Legal Research on the Web

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Legal Research on the Web

• Boston College Law Library
• Reality Legal Research Session
• Mary Ann Neary
• Legal Information Librarian
• April 7, 2006

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On Beyond LexisNexis and Westlaw

• LexisNexis and Westlaw- major commercial database
  systems - accessed through the Worldwide Web.
• But many other excellent sources for legal
  research on the Web, and most of them are free.
  Today some of the most useful ones.
• First, we'll start with a few tips on what you
  can and can't find on the web.

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What are free websites good for?

• Primary materials federal or state codes or
  recent court opinions
• Always check official or authentic?
• Current items cases or issues in the news
• Government publications state and federal,
  foreign and international
• Background information from sources such as
  government agencies think tanks, or lobbying
  groups

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Free web sites

• What works well General tips
• Official government sources, See .gov
• Public service sites, See .org and .edu
• Finding discrete documents
• Findlaw, Google, Google Scholar
• International legal materials, foreign government
  sites

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Concerns when using free sites

• Authentic?
• Official?
• How to cite?
• Concerns
• Confidentiality electronic trail

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What are free websites not good for?

• Complete, concise overview of the law
• Use books or encyclopedias in print
• Sophisticated full-text searching
• Use LexisNexis or Westlaw
• Complex case-finding tools such as annotated
  codes or citation databases
• Use LexisNexis or Westlaw

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What are free websites not good for?

• Comparative research
• Search all states statutes on a topic
• Historical materials
• Use print sources (LexisNexis or Westlaw)
• Practice materials for a particular jurisdiction,
  e.g. legal forms

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Starting Point

• Boston College Law Library Research Pages
• www.bc.edu/schools/law/library/research

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Find links to major sites
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Locating state cases

• Issues re citation
• Ask Has the state adopted a public domain
  citation format? Check Blue Book
• Ex. Wisconsin has adopted public domain cites
  for
• cases decided after 12/31/1999
• www.courts.state.wi.us
• Sample cite
• Glaeske v. Shaw, 2003 WI App 71, 261 Wis. 2d 549,
  661 N.W.2d 72

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Locating state statutes

• States post their statutory codes on the
  Internet not designated as official (and may not
  be designated as authentic)
• www.state.ma.us/legis
• Try a gateway site for links to each state, e.g.
  LII

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Legal Information Institute

• www.law.cornell.edu
• Serves as a gateway to federal, state and
  international legal research web sites
• Good resource for state-level materials, e.g.
  Nevada regulations

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Locating state regulations

• Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School
  use as a starting point
• Problem with regulation tracking any proposed
  regulations?
• Default to checking that state agencys website
  for notices of pending regulations

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LII Links to Nevada primary material
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Locating federal cases

• Note No official public domain cite except for
  Supreme Court
• Findlaw
• Find text of Newdow decision case regarding
  Pledge of Allegiance (Seeks to strike under
  God)
• Need to know that it was decided in Fed. courts
• Findlaw Must know which circuit to search
• Locate decision from 9th Cir. text is in pdf
  format, but how to cite it?
• http//news.findlaw.com/usatoday/docs/conlaw/newdo
  wus62602opn.pdf

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How to know the status of this case?

• No free citator on the web
• Can use Shepards or Westlaw with a credit card
  approximately 5.00 to check a cite
• BUT
• Need the Federal Reporter cite!

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Google

• Search Google for
• Newdow and pledge
• Yields a Washington Post article that supplies
  the Supreme Courts docket number

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Supreme Court site Docket info
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Supreme Court Docket

• No. 02-1624 Status GRANTED
• Title Elk Grove Unified School District and
  David W. Gordon, Superintendent, Petitioners v.
  Michael A. Newdow, et al.
• Docketed May 9, 2003
• Lower Ct United States Court of Appeals for the
  Ninth Circuit  Case Nos.(00-16423)  Decision
  Date February 26, 2002  Rehearing Denied
  February 28, 2003

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Find Newdow opinion on Supreme Court site, but
still no cite just slip opinion
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Federal Government Sites

• Executive Branch
• G.P.O. Access
• Gateway to full-text U.S. government legal
  materials, esp. administrative law
• www.gpoaccess.gov
• Includes Federal Register, 1994-present
• Code of Federal Regulations, 1996- present
• Public Laws

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Federal Government Sites

• Legislative Branch
• http//thomas.loc.gov
• Includes Full-text access to bills, 101st
• Congress to 109th (current) Congressional
• Record Committee Reports, 104th Congress to
• present Treaties.
• N.B. Can search multiple Congresses now

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Federal Government Sites

• Judiciary
• Link to courts from www.uscourts.gov
• Supplies links to all courts, including
  individual circuits websites
• Current (last few years) opinions available
  issue re citation

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Court Rules, Forms and Docket Info

• www.llrx.com/courtrules
• Links to over 1,400 sources for state and federal
  court rules, forms and dockets

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International Legal Materials

• International law definition
• Law that governs relations between
  nation-states. In modern times, international law
  has evolved to include the relations between
  states and international organizations and even
  individuals.
• E.g. Charter of the U.N. Universal Declaration
  of Human Rights Geneva Convention
• Web resource http//www.asil.org/resource/ergintr
  1.htm

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International Legal Materials
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Foreign Law Materials

• Foreign Law definition
• Law of another country
• Ex What are the inheritance laws of Germany?
• Many foreign law metapages available
• http//www.law.harvard.edu/library/services/resear
  ch/guides/international/web_resources/internet_for
  eign_law.php
• World Law Institute
• http//www.worldlii.org/catalog/215.html
• Library of Congress Guide to Law Online
• http//www.loc.gov/law/guide/nations.html

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Summary Free vs. Fee-Based Sites

• Free sites
• Watch for authenticity
• Reliable provider/creator of site?
• May find info re gun laws on NRA site but what
  incentive to give a balanced view of subject?

• Commercial sites, e.g. LexisNexis, Westlaw, etc.
• Incur costs but reap benefit of reliable source
• Official citation available for legal materials
• Citator services invaluable