1. Bachelor’s Capstone in Paralegal Studies Unit 5 Seminar

2. Agenda Review of Case Briefs Questions on Assignments Researching Legal and Non Legal Sources

3. Briefing A Case  Citation  Procedural History  Facts  Issue  Answer/ Holding  Reasoning  Disposition

4. Research: Getting Started Make sure you are familiar with your research question, including vocabulary and components Get to know your firm’s library – collection & librarians Know what type of subscriptions your firm has – and use accordingly Create a research log – keep track of each search as you work Know when to stop – recurring themes, cases, etc. indicate you have found all there is Always UPDATE your research – especially before you hand it in Decide whether online or print searching will work best for your query

5. Print v. Online Research Print: Analytical and contextual framework Search by rules and concepts Use to provide concepts to use in online searching Statutes, treatises, ordered materials Reading and browsing Online: Broad-based searching Full-text searches Field and segment searching Matching factual situations

6. What’s Online and Free? Federal Opinions from the U.S. Supreme Court, Courts of Appeals & District Courts (dates of coverage vary widely!) Statutes & Regulations Agency materials State Opinions & Dockets from State Supreme Courts State Statutes & Regulations Agency materials Public Records: Corporate filings, professional licenses Secondary Research Guides

7. Primary v. Secondary Research Primary Research Case Law Statutes Regulations Treaties Secondary Research Research Guides Dictionaries Law Review Articles

8. Primary Sources

9. Court Opinions: Supreme Court SCOTUS www.supremecourtus.gov Full text of all Court opinions issued from 2004-present Cornell’s Legal Information Institute www.law.cornell.edu/supct/supremes.htm Comprehensive coverage from 1990-present Selective coverage prior to 1990 Selection criteria = significant historical value Search by topic, judicial author, party name, or date FindLaw www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html Full text of Court opinions from 1893-present Search by publication year, official U.S. citation, party name, or keyword Oyez – Northwestern U. www.oyez.org Audio recordings of oral arguments – 1995-present Selected audio from 1955-1995 Blogs/Current Awareness resources

10. Court Opinions: U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Emory’s Federal Courts Finder www.law.emory.edu/FEDCTS Search Opinions by party name, keyword, or date of decision Links to the official circuit courts of appeals’ sites Those sites provides access to opinions Villanova’s Federal Court Locator www.law.villanova.edu/library/researchandstudyguides/federalcourtlocator.asp Official Third Circuit Court of Appeals site Portal to other official circuit court sites U.S. Courts www.uscourts.gov Official federal government portal Statistical reports, Code of Conduct, U.S. Judges Search by district, circuit, zip code, area code, county, or state AltLaw.org -- Columbia University & University of Colorado www.altlaw.org Full text of selected opinions – U.S. Supreme Court, 11 th Circuit Court of Appeals, Federal & D.C. districts Search by keyword or title; may also browse cases

11. Court Opinions: U.S. District Courts FindLaw www.findlaw.com/10fedgov/judicial/district_courts.html Portal access to U.S. district court sites The Federal Judiciary, U.S. Courts www.uscourts.gov Cornell’s Legal Information Institute www.law.cornell.edu/federal/districtbystate.html Portal access to U.S. district court sites, as well as portal access to bankruptcy court sites Chart indicates whether official U.S. district court has information only or information & opinions

12. Court Opinions: State Supreme Courts LoisLaw www.loislaw.com/product/information/state.htm Full text of state supreme court decisions 1920s-present (in most cases) Cornell’s Legal Information Institute www.law.cornell.edu/opinions.html Portal to all 50 states Judicial Opinions Regulations & Other Agency Info Other State Legal Collections FindLaw www.findlaw.com/casecode/statelaw Portal to all 50 states

13. Legislation: Federal Session Laws GPO Access www.gpoaccess.gov/index.html Statutes at Large 2004-present Search by subject, public law number, popular name, statute or U.S. Code citation, or bill number Library of Congress Memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwsl.html Index and lists of Public Acts/Private Acts/Treaties of the Statute at Large from 1789-1875

14. Legislation: Federal Codifications GPO Access www.gpoaccess.gov/uscode/index.html Access to U.S. Code from 1994-present Browse by title, search by keyword Cornell’s Legal Information Institute www.law.cornell.edu/uscode Search by citation, popular name, or by keyword. Can also browse by title. U.S. House of Rep. Office of Law Revision Counsel Uscode.house.gov Search by keyword or citation Entire U.S. Code can be browsed

