Legal Research Review

Professor Lisa Smith-Butler

Nova Southeastern University, Shepard Broad Law Center
Law Library & Technology Center
2008
Introduction

Beginning your legal career means that you will need to know
how to cost effectively perform legal research as well as other
types of research. Depending upon the type of practice in
which you work, you may also need to know how to do
medical, business, or scientific research.
When researching the law, you will need to locate both
primary and secondary sources of law.
Primary sources of law constitute the law itself and can be
used as a basis for legal decisions.
You will also encounter secondary sources of law which help
explain and locate the law but do not constitute the law.
Introduction

Today we will review:

research strategies;
primary sources of authority;
case finding tools;
citators; &
secondary sources.
Research Strategies

Before beginning any research

project, ask yourself:
Is a letter, memo, or brief required?
What are the cost and time restraints?
What is the issue in dispute?
What research terms should be used?
Is state or federal law involved?
Is statutory or common law involved?
Are cases, regulations or statutes needed?
Did you update your research?
Research
ResearchStrategies
StrategiesWWorksheet
orksheet
Prepared by Nova
Prepared Southeastern
by Nova Univers
Southeastern ity, Shepard
University, Broad
Shepard Law Law
Broad Center
Center
Law Library & Technology C enter
Law Library & Technology Center

Research Strategies Worksheet

Client & Client Case N umbe
Prepared r: Southeastern University, Shepard Broad Law Center
by Nova
Law Library & Technology Center
SupeClient
rvising&Attorney:
Client Case Number:
DateSupervising
Pro ject D ue:
Attorney:
Client & Client Case Number:
CostDate
Constraints:
Project Due:Supervising Attorney: T ime Cons traints:
Wes tlaw/Lexis/Lois Law Permitted:
Date Project Due:
Cost Constraints:(Cost
E nd Product: Constraints:
) Opinion Letter TimeTime Constraints:
Constraints:
Westlaw/Lexis/Lois Law Permitted: ( ) Memo ( ) B rie f ( ) Othe r
Westlaw/Lexis/Lois Law Permitted:
End Product: ( ) Opinion Letter ( ) Memo ( ) Brief ( ) Other
End Product:
B ackground facts: ( )
BackgroundOpinion
facts: Letter ( ) Memo ( ) Brief ( ) Other

Background facts:
Issues to be researched:

Iss ues to be re searched:

Research terms to be used:

Issues to be researched:
Type of information required:

& Federal or state or a combination:

& Cases, statutes, or regulations or a combination:
& Secondary sources;
Research terms to be use d: & Non-legal sources:

Primary Sources Utilized:

Type of information required:

Research terms toSecondary
be used:Sources Utilized:

& Fede ral or state or a combination:

Updated via:
& Cases, statutes,Prepared
orbyre gulations or a combination:
Lisa Smith-Butler
& Type of information
Secondary sources; required:
& N on-legal sources:
& Federal or state or a combination:
& Sources
Primary Cases,Utilize d: or regulations or a combination:
statutes,
& Secondary sources;
& Non-legal sources:
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Primary Sources Utilized:
 Sources of Primary Authority

In American law, there are three

sources of primary authority. They are:
Cases
Statutes
Regulations
Cases

Cases are decided by the courts, the

judicial branch of the government.
Courts construe the meaning of the
common law and interpret the disputed
meanings of statutory and/or regulatory
provisions.
The doctrine of Stare Decisis is vital to
American law.
In the U.S., a dual system of state and
federal courts exists.
Hierarchy of Federal Courts

Federal courts are organized in three

tiers:
U.S. District Courts
U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal
U.S. Supreme Court
Hierarchy of Federal Courts

Trial courts are known as district courts.

These courts provide the entry level
into the federal court system.
Here cases are tried with witnesses.
Physical evidence is presented.
Pleadings, answers, and motions are
filed.
Fort Lauderdale is in the Southern
District of Florida.
Hierarchy of Federal Courts

U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals are the

next tier or level of the federal court
system.
Circuit Courts decide issues of law
rather than issues of fact.
Florida is in the 11th Circuit Court of
Appeals. The 11th Circuit Court of
Appeals is in Atlanta, GA.
Emorys Federal Courts Finder
Hierarchy of Federal Courts

The final court within the federal

system is the U.S. Supreme Court.
The U.S. Supreme Court has both
appellate and original jurisdiction.
The original jurisdiction is extremely
limited.
Federal Courts

Where can you find decisions from federal

district courts?
Print decisions are published in the F. Supp.
In Westlaw, these decisions can be found in the
DCT databases.
In Lexis, these decisions can be found in the
Federal Legal US Library, District Courts file.
On the Internet, some of these decisions can be
found at the Federal Judiciary site at
http://www.uscourts.gov
Federal Courts

