Legal Research
Legal Trac/Current Law Index
- 1980 to date · CLI is print version; LegalTrac is electronic on Lexis, Westlaw and Web · 4 parts: (1) Subject Index (follows Library of Congress Headings), (2)Author/Title Index, (3)Table of Cases, (4)Table of Statutes · Subject Index follow Library of Congress Headings as found in online catalog · Book reviews - ratings A,B,C,D,F · CLI is monthly w/ quarterly cumulation and annual bound volume
United States Supreme Court Reporters in Order
- United States Reports: U.S. (must cite here if available, but publishing is very slow) - Supreme Court Reporter: S. Ct. (most recent) - US SC Reporter, Lawyer's Edition: L.Ed. 2d - US Law Week: U.S.L.W. (never cite) - Nominative Reporters (the names of orginal reporters for cases from 1790-1874 must be given
Headnotes
- each covers a specific point of law - each point of law has its own key - headnotes are numbered and put at the beginning of the case (numbers are in bold brackets in the text of the position) - headnotes appear in the digest so the case can be found
How To:
1. Identify key words and concepts 2. Review a treatise or other authority to understand problem/search terms 3. Identify what words or phrases a court would use to describe the problem you are researching
of the 13 US circuit court of appeals, how many are regional
12
Parallel Citations
12.4(c) Use Official and West cite in documents submitted to a state court when citing cases from that state IF required by local rules (App. 2) - Official reporter goes first. à Omit parenthetical state reference if clearly indicated by official reporter
how many US circuit court of appeals do we have in the US
13
This work provides an in-depth analysis of all the cases on a topic, including authorities on both sides of the issue
ALR
Am Jur provides citations to
ALR annotations
State Court Decisions
ALWD 12.2 (h) - Use State, Commonwealth, or People when citing decisions of that state's own court · Use State in regional reporter (N.W.2d) · Use state name in federal reporter (F.Supp.)
which encyclopedia source produced and annotated by west corresponds w West headnotes
AM. Jur.
CA cite to SC in state
Agins v. City of Tiburon, 24 Cal. 3d 266, 157 Cal. Rptr. 372, 598 P.2d 25 (1979). (Currently in 3 Reporters: Cal. 4th, P.3d, Cal. Rptr. 3d)
CA SC cited in Iowa
Agins v. City of Tiburon, 598 P.2d 25 (Cal. 1979).
This encyclopedia gives footnote references to selected cases and ALR annotations
Am. Jr.
Decisions of the US District Court are currently found in this reporter
Federal Supplement
Other NY courts in NY
Martin v. Pitcher, 243 A.D.2d 1023, 663 N.Y.S.2d 437 (3d Dept. 1997). B.M. v. Z.S., 174 Misc. 2d 205, 663 N.Y.S.2d 774 (Fam. Ct. 1997).
official reporter of US SC decisions
US Reports
Star Pagination
indicates original page number in unofficial reporter *official **unofficial West uses inverted T to show star pagination
when citing cases from that state if required by local rules
use offical and west cites in documents sumbitted to a state court
Words and Phrases in Legal Encyclopedias
words and phrases to find legal term meanings, multi volumes set by west, west digests correlation tables: when the publishers release new edition and renumber sections
Codification
Arranging the laws by subject - called Code, Revised Code, Revised Statutes · United States Code (U.S.C.) official - published by U.S. Gov. every 6 years - very slow. · Divided into 50+ titles (subjects) · USC Titles which are soon to become Positive Law: · Title 53, Small Business · Title 54, National Park System · Title 55, Environment
US District Courts
Federal Supplement: F.Supp, F.Supp.2d since publication began in 1932 - prior to that in Fed. Reporter - cases involved in federal rules are in FRD - indicate only district and state - Pre-1880 fed cases are in F. Cas.
KeyCite on Westlaw
Flags (powered by KeyCite), Treatment Citing References (select Cases to filter) Graphic History Table of Authorities
NY Court of appeals in Iowa
People v. Ramos, 685 N.E.2d 492 (N.Y. 1997).
NY court of appeals in state
People v. Ramos, 90 N.Y.2d 490, 685 N.E.2d 492, 662 N.Y.S.2d 739 (1997).
