Legal Reference Service for Public Librarians in the Internet Era A presentation for the Ohio Library Council regional meetings, Spring 2002 Jan Ryan Novak Director, Cleveland Law Library Association
Caution: • Finding “the law” can be more complicated than it seems • Interpreting, applying are tasks for lawyers • Librarians help users find, evaluate legal information
Legal Information vs. Legal Advice • Common law marriage in Ohio • Boyfriend moved in 15 yrs ago, etc. , Passed away owning assets • What is my share of his estate? • Legal information • Fact analysis lawyer’s job! • Legal advice lawyer’s job!
Basic Vocabulary • Authority • - Primary: cases, statutes, regulations, decisions of administrative bodies - The “raw law” • - Secondary: encyclopedias, treatises, articles, annotations, handbooks, loose-leaf services, etc
Citations • • • 86 Ohio St. 3 d 451 ORC sec. 3109. 11 24 U Dayton L. Rev. 513 (Spring 1999) 2000 S 180, eff. 3 -22 -01 2000 wl 1706390
Updating • Citation verification - Shepards and Keycite • Pocket parts, supplements • Note the currency of the resource used • Caution the user about subsequent events
Jurisdiction • What law governs • Are there additional jurisdictions to consider • Define the jurisdictional coverage of sources used • When in doubt, find general coverage
Vocabulary • Http: //www. Nolo. Com/lawcenter/diction ary/wordindex. Cfm • Http: //dictionary. Lp. Findlaw. Com/
The Key: • Find someone who has done the work for you! • Precedent • Authority • Verification
Portals • Findlaw http: //www. findlaw. com • Lexis. ONE http: //lexisone. com • Legal Information Institute http: //www. law. cornell. edu
Go Straight to the Horse’s Mouth: Primary Source Materials • • • Unannotated codes, regulations, rules Recent cases, administrative rulings Forms Explanatory materials Contacts
Ohio Case Law: • Specific cases by citation • Specific cases when only some information is available • Cases on a subject • The “best case”
Local Ohio Resources: • Local court web pages - dockets, opinions, faqs, forms, rules, guidelines • Municipal government resources ordinances
Secondary Resources • Remember the key: FIND SOMEONE WHO HAS DONE THE WORK FOR YOU! • Who is responsible for the site • What are the motives for posting the information
Ohio Secondary Resources • Legislative Service Commission briefs • Ohio State Bar Association public resources • Local bar association, law firm public service resources
General Secondary Resources • • Nolo LII Findlaw ABA
Who Can You Ask for Help? • “Free” advice sources - is there a catch? • Your local law library • Virtual reference desks
Legal Reference Avoids: • Recitations of facts, the user’s “story” • looking at user’s personal papers, file • unequivocal answers, conclusions of law • sympathy, empathy • Making further contacts on user’s behalf • relying on your own knowledge, experience, opinion
Legal Reference Dos: • Encourage the user to objectify or depersonalize the question • provide multiple authoritative resources • disclaim, disclose, caution • Emphatically refuse to give advice • offer suggestions for expanding information provided • suspend judgment
Question:
Answer: We cannot give you legal advice. We can show you Ohio’s custody statutes in Revised Code chapter 3109 and you might be interested in looking at case law which construes these statutes, which you can find in an annotated Ohio Revised Code. See especially RC 3109. 04’s provisions on modification of custody. There are some case annotations in the annotated code showing how courts have addressed the age of the child in the case of modifications. We cannot decide if these statutes cover the issues in your fact situation. Only an attorney can do that.
Question: Caller: Can I file a law suit against my father for abuse that occurred during my childhood, even though I am now 32? Librarian: Are you asking about Ohio’s laws? Caller: This happened in Texas. He lives in Ohio.
Answer: We cannot advise you on whether you can successfully file such a lawsuit or where the best place to file it would be. You should consult an attorney for that. We can, however, try to find you some information on the issue of the statute of limitations in cases of child abuse, generally.
Question: Can I serve alcohol to my son’s underage friends?
Additional Resources • Web based legal research tutorials • Kozlowski, Internet Guide for the legal researcher • Ohio Legal Resources
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