Decisions from U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals are published in

the following:
Print decisions are published in the Federal Reporter (F.,
F.2d, F.3d) series.
In Westlaw, the decisions can be found in the CTA
databases.
In Lexis, the decisions are in the Federal Legal US library
and Circuit Courts file.
On the Internet, use Emorys Federal Courts Finder at
http://www.law.emory.edu/FEDCTS/ for cases from 1994
2003. After March 2003, use the 11th Circuit site at
http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/index.php .
You can also check U.S. Courts/Federal Judiciary site at
http://www.uscourts.gov/courtlinks/ for decisions.
Federal Courts

U.S. Supreme Court decisions are

published in print in the following
formats:
initially as a single decision in a format
known as a slip opinion;
in paperback books known as Advance
Sheets; and
in the bound reporters known as the
United States Reports, U.S.
Federal Courts

U.S. Supreme Court decisions are

published in both bound and loose
leaf services. The publications are:
Supreme Court Reporter, S.Ct.
United States Reports, U.S. (Official)
United States Reports, Lawyers Edition,
L.Ed.
United States Law Week, U.S.L.W. (Loose
Leaf)
Federal Courts

Supreme Court decisions can be

found in Westlaws SCT database.
Supreme Court decisions via Lexis can
be found in the Federal Legal US library
and the Supreme Court Cases file.
Federal Courts

Several Internet sites also provide access to

the U.S. Supreme Court decisions. These
decisions can be found at:
U.S. Supreme Court official site at
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/
Cornells Legal Information Institute at
http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/
Fedworlds Flite database at
http://www.fedworld.gov/supct/index.htm
Findlaw at http://www.findlaw.com/
Oyez, Oyez, Oyez at
http://www.oyez.org/oyez/frontpage/
Florida State Courts

Decisions from the These decisions are

Florida Supreme later published in the
Court and the regional reporter
known as the Southern
District Courts of
Reporter, S., S.2d,
Appeal are initially series.
published in the
Selected decisions
print source, Florida from Floridas trial
Law Weekly. courts are published in
the Florida Law
Supplement.
Florida State Courts

On Westlaw, these decisions can be

accessed via the FL-CS database.
On Lexis, use the FL library and select
the FLACTS file.
On the Internet, Floridas Supreme and
appellate court decisions can be
located at http://www.flcourts.org/
State Courts

Decisions from various states Supreme Courts

can also be found in various print and electronic
sources.
Print decisions are located in appropriate state
reporters, and they are also available in regional
reporters. There are seven regional reporters:
Atlantic Reporter (A., A.2d)
North Eastern Reporter (N.E., N.E.2d)
North Western Reporter (N.W., N.W.2d)
Pacific Reporter (P., P.2d, P. 3d)
South Eastern Reporter (S.E., S.E.2d)
South Western Reporter (S.W., S.W. 2d, S.W.3d)
Southern Reporter (S., S.2d)
State Courts

Decisions on Westlaw are available in the

appropriate state database and in Lexis in
the appropriate state library.
State court decisions are also available on
the low cost Internet legal subscription
services Lois Law and Versus Law.
State court decisions can also be found on
Findlaw at http://www.findlaw.com or
Washlaw at http://www.washlaw.edu/.
Case Finding Tools

As demonstrated, cases can be

located in a variety of sources, both
print and electronic. Now that you
know where cases are published, how
do you find cases? You can locate a
case by:
Citation
Party Name
Subject
Citations

If you have a citation to a case (531

U.S. 98), you can:
pull the book off of the shelf;
use the Get a Document command on
Lexis;
use the Find this Document by citation
command on Westlaw; or
use the Official Citation field on Lois Law.
Party Names

If you have a party name (Roe v.

Wade) but lack the citation, you can:
use the Table of Cases in the appropriate
Digest volume to obtain a citation;
use the Get a Document Command/Party
Name on Lexis;
use the Find and Print tab in Westlaw and
at the next screen select Find a Case by
Party Name.
Locating Cases by Subject

If you have neither a party name nor a citation,

you will need to locate your case by subject. To
assist you with subject searching, several print and
electronic case finding tools exist. These include:
American Law Reports
Digests
Shepards/KeyCite
Legal Periodicals, including Indexes
Legal Encyclopedias
Words & Phrases
Loose Leafs
Case Finding Tools (ALRs)

The American Law Report series (A.L.R., A.L.R.2d, A.L.R.3d,

A.L.R.4th, A.L.R.5th, A.L.R. Fed):
selects unique cases for publication; thus coverage is
selective rather than comprehensive;
often includes an article or an annotation written by an
expert in the field;
provides citations to similar cases throughout the U.S.;
can be accessed with the A.L.R. Digest, A.L.R. Index, or
A.L.R. Quick Index.;
can be updated with the A.L.R. Blue Book of
Supplemental Decisions or Shepards A.L.R. Citations;
and is available in print and exclusively on Westlaw.
Digests

Digests are published for state, regional, federal

and the national reporter series.
There are several publishers that publish digests;
however, West Group Publishers is the primary
digest publisher.
Wests digests are unique in that they use a topic
and key number system that allow a researcher
to move from a regional to a federal digest, using
the same topic and key number.
Once a researcher has his/her topic and key
number in a West digest, he or she can move
around in any West state, regional, federal,
national, or specialty digest with that same topic
and key number.
What is a Digest?

