Judiciary
Maryland State Law Library
Maryland People’s Law Library
Maryland General Assembly
University of Maryland Thurgood Marshall Law Library web site has very good in-depth material on doing legal research
BLR 3/2008

23. Web Resources (Federal)
U.S. Government Printing Office GPO Access
Cornell University’s Legal Information Institute
BLR 3/2008

24. Referrals: Where and How?
Maryland State Law Library (410)
County Law Libraries
State Judiciary
Government Agencies
Non-profit Organizations
BLR 3/2008

25. MSLL Favorite Referrals
GENERAL AND PROCEDURAL Clerk’s Offices:
LANDLORD / TENANT Baltimore Neighborhoods
FAMILY LAW Women’s Law Center: Circuit Court Family Law Clinics
CONSUMER ORIENTED Attorney General’s Consumer Protection
LAND DEEDS AND RECORDS Registers of Wills:
BLR 3/2008