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Internet Legal Research for Professor Mika’s Legal Drafting Class April 21, 2010

Access online legal resources for drafting legal documents, including sample forms, transactional documents, and court forms. Learn how to evaluate website credibility and find SEC filings for business research. Explore government agency forms and free case law databases.

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Internet Legal Research for Professor Mika’s Legal Drafting Class April 21, 2010

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  1. Internet Legal Research for Professor Mika’s Legal Drafting Class April 21, 2010

  2. Outline • Forms – form sites, gov’t, statutory • Sample transactional docs & pleadings • Case Map • Interactive Forms

  3. Free Web v. Lexis/Westlaw • It’s Free! • May have info on current topics • Be careful of reliability/currency of web pages • Lexis/Westlaw better search mechanisms

  4. Forms • Forms and Practice Materials Resource Guide

  5. Forms and Sample Contracts • Who publishes the site? A legal publisher? bar association? • Does the site sell forms? • Who wrote the form? • Use with caution, tailor to your facts

  6. Sites for Pro Ses • Franklin County Law Library - frequently requested forms are prepared by the library. • Cleveland Law Library’s FAQs ex. Living Wills/Durable Power Of Attorney

  7. Attorney Work Product Sites • JDSupra - Documents are tied to attorney profiles • Scribd • DocStoc • LawLink

  8. TRY IT • Look for a lease form on JD Supra • Find information about the attorney who submitted the form

  9. Evaluating Web Sites • Credibility: author; possible bias, accuracy.  • Currency / Updating, Coverage • Writing Quality • Ease of use • Stability

  10. Transactional Documents via SEC EDGAR • sample SEC filings • documents attached: management contracts, executive compensation plans, articles of incorporation, by-laws, material contracts, voting trust agreements See Item 601, Regulation S-K.

  11. SEC Edgar Full Text Search Features • Fields for company name, SIC code, date, form type (but not exhibit type) • Natural language or Boolean • Phrase (“”), AND, OR, NOT, truncation (*, communicat* ), proximity operator (general NEAR1 motors ) • Past 4 years

  12. Try it • Find an executive compensation plan which provides for a parking space

  13. More sophisticated SEC Filing databases • Lexis and Westlaw • Mergentonline – Available via University Library, Cleveland Public • SECInfo.com

  14. Government Agency Forms • Forms.gov • State of Ohio - Agency Forms

  15. Court Forms • Casemaker – Ohio court & agency forms • Courts’ web sites • LLRX- Court Rules, Forms and Dockets - links to federal & state courts • Forms and Practice Materials Guide

  16. Court Dockets • PACER – Federal Court dockets • LLRX to find state court dockets • See – Legal research on the Web- Dockets

  17. Dockets - Ohio • Ohio – full text of documents on Summit and Montgomery County & others • Full text on Ohio Supreme Court docket, 2006 and later

  18. PACER • 8 cents a page • Money savers: • Justia Federal District Court Dockets • FreeCourtDockets.com • Recap • PACER Recycling Center

  19. Court Dockets • May search a case opinion database first, find case, then go on docket

  20. Free Case Law • Google Scholar • Ohio Supreme Court • More: Legal Research on the Web – Case Law

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