Educating Yourself About the Law Flashcards
What is primary authority and secondary material?
Primary authority - the law (constitutions, ordinances, statutes, etc.)
Secondary material - research tools, books, etc. that are used to find primary authority and determine what it means
What are useful first steps/resources when performing legal research?
Visit a law library/librarian, obtain a law dictionary (Black’s Law Dictionary), reference a legal encyclopedia, use annotated statutory compilations (statutes with several cases cited afterwards), and reference recent court opinions
What are the two major law subscription services?
Lexis and Westlaw.
What are some useful internet resources other than Lexis and Westlaw?
U.S. Supreme Court cases, PACER, Findlaw, Library of Congress, etc.
What is the purpose of a supplement?
To update a volume with changes in statutes/cases before the volume is reprinted.
What are Shepard’s Citations?
A resource that link a case or statute to other cases or statutes that address the same issue
What should someone communicating basic law information be concerned with when citing?
Not form, but be sure that the source is sufficiently identified so that the reader can recognize the source and locate it if desired.
What are important considerations when reading legislation?
What is the point/structure, what are cross-referenced sections, what is the effective date, what are the retroactive effects?
What are the basic steps to locating legislation?
What is the jurisdiction (federal, state, etc.)? Reference the table of contents. Internet database searches can be helpful.
Where can a list of federal statutes in effect be found?
The United States Code (U.S.C.). Published every 6 years with annual supplements. Also available online.
How are cases cited?
Name v. Name; volume, abbreviated reporter title, first page where the opinion begins, and a parenthetical with the year given
How can cases be found?
West’s law digest; annotated statutes; U.S. Reports (for Supreme Court decisions); Federal Reporter (federal courts of appeals); F. Supp (district court opinions)
States - West regional reporters or official state reporters
How can regulations be researched?
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR); GPO Access Website allows you to browse and search the CFR; Federal Register (where agencies publish proposed and promulgated rules)
What are some useful secondary reference materials?
Encyclopedias (Corpus Juris Secundum)
Treatises (a book or series on a legal subject)
American Law Reports (summarize and organize federal/state law on certain topics)
Law Journals (many law schools publish articles analyzing general law topics)
Restatements (consensus views publish by the American Law Institute)