Free Databases to find Statutes
Public Library of Law http://www.plol.org FindLaw http://lp.findlaw.com Cornell http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/ US House http://uscode.house.gov Key words: For cases -- Google Scholar FindA Case (supported by Versus Law)
398k23
Topic Number: 398 Key Cite: K Key number: 23
T/F: a persuasive authority may be primary or secondary
True
what legal reference book is the best source for a recent law
US Code congressional and administrative news
commonwealth states
Virginia, Kentucky, Penn, MA
Is an opinion for the US SC binding on an Iowa Trial Court
Yes
ALR
annotations, in-depth analysis of legal topic and all cases on point - ALR index is starting point in print, ALR is online on Westlaw and LExis - Selective Case reporter
CALR
computer assisted legal research · Westlaw -- West (St. Paul, MN) -Thomson Reuters · LexisNexis -- Reed Elsevier · Bloomberg Law - newcomer
Primary Persuasive Sources
court decisions in other case law jurisdictions
CJS
early volumes cite all reported cases in footnotes, cross references to West digest topics and key numbers, some volumes are dated - CJS is online on Westlaw
Decisions of the US Court of Appeals are found in this reporter
federal reporter
Decisions involving rules are found in this reporter of federal cased
federal rules decisions
Am. Jur. 2d
footnote references to selected and ALR annotations and other Am. Jr. Publications, more current, online on Westlaw and Lexis
a superscript # in Shepard's citation refers to this
headnote number in the original case
Shepard's Citator Services
help you determine if your case is still good law, provides subsequent judicial history and interpretation of reported decisions, shepard's cover almost all authorities - cases, statutes, constitutions, regulations, law reviews, restatements, etc.
State Annotated Codes
iowa code annotated - published by West - similar to USCA - has same wording as official code, historical notes, cross references to other statutes, law review commentaries, library references to West Digest and CJS, US SC cases on the subject, case annotations
Primary Mandatory Sources
law produced by gov't bodies w/ law making power - statutes, constitution, court decisions in that state
CJS contains citations to
most cases on point
is an iowa court of appeals opinion binding on a fed district court sitting in Iowa
no - fed and state distinction
where to cite in Iowa legal documents
only cite the official reporter
Topics and Key numbers
organized by topic: 400+ topics - 80,000 subtopics called key numbers## - keys only have meanings within a topic - once you find a key # you can go anywhere and look for corresponding headnotes - key # translation table
Public Domain citations
paragraphs are numbered for pinpoint citing ex. Miller v. Alberts, 2020 SD 399, 570 N.W.2d 221.
a citation in parenthesis in shepard's indicates what
parallel citation
Many legal books are updated by checking this supplement
pocket part
a SC decision in your jurisdiction would be this type of authority
primary mandatory, binding
a SC decision from another common law jurisdiction would be this type of authority
primary persuasive
a law review article would be this type of authority
secondary
the method commonly used to ensure that the statute or case on which you plan to rely is still good law
shepardizing
purpose of citations
show eight and degree of support, show where you got info and that the doc is well researched
the initial decision of a court may be available in this format
slip opinion
Court decision publications
slip opinion (single decision of court), advance sheet (several decisions in paperback using same # & pagination as bound volume which replaces them, bound volumes (permanent), electronic
In westlawNext pages referring back to the orginal pages comes from
star pagination
an inverted T on a West Reporter page indicates this
star pagination
digests are never cited as legal authority
they are case finder or index to law, compiles headnotes from case, use table of cases to find citations when you only have case name
national reporter system cases
title/docket#/Court/date synopsis headnotes attorneys/judges/text of decision
Annotated Codes
used most often in research - gives statues and cases interpreting them USCA - west: same wording as USC, case annotations/cross references USCS - lexis
How digest is created
west editor reads slip opinion and determines headnotes for the case, headnotes are at beginning of opinion (and in key number digest of advance sheet), headnotes next appear in the pocket part for the appropriate digest
Secondary Sources
written by individuals w/o law making power, summarize, clarify, and comment on primary authorities - law reviews, encyclopedias, restatements, treatises - DIGESTS ARE NON AUTHORITIES
Shardizing on Lexis
· "Shep: XX" · Appellate History · Citing Decisions - other cases that cite · Legend or Phrase Level Indicator · Depth of Discussion · Parallel Citations · What does overruled mean? · Why would courts Follow an overruled case? · Terms within results · TOA
ILP - Index to Legal Periodicals & Books - EBSCO
· 1908- date · Similar to Readers' Guide · Four parts: 1) Subject & Author Index 2) Table of Cases 3) Table of Statute 4) Book Review Index · Combined Subject and Author Index since 1961 · ILP database is available on Westlaw law firm subscriptions
federal statutes
· Bills are introduced in the House or Senate. · Bills are numbered sequentially. · If Bill passes Committee and one house, it goes to the other for consideration. · If both houses pass, it goes to the President. · If President signs, Bill becomes law.
search strategies
· Computer is literal - query of "negligence per se" will not retrieve "per se negligent" · Very effective for retrieving specific names, products, etc. · Invaluable for searching multiple jurisdictions, but beware of costs · Abstract concepts may be more difficult to retrieve
US Cir Court of Appeal reporter
Federal Reporter: F. F.2d F.3d - indicate circuit in parenthesis with date ex. (8th Cir. 2020) - 13 circuits, 12 regional
CA Court of Appeals in CA
Biltoft v. Wooton, 96 Cal. App. 2d 598, 157 Cal. Rptr. 581 (4th Dist. 1979). (Currently in 2 Reporters: Cal. App. 4th, Cal. Rptr. 3d)
CA Court of Appeals in Iowa
Biltoft v. Wooton, Cal. Rptr. 581 (App. 4th Dist. 1979).
