Advanced Legal Research SPRING 2010
January 13
1. Introduction
Overview of class requirements | Review library and class web pages | Questionnaire | Assignments | Introduction to research strategies
Assigned reading must be finished before class begins. Visit the websites on the class page, as well. Check TWEN for any quizzes. Please check the web page every week. Entries may be revised, and readings and links may be added or deleted.
Sign on to TWEN and check for quizzes.
Come prepared to discuss the following readings:
Assigned Reading:
Mark Herrmann, This is What I'm Thinking: A Dialogue Between Partner & Associate... From the Partner, 25 No. 1 Litigation 8 (1998). Westlaw Lexis
From the Associate, 25 No. 1 Litigation 9 (1998). Westlaw Lexis
Clark D. Cunningham, What Clients Want From Their Lawyers, 2009, Georgia State University College of Law, Legal Studies Research. Click on one of the download buttons when you get to the website to download and read this article.
Mark Herrmann has included his article in a short book for new lawyers, The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law, Chicago, IL: ABA Publishing (2006). It covers such additional useful topics as How to Write and Seven Hours Locked in a Room. I've put a copy on course reserve at the Circulation Desk in the library. The book provides both very useful advice and some comic relief.
January 20
2. Research Strategies | How to Find a Treatise & Searching Subject Specific Resources
Sign on to TWEN and check for quizzes.
Developing strategies for research problems: fact analysis, legal universe, jurisdiction, steps in researching, cost, time, and outcome desired
Websites:
Venn Diagram for Boolean Searching: Chart Graphically
Search Engine Showdown's Features Chart
Assigned Reading:
Carolyn P. Ahearn, The Right Way to Research, Legal Times, Sept. 29, 2003, at 30. Westlaw
Barbara Bintliff, Electronic Resources or Print Resources: Some Observations on Where to Search,14 No. 1 PERSPEC 23 (2005) Westlaw
Duane L. Ostler, The Strength Is In The Research, 20 Utah Bar J. 42 (2007) Lexis Westlaw
Jordan Furlong, Core Competence: 6 New Skills Now Required of Lawyers, Law21.ca, Jul. 4, 2008
Powerpoint: Questions to Ask and Answer
How to find a treatise and searching subject specific resources.
Guest Teacher: Linda Weir
Head of Public Services
Powerpoint: Treatises
January 27
3. Interviewing the Partner | Lexis & Westlaw
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An interview with a law firm partner on expectations for research skills for new attorneys, and an interview/ research problem
Guest Speaker:
Chuck Hansen
Specialized Westlaw Training with Mark Cygnet
Specialized Lexis Training with Debbie Myers
February 3
4. Cases and Case Searching Strategies
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Review of case publication. On line searching techniques for Westlaw and
Lexis, and free or inexpensive databases (Findlaw, LexisOne, Jurisearch, Loislaw, state and federal databases).
Assigned Reading:
Barbara Bintliff, Mandatory v. Persuasive Cases, 9 No. 2 PERSPEC. TEACHING LEGAL RES. & WRITING 83 (2001).
Scott P. Stolley, The Corruption of Legal Research, For the Defense, April 2004, at 39.
The Curse of Thamus: An Analysis of Full-text Legal Document Retrieval, Daniel Dabney, 78 L. Libr. J. 5 (1986).
Weblinks: Web
Guide to U.S. Supreme Court Research; Oyez:
The U.S. Supreme Court Multi-Media; The United States Court System: The Chart; State Court Structure Charts; California Court Structure Chart; Overview of the California Court System; Map of the Federal Circuits; National Center for State Courts - Links to Court Web Pages; Cardiff
Index to Legal Abbreviations; http://www.findlaw.com/;
http://www.lexisone.com/; http://jurisearch.com
Official California:
California
Cases (1850-present)
"Slip
Opinions" (Supreme)
"Slip
Opinions" (Appellate)
Official
Federal:
Official
Supreme Court Site (includes orders, opinions & oral
arguments)
U.S.
Courts of Appeal - Opinions
by Circuit:
1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | DC | Federal
Additional
links to circuit cases (with
various search features)
Search all 13 Circuit Courts of Appeals' opinions
Fastcase
Findlaw Links:
Findlaw
California: Case Law
FindLaw:
Federal Cases
US District
Courts - Listed
on FindLaw by State
PowerPoint: Cases
Hands on Research
PowerPoint: Constructing A Search (Thanks to Lee Ryan)
February 17
5. Digests and Updating the Law
Homework: Assignment 1 will be on online today and will be due next week (February 24).