Digests are essentially a detailed index

that provide you with:
a brief abstract of a case;
the case name;
the case citation; and
the applicable digest topics and key
numbers.
How do you use a Digest?

Essentially there are four ways to access a digest:

use the Table of Cases volume which contains
an alphabetical arrangement of party names
and provides citations;
use the Descriptive Word Index volume which
works exactly like any other index
encountered;
use the Words and Phrases volume for terms
of legal significance; or
use the topical outline at the beginning of a
topic.
Citators

Citators serve two There are two

purposes: citator services:
they can be used to Shepards
locate similar cases KeyCite
on a subject; and
they allow
researchers to
ascertain the validity
of their research by
updating it.
Shepards

Shepards began as a print product in

1873 and was developed by Frank
Shepard. It is now published by Lexis
Publishing and is available exclusively
on Lexis-Nexis. It now exists in three
formats:
print
CD-ROM
electronically
Shepards

Over the years as Shepards provides the

researcher with the
Shepards following information about
inundated the legal a case:
profession, law parallel citations;
subsequent history
students became so citations;
familiar with the treatment of the case by
Shepards updating later cases; and
process that it citations to secondary
sources.
became known as
shepardizing.
KeyCite

KeyCite was developed by West

Publishing in 1996 to compete with
Shepards.
KeyCite is available in CD-ROM and
electronic formats but is not available
in print.
KeyCite

KeyCite provides you with:

the direct appellate history;
the negative indirect history;
cites to all cases available on Westlaw;
cites to all cases that cite a federal
statute or regulation.
Legal Periodicals

Legal periodicals can also provide

both the novice and experienced
researcher with information about a
subject as well as cites to cases,
statutes and regulations concerned
with the issue.
To obtain citations to periodicals, you
can use either print or electronic
indexes.
Legal Periodicals

Print indexes for legal To obtain citations to

periodicals are: legal periodicals
Current Law Index electronically (in
which provides addition to Westlaw
coverage from 1980 to and Lexis), you can
the present; and use:
the Index to Legal Index to Legal
Periodicals which Periodicals
provides coverage
Retrospective Index to
from 1908 to the
Legal Periodicals
present.
LegalTrac
Wilsondisc
Legal Encyclopedias

There are two national legal

encyclopedias that can provide
researchers with background
information as well as citations to
cases. These are:
American Jurisprudence (Am. Jur.)
Corpus Juris Secondum (C.J.S.)
Words & Phrases

Words and Phrases is a multi volume

series published by West. It functions
as a case finding tool.
It contains words of legal significance,
arranged in alphabetical order.
Under a particular phrase (i.e. res ipsa
for example) are citations to cases
that contain an extensive discussion of
the phrase.
Loose Leafs

Loose Leaf services are usually multi volume series

that devote themselves exclusively to a specific
subject area that is heavily regulated, i.e., banking,
securities or tax.
While every loose leaf varies, typically a loose leaf
series will contain statutes, applicable regulations,
citations to cases on the topic, and editorial
analysis. Thus the loose leaf provides subject
specialization and can also be used as a case
finding tool since it contains citations to cases.
Loose Leafs

In the past, loose leafs were published

only in the print format. Today, loose
leaf services are available in print, CD-
ROM, and electronic formats.
Both CCH and BNA are some of the
largest and best known loose leaf
publishers.
Legislation

In addition to cases, statutes are also

primary sources of law.
Statutes are enacted by legislatures to
govern behavior.
Legislation

Statutes are published in print in the

following formats:
initially a law is published as a slip law;
next a sessions laws are bound and
published in a chronological arrangement
of the law enacted by the particular
legislative session.
Finally laws are published in a code which
is a subject arrangement of the laws
currently in force.
Legislation

When a legislature passes laws in a

particular session (i.e. 2004-2006), the laws
passed in the session are known as session
laws. Session laws permit historical research.
Session laws are the chronological
arrangement of the law. If you want to read
the 1933 Securities Exchange Act as it was
enacted in 1933, you would need to consult
the federal session laws for 1933.
Legislation

