BEGINNING YOUR RESEARCH Prof. Iaconeta Law 607 Legal Research & Writing
UNDERSTAND YOUR PROBLEM Listen & Take Good Notes Read Underlying Documents Ask Questions Which Resources are Available? Online or Print Time Frame? Find your Librarian!
UNDERSTAND YOUR PROBLEM What is the area of law? Federal Law? State Law? Both? Preliminary Analysis What Controls? Statute, Reg. , Case Law? Will a secondary source be helpful?
RESEARCH PATHWAYS Familiar Area of Law Primary Sources Are the law Cases, Statutes, or Regulations Unfamiliar Area of Law Secondary Sources Resources that explain the law—NOT the Law! Point you to primary resources Legal Encyclopedia, ALR, Law Reviews, Restatements, Legal Treatises, ULA, Forms
KEEP A RESEARCH LOG Time Spent Resources Used Terms of Art Search Queries Citations to relevant materials Shepards/Key. Cite When to stop
LEGAL DICTIONARIES Black’s Law Dictionary Definitions with citation to cases defining the term Citation to Key numbers, CJS sections. Legal abbreviations, legal maxims, US Const. , Federal Circuit Map. Reference collection 3 rd Floor, Available electronically on Westlaw. Ipad App: Thomson Reuters, West ($54. 99) 2 nd Edition Black’s Law Dictionary for $1. 99
LEGAL DICTIONARIES Ballentine’s Law Dictionary Located in Reference Collection Available on Lexis. Nexis Free Apps—Dictionaries The Law Guide (The. Law. com) Nolo Plain English Law Dictionary
THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT
LEGAL THESAURUS Burton’s Legal Thesaurus The law’s answer to Roget’s. Provides main entry, definition, parts of speech, synonyms, associated legal concepts, foreign phrases and translations. Index Entry—bolded is the main entry under which the synonym is listed Not available on Lexis. Nexis or Westlaw. Located in Reference Collection, 3 rd Floor Ipad App: Mc. Graw Hill (49. 99) Bieber’s Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations Provides the meaning of legal abbreviations Located at the Reference Desk on the 3 rd Floor No Longer on Lexis. Nexis—not available on either database
LEGAL ENCYCLOPEDIAS WHAT ARE THEY? Large multi-volume sets that provide an introduction/overview of an area of law. Citation to primary material—including all the landmark cases. Citation to other secondary sources. Three Types: National (or general): American Jurisprudence (Am. Jur) Corpus Juris Secundum (CJS) State—Some states do, Maine DOES NOT Subject Specific Examples: Federal Practice: Moore’s Federal Practice or Wright & Miller Federal Practice & Procedure
AMJUR & CJS COMMON FEATURES: o Arranged alphabetically by topic o National trends on the legal topics, focusing primarily on case law. o Use a General Index for the set as a whole, as well as individual indexes for each topic. o Updated by pocket parts. AMJUR: SPECIAL FEATURES o Focus on federal statutes and regulations o Table of Statutes and Rules Cited for the set and for each volume. o Most recent volumes have West Key Numbers. o Provides the "New Topic CJS Special Features Service“: covers new topics and topics that have been o Focuses more on case law. extensively changed since o Provides cross references to publication. West Key Numbers o Other Publications: Am. Jur Forms, Am. Jur Proof of Facts, Am. Jur Trials, Am. Jur Pleading & **Note: CJS is not updated in print in our library. Practice
ENCYCLOPEDIAS IN PRINT AND ONLINE Am. Jur: Print located 2 nd floor just off the main elevator. Available on Both Lexis. Nexis and Westlaw CJS: Print no longer kept up to date but located in the state room on the 2 nd floor. Available Westlaw; not available on Lexis. Nexis
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Beginning your research fall 2014.ppt