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Legal Research Mark Kloempken

Legal Research Mark Kloempken. Encyclopedias Treatises Periodicals. Basics. Basic civics judicial -- court cases legislative -- statutes executive -- rules & regulations Primary vs. Secondary Authority “the law” about “the law” Mandatory vs. Persuasive Authority.

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Legal Research Mark Kloempken

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  1. Legal ResearchMark Kloempken Encyclopedias Treatises Periodicals

  2. Basics • Basic civics • judicial -- court cases • legislative -- statutes • executive -- rules & regulations • Primary vs. Secondary Authority • “the law” • about “the law” • Mandatory vs. Persuasive Authority

  3. Beginning a Research Problem • Analyze the situation/facts/law • Search terms • Sloan: parties/relationships; places/things; claims/defenses; relief. • Bottom line -- pull out relevant factual and legal concepts or keywords. • Identify synonyms and broader/narrower terms, key words, terms of art

  4. Secondary Sources • Will lead you to primary. Will help you interpret primary. • Give general state of the law (vs. analyze it) • Will give you background in unfamiliar area (all areas now) including jargon & terms. • Undeveloped areas of law • Are generally NOT for citing or relying on.

  5. Using Secondary Sources • Look for an index • Look for a TOC • Using either or both of above, find potentially relevant sections in main volume(s) • Update -- pocket parts or supplements or both

  6. Legal Encyclopedias • Use for Background, Jargon • They give the general state of the law - don’t analyze -- settled doctrine • Cite as last resort only for very basic principles • American Jurisprudence KF 154 .A4 - Reading Room • Corpus Juris Secundum KF 154 C56 - Reading Room

  7. American Jurisprudence 2nd (Am Jur) • 231 volumes • Am Jur (1936-60) • Some think more clearly written than CJS • Some consider it more authoritative • West Publishing owns Am Jur and CJS

  8. Am Jur 2nd • FORMAT • Topics in alphabetical order as with CJS, TOC • More attention to federal statutes than CJS • No summary at beginning of section • Extensive footnotes to primary material • General index & New Developments volume • WEAKNESSES • Over reliance on case law • No comprehensive summary of state rules • Slow to recognize new areas of the law

  9. American Jurisprudence 2d (AmJur) • Hypothetical:A 19 year old college student at the University of Texas in El Paso crossed the American/Mexican border one weekend. After visiting a few bars, he re-entered Texas the following Monday. His car was searched at the border and two Mexican nationals were found hiding in the trunk. In spite of loudly claiming total ignorance of their presence, he was arrested and charged with a Federal offense. He has appeared in your office and is seeking legal advice. Am. Jur. Slides are used with permission of West Publishing Co.

  10. American Jurisprudence 2d (AmJur) ALIENS AND CITIZENS GENERALINDEX

  11. American Jurisprudence 2d (AmJur) ALIENSANDCITIZENS

  12. American Jurisprudence 2d (AmJur)

  13. American Jurisprudence 2d (AmJur)

  14. American Jurisprudence 2d (AmJur) §1832. Transporting or moving aliens within United States

  15. American Jurisprudence 2d (AmJur)

  16. Corpus Juris Secundum (C.J.S.) • CJ (1911-1937) • 154 Volumes • Restates the body of American law as derived from reported cases and legislation • To classify and articulate legal doctrines, not to explain legal system

  17. Corpus Juris Secundum (C.J.S.). • FORMAT • Topic and sections in alphabetical order • Detailed table of contents • References to large number of cases; almost no statutes • Brief summary of legal principles in bold type • WEAKNESSES • Over reliance on case law • Sheer size of the set makes it cumbersome

  18. Summary of Legal Principles in Bold Type CJSEncyclopediaArticle - Aliens References to Key Numbers in West Digests Case Citations

  19. Updating CJS • Cumulative Annual Pocket Parts in each Volume • Contain Recent Case Citations • Located at end of each bound volume in sleeve

  20. Updating CJS Brief case descriptions suggest they may be helpful

  21. Am.Jur. Over reliance on case law, but more coverage of statutory law than C.J.S. No comprehensive summary of state rules Slow to recognize new areas of law C.J.S. Over reliance on case law Sheer size of the set may make it cumbersome Slow to recognize new areas of law Am.Jur. V. C.J.S.

