Law Refresher IA Part IA Homework Review – April 2 Part II – April 23

Primary Sources of Law Cases Statutes Regulations Federal State

U.S. Court System U.S. District Courts – trial courts U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal – intermediate appellate courts U.S. Supreme Court

Case Reporters U.S. District Courts – Federal Supplement (F. Supp., F. Supp. 2d) U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal – Federal Reporter (F., F.2d, F.3d)

U.S. Supreme Court Case Reporters United States Reports (U.S.) – Published by U.S. government United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers’ Edition (L.Ed., L.Ed.2d) – Published by LexisNexis Supreme Court Reporter (S.Ct.) – Published by West

Case Citation Form Gonzales v. Williams, 192 U.S. 1, 24 S.Ct. 177, 48 L.Ed. 317 (1904). First number = volume of case reporter Second number = page number of first page of decision

Case Digests Organized by legal subject West key number Includes abstract of case and citation to case reporter Multivolume descriptive word index Federal Practice Digest Atlantic Digest

Why Can’t I Find the Case? Trial court decisions – small % published – State trial court decisions rarely published (except New Jersey and Pennsylvania); courthouse copy Case settled – no opinion Jury trial – jury verdict form only; not published Unpublished opinion – Written opinion but judge decides not to publish; copy available at courthouse

Federal Statutes United States Code (U.S.C.) – Published by U.S. government United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.) – Published by LexisNexis – Princeton does not own print version United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.) – Published by West

Statutory Citation Forms 39 U.S.C. § 3001(k)(3). 39 U.S.C.A. § 3001(k)(3) (Supp. 2002). 39 U.S.C.S. § 3001(k)(3). First number = number of title in code Second number = number of section or subsection

Federal Regulations Federal Register (Fed. Reg.) – Published every business day – Proposed regulations, final regulations and comments Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) – Organized by subject

Regulation Citation Form 30 C.F.R. § (2002). First number = no. of title in C.F.R. Second number = no. of section within title Hint: If the citation contains a period, it is likely a citation to the C.F.R.

New Jersey Court System New Jersey Superior Court, Civil, Family, Equity and Criminal Divisions – trial court – New Jersey Superior Court Reports (N.J. Super.) – Atlantic Reporter (A., A.2d) New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division – New Jersey Superior Court Reports (N.J. Super.) – Atlantic Reporter (A., A.2d) New Jersey Supreme Court – New Jersey Reports (N.J.) – Atlantic Reporter (A., A.2d)

Older New Jersey Cases (prior to 1948) New Jersey Law Reports (N.J.L.) New Jersey Equity Reports (N.J. Eq.) New Jersey Miscellaneous Reports (N.J. Misc.)

New Jersey Case Citation ACLU of New Jersey, Inc. v. County of Hudson, 352 N.J. Super. 44, 799 A.2d 629 (2002). Parallel citation: first to the official state reporter, then to regional reporter

New Jersey Statutes New Jersey Statutes Annotated N.J.S.A. § 18A: (2002). 18A = number of title 73 = number of chapter 43.2 = number of section

New Jersey Regulations New Jersey Register (N.J. Reg.) New Jersey Administrative Code (N.J. Admin. Code)

Verifying Law is Current Shepard’s – Shepardizing – By LexisNexis KeyCite – By Westlaw

Electronic Availability All published federal and state case law since 1789 (even some unpublished) Nearly all codified federal and state statutes since about 1990 All federal laws since 1789 Nearly all law reviews since early 1990’s – Major law reviews since first volume (Hein)

Why Use Print? Statutory research Case Digests Legal encyclopedias

Putting It All Together Inexperienced Researchers – Let secondary sources guide researcher through cases and statutes – Secondary Sources Legal encyclopedias Law Reviews and Journals Experienced Researchers – Statutes and Regulations – Then Cases

Law Refresher – Part II April 23rd Secondary Sources – Law review databases – Legal encyclopedias