Federal session laws are published in

print format in the following sources:
Statutes at Large (Stat.) (Official)
United States Code Congressional
Administrative News (U.S.C.C.A.N.)
Legislation

To access federal session laws, you must

consult the index of the year of the session
as indexes for session laws do not
cumulate.
To access federal session laws on Lexis,
consult the Federal Legal US library, United
States Statutes at Large file or the
Legislation and Politics Library, Legislative
Histories file.
Legislation

In Westlaw, consult the Legislative Histories

(LH) database or the United States Code
Congressional Administrative News
(USCCAN) database or the USCCAN Public
Laws (USCCAN-PL) database.
The Library of Congress web site, Thomas, at
http://thomas.loc.gov also provides limited
access to legislative history materials.
Thomas

Thomas provides access to:

the full text of bills pending before Congress. This
information is available from 1989-present;
bill summary and status. This information is
available from 1973 onwards;
the full text of recently enacted legislation, i.e.
public laws. This information is available from
1973 onwards; and
selected Congressional Reports from 1995
onwards; and
the full text of the Congressional Record from
1989 onwards.
Legislation

To locate the laws that are currently in force,

you must consult a code. A code is a
subject arrangement of laws presently in
effect.
Federal laws currently in force are published
in the following print formats:
United States Code (U.S.C.) (Official)
United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.)
United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.)
Legislation

You can access the U.S.C. via:

a descriptive word (subject) index;
citation (i.e. 17 U.S.C. 701); or
Popular Names Table.
Legislation

On Westlaw, the U.S.C. can be found in the

USCA database.
On Lexis, this service is available in the
Federal Legal US library, USCS file.
The U.S.C. is also available on Lois Law.
The U.S.C. can also be accessed via the
Internet at Cornells Legal Information
Institute or GPO Access at
http://www.access.gpo.gov/ .
Legislation

Floridas session laws can be located in

the print source, Laws of Florida.
Print versions of Floridas code can be
found in either:
Florida Statutes (Fla. Stat.) (Official)
Florida Statutes Annotated (Fla. Stat. Ann.)
Legislation

Again, Floridas code can be found on

Westlaw, Lexis-Nexis, and Lois Law.
On the Internet, these laws, as well as
pending bills, can be found at Floridas
On-Line Sunshine site at
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/
Executive

A third and final source of U.S. legal

authority is promulgated under the auspices
of the Executive Branch. Regulations are
made by administrative agencies, operating
under a delegation of authority from the
legislative branch.
Administrative agencies are frequently
described as having quasi-judicial and
quasi-legislative functions. They publish
rulings and issue orders.
Regulations can be described as filling in the
blanks left by statutes.
Executive

Federal regulations are published in

print, CD-ROM, and electronic sources.
Executive

Federal regulations are first published in the

Federal Register (FR) which is published
every business day. Like the Statutes at
Large, the Federal Register is a
chronological arrangement of federal
regulations.
The Federal Register contains:
proposed agency rules;
final agency rules;&
notices of agency meetings.
Federal Register

Currently the present source of the Federal

Register is available at depository libraries in
print format. It is also available at the
Government Printing Offices (GPO) Internet
site at http://www.access.gpo.gov/
On Westlaw, the Federal Register is available
in the FR database.
On Lexis, it is available in the Federal Legal
US library, Federal Register file.
Regulations

To locate final regulations that are

presently in force, you will need to consult
the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
which is published annually.
The CFR is a subject arrangement of
federal regulations and is analogous to the
United States Code (U.S.C.)
The CFR contains both final regulations and
Executive Orders of the President.
Regulations

In addition to the print source, the CFR

is available at GPOs Internet site at
http://www.access.gpo.gov/
It is available in the CFR database in
Westlaw, and it is available in Lexis in
the Federal Legal US library, CFR file.
Floridas Regulations

Floridas regulations are published in the

print source, Florida Adminstrative Code
Annotated. This source is available on
Westlaw and Lexis as well as on the Internet
at http://fac.dos.state.fl.us/ Decisions from
Floridas state agencies as well as state
court decisions involving administrative law
are published in the Florida Administrative
Law Reports.
Links to the various Florida administrative
agencies are available from the Florida
Online Sunshine site.
Secondary Sources

While secondary sources do not

constitute the law, they can help
you locate primary sources on point.
Secondary sources include:
American Law Reports
Legal Encyclopedias
Legal Periodicals
Loose Leafs
Restatements of the Law
Hornbooks.
Conclusion

When you receive your research

assignment, remember to plan your
research strategy.
If you have questions or would like
suggestions, please call the Reference
Desk at (954) 262-6201or send an
email to
ReferenceDesk@nsu.law.nova.edu.