1. Finding Practice Tools
by Sue Altmeyer
for the National Business Institute Program, “Finding it Free and Fast on the Net: Strategies for Legal Research on the Web”
November 10 &11, 2011

2. Using Attorney Work Product - Caveats
Do your own research
Tailor to your facts
You may have other arguments
May be out of date or wrong

3. Using Attorney Work Product – Copyright Issues?
Stueber Article:
Document used original?
Copying text or ideas?
How much is borrowed?
Isaacs Article:
Attorneys HAVE sued
Fair Use if ADAPT document
Thomas G. Field, Jr., FROM CUSTOM TO LAW IN COPYRIGHT 49 IDEA 125 (2008)
Also Thomas G. Field, Jr., FROM CUSTOM TO LAW IN COPYRIGHT 49 IDEA 125 (2008)

4. Briefs, Motions & Pleadings On Lexis & Westlaw
Ohio briefs 1990-, motions & pleadings 1999/2000-
Full text searching–type of case & document, attorney
At public or county law library

5. Briefs/Motions in Dockets
Search by type of case:
PACER
Montgomery County Docket
(also search by attorney)
Search by type of document:
Summit County Docket

6. Finding Court Dockets LLRX Court Rules Forms and Dockets
Cleveland Marshall’s Courts, Dockets, Rules & Briefs

9. Find an Anders Brief filed in Ohio
Example
Find an Anders Brief filed in Ohio
A request filed by a court-appointed attorney to withdraw from the appeal of a criminal case because of his belief that the grounds for the appeal are frivolous. Named after Anders v. California (1967).

26. U.S. Supreme Court Briefs
Findlaw Supreme Court Briefs ( )-
ABA’s Briefs Current
Yale University – Curiae Project – will be down for a WHILE

27. Federal & State Court Briefs
Ohio Supreme Court Briefs (2006 -)
Free and Fee Based Appellate Court Briefs Online - Links for state & federal courts.

30. Shared Legal Document Sites
JDSupra - Documents are tied to attorney profiles
Scribd
DocStoc
LawLink

38. General Internet Searching for Briefs
Google, Dogpile, etc.
LexisWeb, etc.
Justia Blog Search; U.S. Law Blog Directory

39. Jureeka Firefox/Chrome add-on Retrieve by citation toolbar
Fed, Ohio Official Reports, Ohio Web Cites, ORC, OAC
On web documents (html), Jureeka links legal citations

42. Forms
Cleveland Marshall Law Library’s Research Guide: Forms and Practice Materials

47. Forms and Sample Contracts
Who publishes the site? A legal publisher? bar association?
Does the site sell forms?
Who wrote the form?
Use with caution, tailor to your facts

51. A database of contracts taken from the SEC Edgar database
A database of contracts taken from the SEC Edgar database.  Requires free registration. educational, academic and public use

53. Free business forms provided by Findlaw and links to: court forms, government forms, forms on certain topics and links to other forms collections on the web.

54. SEC filings,  and uses special contract analysis software, called kiiac, to create a list of the standard clauses

56. Contract Standards took things a step further with their NonDisclosure Agreement form.  There is a link to automatically generate your own Nondisclosure Agreement simply by typing in party names, purpose of the agreement and a few other pieces of information, similar to Hotdocs.  

57. Statutory Forms
American Law Sources On-Line (ALSO)
Ohio Revised Code

59. Attorney Work Product Sites
JDSupra - Documents are tied to attorney profiles
Scribd
DocStoc
LawLink

60. Gale Legal Forms via Cleveland Public Library
popular Ohio forms, including real estate contracts, wills, pre-marital agreements, bankruptcy, divorce, landlord tenant

61. Transactional Documents via SEC EDGAR
sample SEC filings
documents attached: management contracts, executive compensation plans, articles of incorporation, by-laws, material contracts, voting trust agreements
Item 601, Regulation S-K.

66. SEC Edgar Search Features
Fields for company name, SIC code, date, form type (but not exhibit type)
Natural language or Boolean
Phrase (“”), AND, OR, NOT, truncation (*, communicat* ), proximity operator (general NEAR1 motors )

67. Try it
Find an executive compensation plan which provides for a parking space

69. More sophisticated SEC Filing databases
Lexis and Westlaw
Mergentonline – Available via University Library, Cleveland Public
SECInfo.com

71. Sites for Pro Ses
Franklin County Law Library - frequently requested forms are prepared by the library.
Cleveland Law Library’s FAQs ex. Living Wills/Durable Power Of Attorney

73. Government Agency Forms
Forms.gov
USA Fed Forms.com (many fillable)
State of Ohio - Agency Forms
Forms.gov Contains many forms issued by federal agencies as well as a link to state resources. 
USA Fed Forms.com A commercial site offering free Federal forms. The site claims to have more forms, and more fillable forms than Forms.gov. Fillable forms can be filled out directly on the web and printed out, but can not be saved to your computer.
State of Ohio - Agency Forms Lists of the state's most requested forms. 

76. Court Forms Casemaker – Ohio court & agency forms Courts’ web sites
LLRX- Court Rules, Forms and Dockets - links to federal & state courts
Forms and Practice Materials Guide

79. More Ohio Court Forms Uniform Ohio Domestic Relations forms
Forms Translation Project
Ohio Legal Services – Find Local Court Forms and Rules

80. Nationwide Court Forms
LLRX Court Rules, Forms and Dockets
American Law Sources Online
Findlaw Forms

81. Jury Verdicts Preferred Sources:
Westlaw or Lexis search (Casemaker database for Ohio OK)
PLUS
JVR Case Evaluation Manual (LRP)

85. Jury Verdict Internet Sources
MoreLaw Recent Jury Verdicts and Settlements – full reports free
Verdict Search (By American Lawyer Media) – free lists w/ name & jurisdiction

99. Jury Verdict Internet Sources, Cont’d.
Jury Verdict Review and Analysis – free list w/jurisdiction but no names, free s
Lawyer’s Weekly USA - free list w/jurisdiction but no names
Jury Verdict Research.com – for fee staff search

100. General Internet Searches
Try a search for "jury verdict", jurisdiction, keywords
Public Library newspaper databases