1. Agenda: Ch. 10 Legal Research Review for Final Exam
Welcome to Unit 9!
Agenda:
Ch. 10 Legal Research
Review for Final Exam

2. The Paralegal Professional
Chapter Ten
Traditional and Computerized
Legal Research

3. Legal Research
One of the most important skills a paralegal can develop is the ability to find current relevant legal and factual information in a timely manner.
Legal research is a process for finding the answer to a legal question.

4. Creating a Research Plan
What is the legal issue?
What is the appropriate search terminology?
What type of research material is available?
What jurisdictions are involved?
What is the controlling law?
What resources can be used?
Is this the current, applicable law?
Where should the needed research material be located?

5. Creating a Research Plan (cont.) Legal Issue
May just be locating cases or statutes from cites provided by the attorney
More often, will involve answering a question using a variety of sources
Will involve comparing & contrasting the client’s facts with existing law, and/or determining the elements needed to make a case (or defend against one)

6. Creating a Research Plan (cont.) Search Terminology
Different publishers use different “entry words” to describe legal concepts
Automobile/vehicle/motor vehicle
Child/infant/juvenile/minor
Whether online or in indices to books, creating a list of viable starting places at the outset is important
Can use secondary material, legal thesauri & lexicons to find additional terms

7. Creating a Research Plan (cont.) Types of Research Material
Different firms utilize different approaches
Internet, computer databases, books
Will use any or all of these resources for any one question
Paralegals must be ready to use any available resource for research
Traditional research can provide entry terms, while computer research requires them to enter a search

8. Creating a Research Plan (cont.) Jurisdiction
The body of legal resources is divided into federal, state & local material
Answers may differ depending on the body of law consulted
Determine the applicable jurisdiction before beginning research
Be particularly careful with online research, which may provide answers from other jurisdictions

9. Creating a Research Plan (cont.) Controlling Law
Some areas of law (e.g., torts) may rely upon case law, while others (criminal) will begin with statutory law
Statutory law may be augmented with administrative law, “regs,” rules & decisions
Some areas (family law) may have significant statutory & case law required to answer a question
Access to local law (ordinances) may require internet searches or even travel

10. Creating a Research Plan (cont.) Types of Resources
Primary resources – “the law”
Constitutions
Statutes
Rules & regulations
Case law
Secondary resources – commentary
Legal encyclopedias
Periodicals (law reviews, journals, digests)
Lexicons
Treatises (“Horn books”, restatements, etc.)
Textbooks
Exhibit 10.2

11. Creating a Research Plan (cont.) Types of Resources
Finding Tools – locators
West’s state & federal digests
Shepard’s
Index to Legal Periodicals
Do not contain reference materials, but will provide cites to applicable materials

12. Creating a Research Plan (cont.) Executing the Plan
Begin with the list of potential search terms – time spent here is well-invested
Determine the sources to be consulted, being flexible about the order & recognizing that there may be overlap
Completion of the plan may be obvious when the same resources arise over & over
Be sure to preserve all of the information necessary for formal citation

13. Finding the Law
The controlling law may be found at federal, state or local legislative or judicial levels
Primary Sources and Authority Primary Sources include:
The law
Constitutions
Statutes, regulations, court rules and case decisions
Exhibit 10.3

14. Finding the Law (cont.) Mandatory and Persuasive Authority
Mandatory authority is the legal authority courts must follow
Persuasive authority is legal authority the courts are not required to follow but is from a respected source and well-reasoned.

15. Finding the Law (cont.)
Constitutions are primary sources that set the guidelines, limits and authority of the federal government and state governments
Statutes are enacted by the legislative branch of the government
Court Decisions: the actual court language is a primary source of the law

16. Finding the Law (cont.) Constitutions
Federal is the highest law of the land
Guidelines
Limits
Assignment of authority among the branches of government
Annotated versions may be found with copies of the United States Code
State constitutions provide parameters for state laws
Exhibit 10.4

17. Finding the Law (cont.) Statutes
Enacted by state or federal legislatures
United States Code is available online for free or in print
Annotated versions (USCS, USCA) provide additional information
Annotated versions are also available through paid legal databases

18. Finding the Law (cont.) Court Decisions
Some federal decisions are available online
U.S. Supreme Court
Some federal intermediate courts
May be limited by date of decision
Paid databases provide access to reported & unreported cases
Some states have reported cases on free sites
Paid databases provide access to state reported & unreported cases

19. Finding the Law (cont.) Court Decisions
A Supreme Court “bench” decision is the initially released opinion
The “slip” opinion contains corrections
Reporters contain the final opinions from a variety of courts
Federal Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, District
State trial, intermediate appellate (if applicable), and high court
Exhibit 10.5

20. Finding the Law (cont.) Court Decisions
Most print versions have
Editorial features from the publisher
Interpretations, abstracts, procedural summaries, syllabi
Headnotes, which are also digest entries & topic guides for Shepard’s

