Research Quiz Flashcards
What type of source do attorneys most commonly use to search for PRIMARY authority?
secondary sources
when looking to focus on a specific topic within a statute or regulations, it is best to refine search using
index
wouldnt use keyterms because need to know EXACT wording
the most recent on-point cases from the highest court in your jurisdiction carry the most weight because they ____ older cases
- expand
- explain
- slightly alter
headnotes (lexis v westlaw)
- cant be cited
- Lexis: direct quotations from an opinion
- Westlaw: paraphrase a point of law, done by attorney
reporter
series of books that contain judicial opinions from a selection of case law decided by courts
code
collection of individual statutes for a state or country organized by subject
statute
individual law or section of code; code section is more synonymous
which statute preempts the other? state or federal?
federal
citators include
shepard’s
keycite
bcite
citators should be used
to check every case you rely on
citators
tool that helps determine what has happened to a case, statute, regulation after it was released
establishes validity of resource, expands legal research
red stop sign (lexis)
- indicates that case is NO Longer good law for at least one point discussed in case
- Doesn’t mean that case is bad law but you want to be careful with it
yellow triangle (lexis)
possible negative treatment is indicated
green sign (lexis)
positive treatment is indicated and other cases have used this a good case law
Q sign (q in a orange box, lexis)
validity is quested by citing references
red exclamation (lexis)
strong negative treatment for shepardized section
negative treatment indicated for statute
blue A
citing references contain neither negative nor positive treatment
blue I
citing reference are available for your case BUT the reference do not have history or treatment analysis
Red flag (westlaw)
no longer good law for at least one of the points
blue-striped flag
some negative history BUT has not been reveresed or overruled
should yellow triangle or yellow flags be cited
ONLY IF you can confirm that the negative treatment is NOT relevant to the portion you are citing
should red stop signs or red flags be cited
no, never
who codes citators
editors
what characterizes the status of a case in the same manner
citators
are codes and statutes the same?
NO, the are DIFFERENT
legal treatise
legal publication containing all the law related to a particular topic written by legal experts
legal treatise
legal publication written by legal experts containing all the law related to a particular topic
Restatement of the law
detailed statements of the CL of the US on a variety of topics, written and update by well-known legal scholars
” “
exact phrase
and (&)
2 or more words anywhere in document
or
include one or more words
and not
exclude documents containing the word or phrase
make sure you put last otherwise unusual results may manifest
/n
w/n; near/n
first word within “n” words of the second
/n
w/n; near/n
first word within “n” words of the second
1 -255
!
word variation
ex. bank!
bank, banks, banking, banker, bankruptcy
/p
within same paragraph
segment examples (lexis)
off to the side… provide segments of different cases
annotations
how courts have interperted code
note, summary, or commentary on some section of a book or a statue that is intended to explain or illustrate its meaning
Will show you cases that are interpreting the code you are looking at
Notes to decisions
notes from case … this will take you to cases and statues relating to the topic you are researching
Notes to decisions
notes from case … this will take you to cases and statues relating to the topic you are researching
what kind of system is the US
CL system
ravel view
shows you how the cases in search results connect and which are most influential to the issue you are searching (in the state/s)
what can you see w shepardizing
- appellate history
- citing decisions
- other citing sources (law review articles, annotated statutes, treatises etc)
- table of authorities
“shepardize - narrow by this headnote”
list all cases that cite your case in reference to the point of law stated in that headnote
Table of authorities
help determine current foundational strength of a case. What if your case relies on a case that is no longer good law?
legal digest
pretty common primary source used by attorneys
Complies summaries of points of law from cases and those summaries are then organized by topic. The summaries are also subdivided by jurisdiction and court
Overruling risk (WL)
can let you see the areas of the document that are most likely to be overruled
orange triangle (WL)
doc may no longer be good because of its reliance on an overruled decision
what steps to take when building a research strategy
- analyze the situation
- gather key search terms
- search secondary sources
- find primary authority
- validate and expand your research
case note (Lexis)
editorial enhancements that provides a list of cases related to the statute by topic
when researchign statutes keep in mind
jurisdiction
table of contents
annotations
Examples of secondary sources
american law reports practice guides legal encyclopedias law reviews and journals treatises
+s
first search term must be before the second search term in the same SENTENCE
+p
first search term must be before the second search term in the same PARAGRAPH
%
but not
+n
search term must be before the second search term by n terms
#
prefix to turn off plurals and equivalents
If you find yourself in a particular section of a statute that is relevant but not the section that is directly on point, how do you find other relevant code sections?
Two ways you can search from you where you are:
- Hit table of contents and you will get a drop down OR
- Hit previous and Next arrows to go between sections
If you’re in Lexis Advance and viewing a particular statute, where you would you go to see cases that have interpreted that statute?
notes of decisions
whats a good place to get a general overview of an area of law
2* sources like
ALR
Mass practice series
encyclopedia
Where do you find the amendment dates for a statute on Westlaw?
Credits section at the end of the statute text
3 primary pre-search filters
jurisdiction
type of authority
subject area
What secondary source provides a comprehensive analysis on legal issues written by experts in their field?
ALR!
How do you know if a case is still good law ?
- no red flags
- hasnt been suspended, overruled, or reversed
In Westlaw , when reviewing a statute, where you would you find relevant cases on point?
notes of decisions
In Westlaw, when reviewing a statute where would you find recent law review articles that discuss the statutes?
Citing references – limited to secondary sources.
What is WESTLAW answers?
- Authoritative answers to common questions
- Limited to jurisdiction
