1 / 33

Law on the ‘Net: A Workshop for Non-Law Librarians An Infopeople Workshop

Law on the ‘Net: A Workshop for Non-Law Librarians An Infopeople Workshop. April 2004 Laura A. Cadra cadra@law.ucla.edu. Agenda. Sources of Law California Law Federal Law Finding Attorneys Legal Forms Where to Start When You Have No Idea Where to Start. What is Law ?.

melody
Download Presentation

Law on the ‘Net: A Workshop for Non-Law Librarians An Infopeople Workshop

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Law on the ‘Net: A Workshop for Non-Law LibrariansAn Infopeople Workshop April 2004 Laura A. Cadra cadra@law.ucla.edu

  2. Agenda • Sources of Law • California Law • Federal Law • Finding Attorneys • Legal Forms • Where to Start When You Have No Idea Where to Start

  3. What is Law? • The entire body of principles, precedents, rules, and procedures intended to assure order and justice in a civilized society. It includes constitutions, legislation, decisions – federal, state, and local, civil and criminal (Mellinkoff’s Dictionary of American Legal Usage ) • And don’t forget regulations!

  4. Reference Inquiries • Are you looking for general information about a legal issue? • Is your issue federal? State? Local? • Are you looking for a specific piece of law? • a Vehicle Code section? • a local ordinance? • Are you looking for a form? • Are you looking for an attorney?

  5. Sources of Law • Primary Sources • Produced by governmental bodies • Binding!! • Unofficial and official versions • Secondary Sources • Information about the law • Best place to start most legal research

  6. Secondary Sources on the ‘Net • Nolo Press – Our friends in any format • Cornell Legal Information Institute (LII) Law About Series • California Courts Self-Help Center • ¡Se habla español! • Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese tambien!

  7. Legal Citation The formalized legal reference to an authority and the place where it can be found (Mellinkoff’s Dictionary of American Legal Usage)

  8. Citation Formats • Cases: Vol. no./Reporter Set/Page no. (date) • U.S. ex rel. Mayo v. Satan and his Staff, 54 F.R.D. 282 (1971) • Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98 (2000) • Lugosi v. Universal Pictures, 25 Cal.3d 813 (1979) • Statutes/Codes • 42 U.S.C. §1942 • CA Penal Code §187

  9. Common Case Abbreviations • CA Cases • Cal. (Cal. 2d , 3d, 4th): California Reports • Cal. App. (C.A. 2d, 3d, 4th): California Appellate Reports • Cal. Rptr. (C.R. 2d): California Reporter • Federal Cases • U.S.: United States Supreme Court Reports • F. (F.2d, F.3d): Federal Reporter • F.Supp. (F.Supp.2d): Federal Supplement

  10. Primary Sources of Law • Constitutions • Statutes/Codes • Judicial Opinions (case decisions) • Regulations & Regulatory Decisions • Local Ordinances (cities and counties) All of these work together to form The Law

  11. California Law • Constitution • Statutes/Codes • Pending legislation (bills) • Cases • Regulations

  12. California Bills on the ‘Net • 1993-94 legislative session to the present • Searchable by bill number, author, or keyword • Lots of information about the bills • Status and history • Committee analyses • Votes • Great for students!

  13. Legislative Process Bills = pending law Statutes = permanent record Codes = current version

  14. California Statutes and Codes on the ‘Net • Statutes are available from the 1993-94 Legislative session forward • Searchable by chapter number or keyword • No indication whether it’s current • Current California Code only • Updated nightly • NOT annotated (like West’s and Deering’s)

  15. California Ballot Propositions on the ‘Net • Passed propositions are incorporated into the California Codes • Failed propositions can be difficult to find • California Secretary of State Voter Information has propositions from 1996 to the present • Hastings College of the Law has a ballot proposition database from 1911 to the present

  16. California Cases • Published Decisions • California Supreme Court cases • Most California Courts of Appeal cases • Unpublished Decisions • Trial Courts (Superior Court cases)

  17. California Cases on the ‘Net • California Judicial Council • Opinions from 1850 to Sept. 30, 2003 (searchable) • Slip opinions – October 1, 2003 to the present (not searchable) • Findlaw • Opinions 1934 to the present • Must register to view the cases • CourtTV • Sensational trial court cases

  18. California Agency Materials • Licenses • Regulations • Regulatory Decisions

  19. California Agencies on the ‘Net • California State web page contains a list of agencies • Materials available vary by agency • Forms • License requirements

  20. California Code of Regulations on the ‘Net • Includes the regulations of all California agencies • Current version only • Title 24 (California Building Standards Code) is NOT available for free on the ‘Net

  21. Municipal Law on the ‘Net • City and county charters = structure of local governments • Municipal and county ordinances = local laws • Parking regulations • Leash laws • Rent control

  22. Municipal Codes on the ‘Net • Check with the city or county web site first • Institute of Governmental Studies at U.C. Berkeley • Seattle Public Library government info for non-California cities and counties

  23. Federal Law on the ‘Net • U.S. Constitution • U.S. Code • Pending legislation • Cases • Regulations

  24. Federal Legislation on the ‘Net • Bills – Think Thomas • Full-text available from 1989-90 (101st Congress forward) • Summaries available from 1973-74 (93rd Congress forward) • United States Code • Not current! Beware! Danger!

  25. Federal Cases on the ‘Net • No comprehensive web site • U.S. Supreme Court • Official Supreme Court web site: 1990 forward • Cornell’s LII: 1990 forward • Courts of Appeals • 9th Circuit web site: 1995 forward • District Courts (trial courts)

  26. Federal Agency Materials • Agency web sites • Some are filled with good information including forms • Some are not • Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)

  27. Finding a Lawyer Directories and Regulation

  28. Attorney Information on the ‘Net • Find an Attorney by Specialty • Martindale Hubbell Law Directory • California State Bar Certified Specialists • Check Out the Credentials of a Lawyer • California State Bar Attorney Search

  29. Legal Forms • Litigation Forms • Business Forms

  30. Litigation Forms on the ‘Net • California Judicial Council • Mandatory forms • Suggested forms • Local Courts • Check the court web site • Findlaw • Links to forms of varying quality

  31. Business Forms on the ‘Net • Fedforms.gov • Primarily fee-based but some are free • Legaldocs.com • Uscourtforms.com • Lexisone.com • Lawcommerce.com

  32. Where to Start When You Don’t Know Where to Start • California Courts Self-Help Center • Lots of information on common legal issues • Where to go for free and low-cost legal information • 24/7 Reference includes law librarians • Your local county law library • Locating the Law, 4th ed.

  33. Mega-sites • Hieros Gamos: If you can only have one • Jurist • Internet Legal Resource Guide • Catalaw • Findlaw

More Related