Sign on to TWEN and check for quizzes.
Digests (Key Numbers |Core Concepts)
Assigned
Reading:
Dan Dabney, The Universe of Thinkable Thoughts: Literary Warrant and West's Key Number System, 99 Law. Libr. J. 229 (2007).
Outline of West's Digest of the Law
Powerpoint: Digests and Citators
Shepard's
and KeyCite.
Assigned
Reading:
William L. Taylor, Comparing KeyCite and Shepard's for Completeness, Currency, and
Accuracy, 92 Law Libr. J. 127 (2000).
Jane W. Morris, A Response to Taylor's Comparison of Shepard's and KeyCite,
92 Law Libr. J. 143 (2000).
Susan Nevelow Mart, Reining in the Results: The Use of Human Indexing and Computer Algorithms in West’s Headnotes & Key Numbers and LexisNexis’s Headnotes & Topics as Tools for Finding Relevant Case Law (September 14, 2009) (pre-publication draft).
J. Paul Lomio, Caveat Citator (Or Why Shepardizing Your Cases Isn't Always Enough), S.F.Daily J., Jan. 31, 2008.
Mary Whisner, Practicing
Reference: When Judges Scold Lawyers, 96 Law. Libr. J. 43 (2004).
February 24
6. "Unpublished" Cases & Depublication in California | Current Awareness | Law Reviews & Indexes
• First Assignment Due TODAY in class.
• Group Secondary Sources Assignment will be handed out today. Group presentations will be given in class on March 3rd.
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"Unpublished," depublished,
and partially published cases | Current Awareness
Assigned Reading:
Sarah E. Ricks, The Perils of Unpublished Non-precedential Federal Appellate Opinions: A Case Study of the Substantive Due Process State-created Danger Doctrine in One Court, 81 Wash. L. Rev. 217 (2006) Westlaw, Lexis
William R. Mills, The Shape of the Universe: The Impact of Unpublished Opinions on the Process of Legal Research, 19 N.Y.L. Sch. J. Hum. Rts. 59 (2003). Westlaw, Lexis.
Alex Kozinski and Stephen Reinhardt, Please Don't Cite This: Why We Don't Allow Citation to Unpublished Opinions, 20 California Lawyer 43 (June 2000).
Steven
B. Katz, The California Supreme Court's Experiment with Depublication
Should Come to an End, 24-MAR L.A. Law. 43 (2001).
Westlaw, Lexis.
Powerpoint:Publication
A
Few Selected Websites for Current Awareness:
The Library has an online subscription to the BNA International Trade Reporter.
American
Society of International Law Insights
These 2-3 page articles on topics of current interest are written
by international law experts.
BNA
Family Law Reporter
The current guide to federal and state cases, legislation, trends,
and issues in Family Law. Includes court cases, legislative and
regulatory news, and other developments in key areas of family law.
Covers state and federal issues. Published weekly every Tuesday.
CCH
Human Resources is a research portal to CCH publications on
Labor and Employment Law, Human Resources Management, Health Care
Compliance, Food and Drug Law, Pensions, Benefits, Payroll, Safety/OSHA,
and Global Employment Law.
Free
BNA Current
Awareness Alerts on corporate law and business; employment and
labor law; environment; health & safety; health care services;
human resources; intellectual property; and litigation.
The
Tax
Policy Center is a joint venture of the Urban Institute and
the Brookings Institution. It researches pending tax issues, and
will e-mail its newsletter on request.
Blogs:
The
UCL Practitioner: A blog about California Business & Professions
Code 17200 et seq.
The
Ninth Circuit Blog: A blog for criminal defense attorneys practicing
in the Ninth Circuit.
The 10b-5 Daily:
A blog for news and events about securities class action litigation.
SCOTUSblog:
A blog discussing recent developments in Supreme Court jurisprudence.
Finding Articles & Using Indexes.