15. Legislation: U.S. House & Senate Bills Library of Congress www.thomas.loc.gov Pending bills & resolutions from 101 st Congress-Present Search by keyword, index, bill’s sponsor, committee, or date Full text, summary & status, and congressional actions Related bills listed Committee Reports from 104 th Congress-Present Search by keyword, committee, or date Law Librarians’ Society of Washington, D.C. (LLSDC) Legislative Source Book -- www.llsdc.org/sourcebookwww.llsdc.org/sourcebook Advice on compiling legislative history Examples of legislative history Center for Democracy & Technology Open Congressional Research Reports -- www.opencrs.comwww.opencrs.com Congressional Research Reports Not comprehensive – access to report requested by individuals from their representatives

16. Legislation: State & Local OnlineSunshine www.leg.state.fl.us Florida legislature Portal to Senate and House sites Search statutes from 1997-present Browse FL Constitution, or search through index Digest of general laws from 2003-present Link to Laws of FL (FL department of state website) WashLaw www.washlaw.edu Portal access to links for official state Internet sites Municode.com Free access to full text of many codes and ordinances for 50 states Hyperlinked map lets researcher to choose state Links to counties’ and cities’ codes within state Search by keyword or table of contents

17. Secondary Sources

18. Secondary Sources: Research Guides Law Librarians’ Resource Exchange (LLRX) www.llrx.com Access to subject research guides – over 35 legal topics Links to court rules and dockets Research assistance for primary sources of law at international, federal, and state levels The Virtual Chase www.virtualchase.com Guides to help locate info about businesses, companies, individuals

19. Secondary Sources: Dictionaries Merriam-Webster’s Law Dictionary dictionary.lp.findlaw.com/dictionary.html FindLaw website Law.com/Dictionary WEX http://topics.law.cornell.edu/wex Cornell’s Legal Information Institute Wiki created site – requires that author be a qualified expert Citations to applicable federal and state statutes & judicial decisions included

20. Secondary Sources: Law Reviews University Law Review Project http://www.lawreview.org/ Free abstract e-mail service Full text search of law journals online List of journals by topic

21. Secondary Sources: Current Awareness Jurist: Legal News & Research http://jurist.org/ Written & edited by law school staff & students at University of Pittsburgh Continuous legal news from around the world Updated 24 hours/day Search by keyword Google Alerts http://www.google.com/alerts Researcher selects search terms, can select comprehensive or limited searches Searches emailed directly to research Daily, weekly, or monthly

22. Secondary Sources: Blogs ABA’s Blawg Directory http://abajournal.com/blawgs/ Weekly featured blawg List of most popular blawgs Week, month, all-time Search by subject, author type, region, or law school

23. Websites to Remember Important Fee Legal Resources

24. Important Websites: Federal Library of Congress’ THOMAS Federal Legislation Information GPOAccess Service of Government Printing Office Regulations.gov Federal Rulemaking Portal

25. Important Websites: Free Caselaw LexisONE & FindLaw (ThomsonWest) Limited date/jurisdiction coverage i.e., past 5 years on LexisONE Robust search engine – biggest advantage! Registration (free) is usually required

26. Important Websites: Municipal Codes Not available on Lexis or Westlaw Use Municode.com Mostly free, some pay content One-stop source for many hard-to-find local laws Unofficial, commercial site, but has solid reputation.

27. Important Websites: Law Portals Cornell’s Legal Information Institute US primary materials + topical guides User friendly, extensive coverage Law Library of Congress’ Guide to Law Online US primary materials + international guides + topical guides Extensively annotated Justia US primary materials + PACER search engine Innovative search features Florida Law Online (FLO)

28. Discussion What is the advantage of starting with internet research or secondary source research? How to primary and secondary research work together? How do you know when to stop researching? How does your familiarity with a topic impact your research strategy?

29. Discussion What research have you done so far for the upcoming assignments and final project? Non-Legal? Legal? What resources have been most helpful? Any stumbling blocks?

30. Discussion What are the main issues that must be researched for each scenario? What types of cases will you use in your final appellate brief?