A203: In Good Legal Standing: Legal Research for the Non-Legal Professional

1. A203: In Good Legal Standing:Legal Research for the Non-Legal Professional Steve Anderson Gordon Feinblatt Rothman Hoffberger & Hollander, LLC sanderson@gfrlaw.com

2. 2 Themes for Non-Legal Professionals1. Contextual Nature of Legal Research2. Sources of Legal Information

3. Contextual Nature of Legal Research • “Compartmentalize” your approach by considering the following: • Jurisdictions • Branches of government • Primary or secondary authorities • Your search likely will include more than one of the above categories!!!

4. Contextual Nature of Legal Research • Tips to remember: • MANY jurisdictions (Federal, state, local, quasi-legal?, international?) • 3 branches of government in the U.S. • Legislative (statutes, codes, acts, bills, etc.) • Judicial (opinions, decisions, case law, pleadings, complaints, etc.) • Executive (final & proposed regulations, orders, etc.) • Primary sources=“The Law”; secondary sources are merely “about” laws

5. Contextual Nature of Legal Research • Legal Research Matrix of Gov’t. Sources

6. Contextual Nature of Legal Research • Legal Research Matrix of Information Sources

7. Contextual Nature of Legal Research • Secondary sources are useful when: • You are doing A LOT of research • You know little about your topic • When you need to be guided to case law (which is not codified by subject like statutes and regulations) • Examples include: • Treatises, law reviews & newsletters, legal encyclopedias, case law digests

8. Sources of Legal Information • Legal information is not always on the web for free • Variables include: • Date (only recent material might be available) • Ease of use (poor navigation, search design) • Reputable sources (use only gov’t, educational and established publishers’ websites!!!) • Most of this is only on the INVISIBLE WEB!!!

9. Sources of Legal Information • Checklist for free primary legal web sources

10. Sources of Legal Information • Notes to chart: • The U.S. Code is comparatively difficult to update (but THOMAS is king!) • U.S. District Court opinions are HARD to find (Supreme Court & Cts. Of Appeal are OK) • Most states have excellent legislative sources, decent regulatory materials, and case law from at least the past 5 years or so • Look for municipal codes at: http://www.spl.org/selectedsites/municode.html

11. Sources of Legal Information • Helpful legal portals to get you to individual PRIMARY sources: • ALSO: http://www.lawsource.com/also/ • LexisOne: http://www.lexisone.com/ (register!) • Findlaw: http://www.findlaw.com/ • U.S. Courts: http://www.uscourts.gov/ • Cornell’s Legal Information Institute: http://www.law.cornell.edu/

12. Sources of Legal Information • Few SECONDARY sources are online for free. • Sources include very recent law review and legal newsletter articles and law firm client memos. • Try to locate these via: • Findlaw: http://www.findlaw.com/ • Or JURIST: http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/

13. Sources of Legal Information • After tapping free sources using the above methods try: • Westlaw • Lexis • GOOGLE! (especially if you’re “feeling lucky!”) • Happy Searching!