This encyclopedia gives extensive footnote citations and provides library references to West Digest topics and key numbers
CJS
Using a West Digest
Descriptive Word Index - ID key words, search for words in descriptive word index and not topic and key #, check pocket part, go to advance sheet, search other digests for same key # to find more cases, read the cases read cases to be sure the holding given in the digest matches what the court decided
in addition to case summaries, these sets normally include a table of cases and words and phrases
Digest
Shepardizing Constitution
In the search box you will want to enter the specific Constitution section and/or clause. ((Enter "Shep: U.S. Const. art. 3" & you get 26,000+ listings. )) Enter "Shep: U.S. Const. art. 3 sec. 2 cl. 2" and you get one listing of just that section and clause. (same on KeyCite)
Give 5 Examples of a mandatory authority
Iowa Supreme Court opinions, iowa constiution, iowa adminstrative regulations, iowa statutory law, united states constitution, united states supreme court opinion
this reporter of US SC decisions includes annotations
Lawyer's edition
This state is not a common law jurisdiction
Louisiana
Other NY courts out of state
Martin v. Pitcher, 663 N.Y.S.2d 437 (App. Div. 3d Dept. 1997). or B.M. v. Z.S., 663 N.Y.S.2d 774 (Fam. Ct. 1997).
is an opinion from the 8th circuit court (federal issue) binding on an Iowa State District Court
No
is an unreported case precedential
No, it is one not released for publication - if there is only a westlaw or lexis opinion then it is unpublished
Legal Encyclopedias
Starting point to find the law, comprehensive works, basic summary and not specific to any one jurisdiction, provides rule of law from cited cases, updated by annual pocket parts
Session Laws
Statutes at Large (Stat.)- Government publishes all the public laws in numerical (chronological) order for the past session - very slow · U.S.C.C.A.N. - faster and most often used source - gives you law and legislative info.
State Legal Encyclopedias
Texas Jurisprudence, CA jurisprudence, NY Jurisprudence, Ohio Jurisprudence
Restatements - American Law Institute
· Goal= produce a clear restatement of the existing common law · Gives rules, comments, illustration · Appendix gives cross references and citations to cases (courts frequently cite restatements) · Covers Agency, Conflicts, Contracts, Judgments, Property, Landlord & Tenant, Torts, Trusts, Foreign Relations, Restitution, Security, Unfair Competition, etc. · Many now in "Third Restatement" · Citation: Restatement (Second) of Torts § 829 (1979). · (use date of publication for Restatements) · On Westlaw & Lexis
Legal Periodicals - Hein Online
· Law Reviews, Specialized Journals, Bar Journal, Legal Newspapers - secondary research · Find research when there is little info. on a topic. · *Non-consecutive pagination - when each issue starts with page 1, you have to specify the month.
Public Law
· Public laws bear the designation of the Congress and the sequence in passage during the 2-year life of Congress. Ex. Public Law No. 103-416 (103rd Congress; 416th law passed) · Law appears first as Slip Law and in electronic form.
Sources of Current Law
· Slip laws - published by the U.S. Gov. Printing Office. · U.S. Code Congressional & Administrative News (U.S.C.C.A.N.) - published by West in conjunction with United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.); monthly with bound volumes at end of session include all public laws. (noncumulative supplements) · United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.) Advance Sheets - published by Lexis (updated with pocket parts and cumulative supplements)
Specific ALWD Rules
· Spell out 0-99 · Space when you have something other than a single capital letter. · Cite to the official code if available. (U.S.C./ Iowa Code § 123.45 (2003).) · Retain all digits when citing multiple sections. · Student Author - not note, comment · 50 + words - use block quotes. · **When citing a federal case, do NOT include information about divisions.
American Digest System
· State digests - cover state and federal cases in that state. (e.g. Iowa Digest) · Regional digests - reporters for 4 of the 7 regions (none for S.W., N.E. (ceased 1971), So. (ceased 1988)) - have to go to state digests. · Federal Digests (4th is current) · U.S. Supreme Court Digest · Decennial Digest - ALL reported decisions in topic order - cover all reported decisions for 10-year period. · General Digest - updates decennial, but is chronological. · Specialized digests - Bankruptcy digest, Education law digest · *Cases are in hierarchical order in digests.