  22. Advantages to Using Encyclopedias on Lexis & Westlaw • Terms & Connectors Searching • Browse the Table of Contents • Hypertext links to cited sources • Portability: Information on your desktop, WiFi • Download/E-mail/print information • Avoid cost of subscribing to print version or time to go and use it at a library • Multiple users at the same time (don’t have to wait for a book that someone else is using)

  23. Disadvantages to Using Encyclopedias on Lexis & Westlaw • Cost of searching online • Fewer access points (e.g., no subject index online) • Harder to browse online (i.e., harder to flip back and forth through “pages”)

  24. Encyclopedias OnlineLexisNexis v. Westlaw • Some titles only on one service and not the other. • Some titles not updated or not updated as quickly on one compared to the other.

  25. State Encyclopedias • 17 true state encyclopedias • Mimic Am Jur. 2nd and CJS • Limited in scope • Generally include references to other works from the same publisher • Missouri has no true encyclopedia

  26. Treatises • Definition – book that explores a particular doctrine in exhaustive depth • Purpose • Clarify • extensive footnotes • great detail on a given subject • some often cited by courts

  27. Treatises • Format • bound volumes - updated with pocket-parts and/or supplements • looseleaf - updated by inter-filing

  28. Why Use Legal Treatises? Characteristics • Overview, in-depth discussion of an area of law • Analysis & Commentary • Citations to primary sources • May be one volume (e.g. hornbooks) or Multivolume • May be hardbound or looseleaf • More and more are becoming available online Use for background info, more detailed, more specific than an encyclopedia.

  29. Locating Treatises • Washington University Library Catalog: • http://catalog.wustl.edu • Mobius Library Catalog: MO Research Libraries • http://mobius.missouri.edu • Worldcat Library Catalog: A Global Research Libraries • http://library.wustl.edu > Click on WorldCat

  30. Search By Author Title Word Choose Library

  31. Subject Search Main Subject Heading

  32. 121 items under this subject Titles listed alphabetically

  33. Item # 74: Updated Title (See hyphen)

  34. Call Number Location in Library Latest received

  35. May ’04 update arrived in July ‘04

  36. Identify Treatises Using IndexMaster • IndexMaster is a compilation of the indices and/or tables of content of over 10,000 legal titles from over 90 legal publishers at one location…www.indexmaster.com. Searchable and viewable, the index and table of contents will provide the researcher with the content necessary to determine if the book meets their needs.” IndexMaster, “About Us” http://www.indexmaster.com/aboutus.html visited 8/30/06 • Once you find a useful treatise on IndexMaster: • check the Online Catalog http://catalog.wustl.edu to see if the library owns the treatise. • Check to see if the treatise is available online on LexisNexis, Westlaw, LoisLaw, etc. • Out in the “real world,” use IndexMaster to identify titles that you would like

  37. You can view the table of contents and index for each title. Check tosee if the library has a title that you want, or see if you can find it in one of the online services like LexisNexis, Westlaw or LoisLaw.

  38. Immigration Law and Procedure by Gordon, Mailman and Yale-Loehr • Multi-volume treatise in looseleaf format • Updating is done via interfiling, NOT with supplementary pamphlets • Index Volume at end of set

  39. Index Volume of Multi-volume set • Alphabetical Index organized by topic • Refers the reader to another topic entry“Smugglers of Aliens”

  40. SMUGGLERS OF ALIENS is an index topic • Refers reader to Volume 8: Section 111.08[2]

  41. Section 111.08[2][a] • Discussion of the law on “Transporting” aliens in Subsection iii • Note the many citesto primary authority (Cases and Statutes) in the footnotes • Secondary sources often lead back to primary law

  42. Selecting the Best Treatise • Look For: • Coverage • Organization • Currency • Accuracy • Reputation of Book • Reputation of Author • Reputation of Publisher

  43. Advantages to Using Treatises on Lexis & Westlaw (same as for Encyclopedias) • Terms & Connectors Searching • Browse the Table of Contents • Hypertext links to cited sources • Portability: Information on your desktop, WiFi • Download/E-mail/print information • Avoid cost of subscribing to print version or time to go and use it at a library • Multiple users at the same time (don’t have to wait for a book that someone else is using)

  44. Disadvantages to Using Encyclopedias on Lexis & Westlaw (same as for encyclopedias) • Cost of searching online • Fewer access points (e.g., no subject index online) • Harder to browse online (i.e., harder to flip back and forth through “pages”)

  45. Treatises OnlineLexisNexis v. Westlaw v. LoisLaw • Most titles only on one service and not the others. • Publisher dependent

  46. Periodicals • Law Reviews • General and Specialized • student edited • available in large academic law libraries • coverage on Westlaw; Lexis; Web • Bar Journals • shorter, less scholarly, less footnoted articles • Intended for practicing attorneys • Every state has one; also some local

  47. Characteristics of Law School Law Reviews 3 sections: • Lead articles (written by scholars/practitioners) • Note and Comment (Student writing) • Book reviews

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