21. Finding the Law (cont.) Court Decisions
The official language of the court
Majority, concurring, dissenting opinions
Can be cited as primary authority
Must be taken in the proper context
Must work from the primary (court opinion), not secondary (summary/headnote) language
Exhibit 10.7

22. Finding the Law (cont.) Court Decisions
Holding: the decision of the court on the legal issue presented in the case
Distinguished from side comments on issues that were not actually decided (dicta)
Quoting from the dissenting opinion or dicta is permitted, as long as it is properly identified

23. Finding the Law (cont.) Secondary Sources
Secondary sources explain the law
They provide a way to understand a new area of law
Discussing elements of a legal claim
Explaining terms with which to search for relevant concepts
Giving background that illuminates the primary authority

24. Finding the Law (cont.) Secondary Sources
Legal Dictionaries: may be referred to as “lexicons”
Explain legal concepts & Latin terms, and provide the legal usage of common terms
Range from large, comprehensive (Black’s Law Dictionary) to pocket-sized versions
Exhibit 10.9

25. Finding the Law (cont.) Secondary Sources
Legal encyclopedias provide the background to understand the area enough to start the research.
Provide an overview of the concepts and history of an area of law, the legal issues involved and the terminology
Secondary sources of background material
National encyclopedias (CJS, AmJur)
State encyclopedias, e.g., Texas Jur., N.Y. Jur., Ohio Jur.
Exhibit 10.11

26. Finding the Law (cont.) Secondary Sources
Treatises, Law Reviews, and Legal Periodicals
Rise to the level of persuasive authority (Hornbooks, restatements)
Explain “cutting edge” law (legal periodicals, electronic articles)
Provide guidance in constructing a sound legal argument
Include advocates’ position papers

27. Finding the Law (cont.) Finding Tools help “find” the law
Indexes & digests:
Work from legal concepts (and use a variety of terms) they provide cites to primary & secondary authority, organized by legal topic
May be lists of cases (digests/Shepard’s), statutes, encyclopedia or law review articles (indices)
Act as conduits to resources

28. Personal Research Strategy
Over time, personal search strategy developed
Methods for verifying law, cases cited and methods for searching for pending cases are developed
Know when to ask for help!

29. Using Printed Legal Reference Works
Table of abbreviations, Table of contents, index of terms
Table of cases, statutes and citations
Whether references are by page number or section (§) number
Updates for print material: usually annually with pocket parts
Paperback supplements issued annually, quarterly or monthly
Online updates becoming available
Exhibit 10.15

30. Conducting a Computer Search Query
Requires one to select a computer search index, then the create the query.
Search Method & Query: each online provider uses words to find and retrieve documents. As part of the publication process, indexes are prepared of every word in the document, the words are tabulated for frequency and a word index is prepared.

31. Conducting a Computer Search Query
Creating the query:
The search engine is used to find the indexed words the paralegal has chosen; they may be legal specialty words or common English words.
Using combinations of words in the search can narrow the search results

32. Conducting a Computer Search Query
Using Connectors:
“AND” instructs the search not to return documents in which only one of the words is found
“OR” instructs the search engine to find either term
“NEAR” may be used to find the occurrence of desired words within a set number of words of each other
Exhibit or 10.19

33. Updating Legal Research
The legal team always must use the most current statutory and case law in advising clients and arguing cases to the court. One of the features of the American legal system is its constant change.
An essential part of legal research for paralegals is to verify that they have the latest case or statute.

34. Updating Legal Research (cont.)
Shepard’s: a multivolume set of books listing cases and statutes by their respective citations and giving the citation of every other case in which the listed case was mentioned.
Checking citations is often called “Shepardizing.”
Available in written form & online through Lexis (KeyCite is the Westlaw equivalent)
Can check a case or statute cite to determine how it was treated AFTER initial publication
Exhibit 10.20

35. Updating Legal Research (cont.)
GlobalCite
Provides a reverse chronological list of the case law
KeyCite
Online citation update service
V.CITE
Online citation tool
Exhibit 10.23

36. Updating Legal Research (cont.)
Parallel Citation: a citation to the same material, usually a case, in another source
Statutory Law Updates: Shepard’s provides updated information on amendments and repeals statutory information. Citations to any cases in which the statute has been cited are also listed, with information on how the case law considered the statute.

37. UAH Library and Lexis Nexis
Kaplan’s full-service online library: UAH (University of Alabama in Huntsville).
Lexis Nexis, an online research database.

38. UAH Library Accessible from your KU Campus Page. Take a tour!
Go to your KU Campus Home page to take the tour.

39. Lexis Nexis Fee-based subscription service On-line
Extensive legal research database
Don’t be overwhelmed – just understand what it is and that you can use it to access legal resources. You will become familiar with it the more you use it.
Take a tour!

40. Free online legal resources
THOMAS (thomas.loc.gov)
Named for Thomas Jefferson
Maintained by the Library of Congress
Access to:
Bills making their way through Congress;
U.S. Code;
Treaties;
Federal Committee Reports;
And much more . . .

41. Free online legal resources

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