legal research & fed. legal resources

Legal Research & Online Resources

Brian Huffman and Pat Dolan

Overview

1. Legal Research2. US Gov. 1013. Federal Law & Resources4. Minnesota Law & Resources

Goals: • To familiarize you with legal system in general, and online legal websites • To provide hands-on experience using some online legal websites.

Legal ResearchState the question clearly that you need to answer.

Determine the jurisdiction, meaning the particular subject and locality. You must first determine which court or government agency can resolve the conflict before beginning legal research.

Understand citations and abbreviations. Most law books are cited in the order of volume number, book and page. For example, 410 U.S. 113 would signify volume 410 of United States Reports, page 113. Statutes are cited by statute title and section number, such as 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for title 42 United States Code, section 1983.

More info.: http://www.aallnet.org/sis/lisp/research.htm Minnesota State law library: http://www.lawlibrary.state.mn.us/mnlr.htmlLegal Topics: http://www.lawlibrary.state.mn.us/legaltopicsaz.html

US Gov. 101

Federal System: 50 states and a US Federal legal system

Three Branches:•Legislative – statutes•Judicial – case law•Executive – regulations

Types of Legal SourcesPrimary – “The Law” •Statutes•Agency regulations•Cases

Secondary -analysis, commentary, history, background, definitions

Examples:•Legal dictionaries•Legal encyclopedias•Legal periodicals and law reviews

Legal Authority

Mandatory– What the court must follow– Its own decisions and those of higher courts in

its chain of appeals– The concept of "overruling"

Persuasive– What the court may follow– Decisions from other jurisdictions– Dicta –non binding material from other

decisions– Influential treatises or law review articles

Statutes

http://www.drawanywhere.com/live/20146.jpg

Locate Bills, Hearings, Records, Reports, Public & Private Laws, and the Code:

FDSys: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/

THOMAS:http://thomas.loc.gov

Federal Statutes

Main ways to find federal statutes– Citation– Code title and section www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/#TITLES– Popular name www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/topn/– Public Law citation– Subject

More information: www.gpoaccess.gov/uscode/tips.html#publaw

Legislative HistoryBefore you begin your research, you should know the following two pieces of information:

1.The public law citation or the Statutes at Large citation (e.g. P.L. 107-56; 115 Stat. 272)2.The bill number and Congress of the Act or Resolution (e.g. H.R. 3162 from the 107th Congress)

Sources: THOMAS http://thomas.loc.govGPO Access http://www.gpoaccess.govCentury of Lawmaking http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lawhome.html

Court Rules

Federal rules of court – Several sets of general rules for the federal court.

• Federal Rules of Civil Procedure www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/• Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcrmp/ • Federal Rules of Evidence www.law.cornell.edu/rules/fre/• Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frap/

Also rules for U.S. Supreme Court, each federal Court of Appeal, each U.S. District Court, and each of the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts.

Cases

US Courts

Local: United States District Court, District of Minnesota (St. Paul, Minneapolis and Duluth)http://www.mnd.uscourts.gov/

Appeals: 8th District http://www.ca8.uscourts.gov/

US Supreme Court: www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html

All Cases: Google Scholar: http://scholar.google.com/

RegulationsWhy is it important?It governs nearly all aspects of American life.

It plays a particularly active role in these areas:CommerceTaxationCommunicationsHealthEnvironment

Sources:Federal Register (1994-): http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=FRCode of Federal Regulations (1996-): http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collectionCfr.action?collectionCode=CFRBy Agency: http://openregs.com/agencies

Process:

Success with Government Information

Basic understanding of civics

Understanding of government structures and responsibilities

Knowledge of basic online information resources

USA.govFDSys GPO Access

Government Documents - Databases

Subject-based databases:

PubMed (medical)MedlinePlus (medical)ERIC (education)Agricola (agriculture)NTIS (technical information)TRID (transportation)

Federal Statistics

Statistical AbstractFedStatsData.govAgency sites, for example:

Condition of Education and Digest of Education StatisticsHealth, United StatesEIABEA

Census Bureau Variety of surveys

Secondary AuthorityNot Primary law. Helps locate and explain law.

Examples of secondary sources are: • Law dictionaries (http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/) • Legal encyclopedias • Legal periodicals  You will not find much secondary authority on the free web. A few places where you can look for legal periodical articles are: • Law Reviews Online www.loc.gov/law/guide/lawreviews.html• University Law Review Project www.lawreview.org

Contact

Brian R. HuffmanWashington County Law Librarian14949 62nd St N., Room 1005Stillwater MN 55082651-430-6954brian.huffman@co.washington.mn.us