Legal Bibliography

1
Legal Bibliography

• Secondary Resources and Research Strategies

2
Last fall, we discussed

• Using secondary resources to help you understand
  the law
• When to choose one type of secondary resource
  over another

3
Review of Secondary Resources

• Restatements cover general principles of law for
  one topic
• Treatises cover one topic with lots of detail
• Hornbooks cover one topic with a little detail
• Law Review Articles cover one issue with lots of
  detail
• Legal Encyclopedias cover lots of topics with
  very little detail

4
As Research Tools,

• Secondary Resources
• Provide commentary on the law
• Alert researcher to legal jargon and issues
• Cite relevant statutes and cases

5
Treatise Williston on Contracts, 4th ed.
Commentary
6
Treatise Williston on Contracts, 4th ed.
Cites to Other Secondary Resources
7
Treatise Williston on Contracts, 4th ed.
8
Corpus Juris Secundum
Commentary
9
Corpus Juris Secundum
10
Corpus Juris Secundum
West Topic and Key Number
11
American Law Reports (ALR)

• Another type of secondary resource
• Designed as a case-finding tool
• Excellent resource for researching very specific
  legal issues

12
American Law Reports, contd

• Contains lengthy essays, called Annotations, on
  specific legal issues
• Republishes some cases, accompanied by an
  Annotation

13
American Law Reports, cont.

• ALR is currently in its 5th series with a
  separate ALR (ALR Fed) for lower level federal
  cases.
• To find an ALR annotation
• ALR Index to Annotations
• ALR Quick Index
• ALR Federal Quick Index
• ALR Digests

14
67 ALR Fed 974
15
67 ALR Fed 974
16
67 ALR Fed 974
17
67 ALR Fed 974
Related Matters-- Other relevant ALR
Annotations
18
67 ALR Fed 974
Cross References
19
67 ALR Fed 974
20
67 ALR Fed 974
Codes, Annotations, and Practice Materials
21
67 ALR Fed 974
22
To Update ALR Annotation

• Check Annotation History Table in Table of Laws,
  Rules, and Regulations volume of the ALR Index

23
(No Transcript)
24
Research Strategies
25
Where do you start?

• Secondary versus Primary Resources?
• Cases versus statutes?

26
Start with

• Secondary Resources
• When you are unfamiliar with the area of law
• Statutes
• When a statute controls the area of law
• Cases
• When no statutory law controls the area

27
Resources Link Together

• Regardless of where you start, the resources you
  use will inform you of other relevant sources.
• If you read carefully and take good notes, the
  resources can help you decide your next step.

28
Sample Research Problem

• Suggested Flowchart for Basic Legal Research

29
Issue
Your client, Doug Debtor, claims that an
individual from the Harris Collection Agency,
Inc., who refuses to give Debtor her name, has
been calling Debtor constantly for the last four
weeks, despite his requests, both verbal and
written, to stop. Is this conduct illegal?
What can Debtor do to stop the telephone calls?
30
Step One Analyze Problem

• Determine Issues
• Are Debt Collectors
• Required to cease telephone contacts when
  notified?
• Required to provide identity?
• For this exercise, well focus on the second issue

31
Step Two Classify Research Question

• Federal or State Issue
• Procedural or Substantive
• Civil or Criminal

32
Step Three Secondary Resources

• When you are unfamiliar with the area of law,
  find a secondary resource to give you an overview
  and cites to primary resources.
• No need to check every potential secondary
  resource, just find one good source.
• In this example, we will use a treatise.

33
Eisenberg on Debtor-Creditor Law
Read text, scan footnotes. Find reference to
statute15 U.S.C. 1692d
34
Step Four Statute Involved?

• Secondary Resource should tell you if a statute
  governs your issue.
• In this case, 15 U.S.C. 1692d
• Use the annotated code to read the statute

35
(No Transcript)
36
New Question What is meaningful disclosure
of callers identity?
37
Dont forget to update 1. Main Volume 2. Pocket
Part or Free-standing Supplement 3.
Advance Code Service or Legislative
Service and Interim Annotation
Service
38
Step Five Relevant Case

• Find the cite for a relevant case, either from
  the annotated code or from the secondary resource
  you consulted

39
(No Transcript)
40
Step Five Relevant Case, cont.

• Pull the case, scan synopsis and headnotes--is
  the case really relevant?

41
(No Transcript)
42
Step Five Relevant Case, cont.

• Once you have a relevant case, you have two
  choices for finding additional cases, or Many
  Relevant Cases, to support your arguments
• Use a West Digest
• Shepardize the case

43
Step Six Finding Cases with West Digests

• Note relevant topics and key numbers

44
(No Transcript)
45
Step Six Finding Cases with West Digests,
cont.

• Choose the digest which most closely matches your
  research needs
• Using the topics and key numbers found in the
  case, find other cases to answer your research
  question or support your arguments

46
(No Transcript)
47
(No Transcript)
48
Dont forget your steps 1. Main Volume 2.
Pocket Part 3. Update for entire digest 4.
Digests in reporters, both bound
and advance sheets.
49
Step Six Finding cases with Shepards Citators

• Note the relevant headnote numbers

50
(No Transcript)
51
Step Six Finding cases with Shepards
Citators, cont.

• Look for later cases which cite your case for
  those headnotes
• Remember to Shepardize available parallel cites

52
(No Transcript)
53
(No Transcript)
54
(No Transcript)
55
Dont forget to check all of the Shepards
supplements.
56
Review and Reanalyze

• Throughout the research process, you need to
  review what you have found.
• Do you have too many cases? Maybe you need to
  narrow your issue further.
• Do you have too few cases? Maybe the issue is
  broader than you originally thought.
• Have you answered your research question?

57
Additional Step--Shepardize

• Remember to Shepardize every case you use to
  support your arguments to verify that it is still
  good law.

58
When Are You Finished?

• When you have the answer.
• When you run into the same authorities over and
  over and no new ones are mentioned.
• When you have looked everywhere. Be careful and
  make sure you did look everywhere.

59
Note Taking

• Taking good notes when doing research will help
  you
• Avoid Backtracking
• Make sure you looked everywhere
• Cite your authorities

60
Note Taking, cont.

• When taking notes, include the following types of
  information
• Source
• Parallel Citations
• Court and date of decision
• Topics and Key Numbers
• How item is relevant
• Citations for other useful resources

61
Final Thoughts

• Allow plenty of time for your research
• Save plenty of time for your writing
• Dont get frustrated, get help--ask a reference
  librarian if you get stuck