Guest Teacher: Linda Weir
Head of Public Services
Weblinks:Indexes to Legal Periodicals
March 3
7. Other Secondary Sources
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Model Acts, Model Codes, Restatements, Uniform
Laws, Legal Encyclopedias and Other Secondary Sources
Guest Teacher: Vince Moyer
Foreign, Comparative and International Law Librarian
The focus of this class will be on student presentations covering each of the assigned secondary sources. Each 15 minutes group presentation will be given in class March 3rd. [See assignment.] Be prepared to answer questions on your topic.
Assigned Reading:
FUNDAMENTALS OF LEGAL RESEARCH, Barkan, Mersky & Dunn, 9th ed., 2009 (Chapter 16 "Legal Encyclopedias" / Chapter 17 "American Law Reports" / Chapter 19 "Treatises, Restatements, Uniform Laws, and Model Acts"). There are 3 copies in the library (including course reserve at the Circulation Desk).
Weblinks:
• Uniform Law Commissioners - Final
Acts & Legislation
• Nat'l Conf. of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws - Drafts
of Uniform and Model Acts
• American Law Reports
• Plain English Jury Instructions: Civil
• CALCRIM Jury Instructions (2009-2010)
Class Presentation Materials: [See group assignments]
- Group #1: American Law Reports (powerpoint)
- Group #2: Jury Instructions (powerpoint)
- Group #3: Formbooks
- Group #4: Research Guides
- Group #5: Restatements (powerpoint)
- Group #6: Uniform Laws, Model Acts & Model Codes (powerpoint)
- Group #7: Legal Encyclopedias
- Group #8: Multi-State Research Tools (powerpoint)
- Group #9: Witkin & CEB Action Guides (powerpoint) (handout)
March 17
8. Statutory Research | Federal & State
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Federal Sources
Guest
Teacher: Chuck Marcus
Head of Reference
Assigned Reading:
On
Second Thought, Court Finds, a Law 'Makes No Sense', NEW YORK
TIMES (December 7, 2004). (Westlaw)
(Lexis)
The US Code, the Statutes at Large, and Some Peculiarities of Codification, Michael J. Lynch, 16 LEGAL REF. SERV. Q. 69-84 (1997).
Weblinks:
Thomas (Library of Congress) -- provides access to bills and public laws
Govtrack
-- Follow the status of pending federal Legislation
United
States Code from GPO ACCESS
United
States Statutes and the United States Code: Historical Outlines,Notes,
Lists, Tables, and Sources
Powerpoint: Federal Statutes
Federal Statutory Research Examples
California Statutory Research
Guest
Teacher: Hilary Hardcastle
Reference Librarian
State Sources - Weblinks:
California Legislative Info
– Bills
(& legislative history)
– Chaptered
Laws
– California
Code
– Constitution
– Daily
Legislative Calendar
– Statutes
& Amendments to the Code
Legislative
Analyst's Office
State
Legal Sources on the Web (online access to the bills, codes,
session laws, regulations, and attorneys general opinions of the
fifty states)
Powerpoint: State Statutes
March 24
9. Federal Legislative History | Federal Regulations
Federal Legislative History
Sign on to TWEN and check for quizzes.
Assigned Reading: Disabled in Action of Metro. New York v. Hammons, 202 F.3d 110 (2nd Cir. 2002), pages 124-129. Lexis Westlaw Find out what courts do with legislative histories, and be prepared to discuss the case.
Research Guide: Compiling a Federal Legislative History (Hastings)
Federal Legislative Histories on a Shoestring: USCCAN Finding Chart, Diane Gleason, 18 LEGAL REF. SERV. Q. 93 (2001).
How Our Laws Are Made (government) How a Bill Becomes Law
Enactment of a Law: Procedural Steps in the Legislative Process
Weblinks: Years
of the 1st - 111th Congresses (1789-2010)
Chart of the Legislative Process
LexisNexis Congressional
U.S.C.C.A.N (Westlaw)
Statutes at Large (Lexis)
Disabled in Action of Metropolitan New York v. Hammons, 202 F.3d 110 (2nd Cir. 2000). Lexis Westlaw
USCS citation: LexisNexis® 42 U.S.C.S. 1973gg-5
USCA citation: 42 U.S.C.A. 1973gg-5
Updating
Legislation:
GovTrack.us - legislative update service
OpenCongress.org - legislative update service
Capitol Spotlight: Congressional Quarterly & C-Span bring you daily stories about legislation and news on Capitol Hill. You can sign up for e-mail updates
CapitolHearings.org is C-Span's website linking you to real-time Congressional hearings.
