george h. pike director of the barco law library university of pittsburgh school of law...
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George H. PikeDirector of the Barco Law LibraryUniversity of Pittsburgh School of Law
gpike@pitt.edu
September 29, 2010
Establishes our system(s) of government Delegates governmental authority Available online in a number of Websites For day-to-day legal research, not that
critical Some issues that come up:
Civil rights and criminal rights violations “Commerce clause” power Free speech and association “Full Faith and Credit”
Two Constitutional systems that impact legal research Federal and state governments and the
delegation of authority between them by the Constitution
Three branches of government 3 branches common to organization of federal
and state governments
Legislative – Makes the law Executive – Implements and enforces the
law Judicial – Interprets and applies the law
All three branches generate legal information, “Primary Law”.
Addressing a legal problem often involves reviewing information from more than one branch.
Enacts Statutes or Acts The enacted Statute as a whole is
published as Public Law (Fed) or Session Law (State).
The enacted Statute is then published within a statutory code of laws: current, subject arranged, indexed. Most research conducted in the statutory code
Statutes are constantly added, deleted, amended, so up-to-date resources are critical.
Role is to take Statutes enacted by Legislative Branch and put them into effect
Authority delegated by the Statutes to agencies, dept’s, boards, et.al.
Agencies issue Rules and Regulations Regulations published in same structure as
Statutes, first as enacted as a whole, then in regulatory code
Regulations can also be added, deleted, or amended
Agencies also develop the “bureaucracy” of the law: policies, forms, adjudicatory bodies, etc.
Some legal areas more subject to regulation than others.
Roles: Interpret and apply Acts/Regulations as
applied to specific disputes Interpret and apply the Common Law
Court systems Trial courts Intermediate appellate courts Supreme courts (courts of last resort)
State vs. Federal Most criminal, traffic, family law, personal injury,
med-mal, real estate, consumer claims, liens, business, wills, estate planning take place in state courts
Federal courts handle limited, specific violations of federal criminal law. Also, discrimination, civil rights, bankruptcy, federal tax issues, social security, intellectual property.
Trial court levels (by county in PA) Lesser courts: Magistrates/District Justices, small
claims, traffic. Court of primary jurisdiction
Common Pleas (PA); Federal District Court (Fed) Allegheny County Court structure
Pre-trial Criminal: Arraignment/Indictment Civil: Complaint followed by Answer Preliminary Hearing(s) Motions and Discovery Court rules are critical
Trial Jury or Court
Post-trial JNOV or new trial Appeal
Plea-bargaining or settlement can occur anytime!
Primarily appellate court decisions Mandatory precedent
Within the jurisdiction At or above the court that you are before “On point”
Persuasive precedent Outside the jurisdiction Below the court that you are before “On point”
Acts, Codes, Regulations, Cases are all Primary Law “Authored” by the government The “Law” itself They will almost always interact with each other to
address a legal issue Secondary Law is most everything else
“Authored” by private/non-government Intended to analyze, synthesize, summarize,
arrange, aid in research Excellent tools for the non-lawyer (librarian or patron) Not for “ultimate” reliance
Includes search tools and finding aids
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