CQ Today is fee-based full service daily reportage on Congressional
news. Westlaw
Powerpoint: Federal Legislative History
Agency Group Assignment
Federal Regulations
Guest Teacher:
Chuck Marcus
Head of Reference
Assigned Reading:
Tracking
Current Federal Legislation and Regulations: A Guide to Resources,
Congressional Research Service, February 28, 2007.
Weblinks:
Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (Up to date but not official)
GPO
Access Executive Branch Materials
Regulations.gov
Reginfo.gov
US
Government Manual
govpulse.us
FDsys
Powerpoint: Federal Regulations
Handout: The Reg Map
March 31
10. Regulation Presentations | State Legislative History| Finding State Regulations | AG Opinions | Local Government Law
Sign on to TWEN and check for quizzes.
Homework:
Assignment
2 will be online today after class, and will
be due next week (April 7).
Class Projects:
ERES powerpoint | pdf
FDA powerpoint
State Legislative Process
Assigned Reading:
Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say: The Resurrection of Plain Meaning in California Courts, Russell Holder, 30 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 569 (1996-1997). Westlaw Lexis
Kaufmann & Broad Communities, Inc. v. Performance Plastering, Inc., 133 Cal.App.4th 26, 34 Cal.Rptr.3d 520 (2005).
Weblinks: Legislative History Research Guides (online access to guides for the fifty states)
Compiling a California Legislative History (Hastings)
PowerPoint: California Legislative History
State Regulations: Finding and Updating Them |Attorney General Opinions | Local Government Law | Multi-State Research
Legal Research Guide: California Regulations and Administrative Law (Hastings)
Powerpoint: California Regulations
Local Government Law
Weblinks:
Local Government Law (Hastings)
Lexis (selected codes from 34 states)
Municipal Code Corporation. Includes Local Ordinances.
The Seattle Public Library hosts Municipal Codes Online, a page of links to free, searchable city and county codes, organized by state.
California Local Codes And Charters at the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies Library. The IGS Library maintains a large depository collection of local ordinance codes and charters issued by California cities and counties. Their website includes a list of currently available codes and charters issued in loose-leaf format; links are provided to electronic editions, when available.
California Attorney General Opinions from 1986 to current are available at the Office of the Attorney General Website and can be searched by word, phrase or opinion number (e.g., 01-107). There is also a monthly opinion report current for pending assignments and activities of the Opinion Unit with links to newly issued opinions. Attorney General Opinions from 1943 to current are available in the 4th Floor Stacks (KFC780 .A55) and from 1852 to 1943 in Micrographics (KF5406.A619 A88).
PowerPoint: Local Government Law
April 7
11. International Law & Foreign Law
Second
Assignment Due TODAY in class.
Sign on to TWEN and check for quizzes.
PART I - International Law
Guest Teacher: Hilary Hardcastle
Reference Librarian
• Powerpoint:
Researching International Law
• Weblinks:
EISIL
Electronic Resources
for Int'l Law (ASIL)
E.U. Law @ Europa
- Court of Justice
- EUR-Lex
(includes CELEX)
- Official
Journal
GlobaLex: International
& Comparative Law Research Guides
Hastings Adv. Int'l Law Research Webpage
Hastings UN Webpage
LLRX: International
Law Research Guides
U.N. Treaty
Collection
U.S.
Treaties in Force
• In-Class Assignment:
International Legal Research In Practice
PART II - Foreign Law: Print Sources, Online Sources, Translations & More
Guest Teacher:
Vincent Moyer
Foreign, Comparative & International Law Librarian
•
Powerpoint & Outline:
Powerpoint: Foreign Law Research (.ppt)
Outline: Foreign Law Research (.pdf)
• Weblinks:
--Background Research--
World Legal Systems
Primer on the Civil-Law System (.pdf)
--Research Guides--
Cornell's
Legal Research Engine
Columbia
Law School's List of Foreign Legal Research Guides
LLRX
Research Guides
GlobaLex (NYU)
Online
Foreign Law Guide
China Law (Hastings)
Japan Law (Hastings)
--Summaries of Foreign Law--
Martindale-Hubbell International Law Digests
--Locate Journal Articles & Books--
Legal Journal Indexes
Hein Online
WorldCat
UC Hastings Library Catalog
UC Berkeley Law Library Catalog
--Primary Law in Subscription Databases--
LawTel (UK)
Beck Online (Germany)
Westlaw IE (Ireland)
Westlaw China
iSinoLaw (China)
LawInfoChina
--Foreign Law Research Portals--
Foreign
Collections by Jurisdiction (NYU)
Web
Resources: Foreign Law (Harvard)
Guide
to Law Online (Library of Congress)
Global Legal Information Institute (GLIN) (Library of Congress)
World Legal Information
Institute (WorldLII)
Intute
Law Gateway (University of Bristol Law Library)
--Regional & Country Sites--
AsianLII
AustLII
CanLII
FINLEX
LegiFrance
iSinoLaw
LawInfoChina
--Subject Specific Portals--
Constitutions of the Countries of the World
WIPO's Collection of IP Laws
ILO's NATLEX Labor Law Collection
International Humanitarian Law at the National Level
--Collections of Case Law--
Global Courts
WorldLII Courts & Case Law
Refugee Case Law
Constitutional Case Law
--English Translations--
Austrian Laws in English (Gov’t website)
Finland Laws in English (FINLEX)
German Law Archive (Free subscription service)
German Translations (Gov’t website)
Institute for Transnational Law (Univ. of Texas)
Laws and Regulations of Cambodia
Judicial Assistance (U.S. Dept. of State)
--Expert Help--
GlobaLaw
• In-Class Assignment:
Finding Foreign Law (pdf)
Top
April 14
12. Google and Beyond - For Lawyers
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Google for Lawyers | Other Search Engines | The Wayback Machine | Evaluating Internet Resources |Hands on Research: Advanced Web Surfing
Guest Teacher: Chuck Marcus
Head of Reference
Assigned Reading:
Gregg
Notess, Review
of Google, Search Engine Watch (Last updated Oct.
10, 2006)
Danny Sullivan, How
Search Engines Work, Search Engine Watch (Oct. 14, 2002)
Danny
Sullivan, How
Search Engines Rank Web Pages, Search Engine Watch (Jul.
31, 2003)
Powerpoints: Google and Beyond
Google Search Questions
Web 2.0 still a No-go ABA Journal Sept 1, 2008
Exploring a ‘Deep Web’ that Google can’t Grasp, New York Times: 2009-02-23
April 20
The Final Assignment will be online today after class and will be due in my office April 26 by 5 p.m. Please email a copy AND bring me a printed copy.
3. Court Rules, Dockets & Briefs | Knowledge Management | Research Strategies Revisited
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Knowledge Management
Reading: Giving Legal Research Assignments to Others
Guest
Speaker:
Camille Reynolds, Nossaman LLP, PowerPoint
Court Rules, Briefs & Dockets | Revisiting
Research Strategies
Assigned
Reading:
Robert
J. Ambrogi. 47 Res Gestae 48, A Brief Summary:
Free Briefs on the Web (2003), available on Westlaw.
Michael
Whiteman, The
Impact of the Internet and Other Electronic Sources on an Attorney's
Duty of Competence Under the Rules of Professional Conduct, 11 Alb. L. J. Sci. & Tech. 89 (2000). Lexis Westlaw
J. Thomas Sullivan, The
Perils of Online Legal Research: A Caveat for Diligent Counsel,
29 Am. J. Trial Advoc. 81 (2005). Westlaw
Pamela D. Pengelley, Fessing Up to Facebook: Recent Trends in the Use of Social Networking Websites for Insurance Litigation, http://ssrn.com/abtract=1352670 (Click on download when you get to the web page to read the article).
Weblinks:
Plain English Jury Instructions: Civil
CALCRIM Jury Instructions (2008)
CALCRIM Jury Instructions (2009 Supp.)
State
and Local Government on the Net
California
Court Rules Conversion Chart (with a link to the new rules)
Smart Rules
Public Access to Court Records
Free
Court Case Docket Monitoring
Pacer
Powerpoint: Briefs, Dockets & Rules
Prepared by Susan Nevelow Mart, Faculty Services Librarian and Adjunct Professor of
Law. Contact
. 415-565-4759 |Office:435 - 200 Building | Last updated February 16, 2010 |
Office Hours Thursday 3:30 to 4:30 and drop-in anytime.