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TEXAS LAW

TEXAS LAW. GUIDES TO TEXAS LAW. Texas Legal Research - An Essential Lawyering Skill by Lydia M. V. Brandt, Texas Lawyer Press, 1996 Texas Legal Research Internet Sites Lydia Brandt of The Brandt Law Firm) http://linux.brandtlaw.com/lydia/internet_sites.html

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TEXAS LAW

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  1. TEXAS LAW

  2. GUIDES TO TEXAS LAW • Texas Legal Research - An Essential Lawyering Skill by Lydia M. V. Brandt, Texas Lawyer Press, 1996 • Texas Legal Research Internet Sites Lydia Brandt of The Brandt Law Firm) • http://linux.brandtlaw.com/lydia/internet_sites.html • TEXAS LEGAL RESEARCH INDEX, Lydia Brandt of The Brandt Law Firm) • http://brandtlaw.com/lydia/table.html

  3. GUIDES TO TEXAS LAW • Guide to Texas Lawhttp://www.lawlead.com/texas/txstateeditframe.html • Texas Law Librarian’s Home Page • http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~suefaw/ • Texas Sources of Information • http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~suefaw/#Texas • TEXAS LEGAL.COM • http://www.texaslegal.com/

  4. TEXAS JUDICIAL SYSTEM • APPELLATE COURTS • SUPREME COURT • COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS • INTERMEDIATE COURTS OF APPEALS • TRIAL COURTS • DISTRICT COURTS • COUNTY LEVEL COURTS • MUNICIPAL COURTS • JUSTICE OF THE PEACE COURTS

  5. TRIAL COURTS • Courts of Original Jurisdiction. The trial court structure has different levels handling different types of cases. The trial courts are those courts in which witnesses are heard, testimony is received, exhibits are offered into evidence, and a verdict is rendered. • DISTRICT COURTS • COUNTY LEVEL COURTS • MUNICIPAL COURTS • JUSTICE OF THE PEACE COURTS

  6. APPELLATE COURTS • SUPREME COURT • The highest state appellate court for civil and juvenile cases. • COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS • The highest state appellate court for criminal cases. • INTERMEDIATE COURTS OF APPEALS • The 14 intermediate appellate courts for civil and criminal appeals from the trial level courts.

  7. REPORTED/UNREPORTED OPINIONS • REPORTED OPINIONS • Published by West in the South Western Reporter and Texas Cases • Published on:LEXIS, WESTLAW, CD-ROMS • UNREPORTED OPINIONS • Published on:LEXIS, WESTLAW, CD-ROMS • OPINIONS ON THE INTERNET • The Court of Criminal Appeals http://www.window.state.tx.us/txgovinf/txcoca.html

  8. TEXAS DIGESTS • Three print digests index Texas case law including cases since 1840 • The state key number digest for Texas case law is Texas Digest • Decennial Digests • General Digests • WESTLAW • LEXIS

  9. ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINIONS • ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINIONS • FORMAL OPINION • LETTER OPINION • OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL • http://www.oag.state.tx.us/ • ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINIONS • http://www.oag.state.tx.us/WEBSITE/opengovt.htm

  10. TEXAS CONSTITUTION • CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS • 1845 CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF TEXAS • CIVIL WAR CONSTITUTION OF 1861 • 1866 CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF TEXAS • 1869 CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF TEXAS • 1876 CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF TEXAS

  11. PUBLICATION OF THE TEXAS CONSTITUTION • Vernon’s Texas Revised Civil Statutes Annotated and Vernon’s Texas Codes Annotated • WESTLAW AND LEXIS • Texas Constitution on Texas Legislature Online • http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/txconst/toc.html

  12. TEXAS STATUTES • VERNON’S TEXAS REVISED CIVIL STATUTES ANNOTATED (V.T.R.C.S.A.) - 1925 • Called the “Black Statutes” because of their black binding • Unified Code • VERNON’S TEXAS CODES ANNOTATED (VTCA) • INDEPENDENT CODES - Insurance, Probate

  13. VERNON’S TEXAS REVISED CIVIL STATUTES ANNOTATED • 1. Contains approximately 150 titles • 2. Arranged alphabetically • 3. Laws related to a • particular subject are • scattered throughout

  14. CONTINUING STATUTORY REVISION PROGRAM • 1963 Continuing Statutory Revision Program • Substantive Revision • Changes the context and meaning. It acts to displace the former laws. • Non-Substantive Revision • Called formal revision means that the sense and meaning of the laws are not revised, just the form.

  15. CONTINUING STATUTORY REVISION PROGRAM • Non-Substantive Revision • Meaning is not changed • Code system is designed to facility citation to the law and to accommodate future expansion • Non-substantivie revisions into a topical arrangement

  16. CONTINUING STATUTORY REVISION PROGRAM • Non-Substantive Revision • Restates the law in modern English • Uses new uniform numbering system • Revision eliminates repealed, duplicative, unconstitutional, and other ineffective provisions

  17. DISADVANTAGES OF THE STATUTORY REVISION PROCESS • Ongoing revision program that began in 1963 is still “going on.” • Legislature amends two statutory arrangements • Two statutory arrangements on library shelves. • Only statutory language is included in the new code.

  18. VERNON’S TEXAS CODES ANNOTATED • 1. Essentially Topical • Arrangement • 2. 26 Code System

  19. VERNON’S TEXAS REVISED CIVIL STATUTES ANNOTATED & VERNON’S TEXAS CODES ANNOTATED • TEXAS CONSTITUTION • STATUTES - Revised Civil Statutes of 1925 and the Codes Annotated • RULES - Evidence, Civil Procedure, Appellate Procedure • FACTUAL INFORMATION - Mortality Tables, Life Tables, Interest Tables • INDEXES • FORMS - Uniform Commercial Code Forms

  20. TEXAS STATUTES • Vernon’s Texas Revised Civil Statutes and Texas Codes Annotated published by West • LEXIS and WESTLAW • Texas Statues • http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/statutes/statutes.html

  21. TEXAS LEGISLATIVE INFORMATION • The Texas Legislature meets in odd-numbered years for 140 days • The Governor may call one or more special sessions to consider only those matters approved by the Governor

  22. TEXAS LEGISLATIVE INFORMATION • Introduced Bills (S.1 or H.B.1) • Enrolled Bills • Slip Law • Session Laws - • Vernon’s Texas Session Law Service • General and Special Laws of the State of Texas

  23. TEXAS LEGISLATIVE INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET • Texas Legislature Onlinehttp://www.capitol.state.tx.us/ • site provides • Texas Senate Site • Texas House Site • Bill Information • Enrolled Bills • Texas Legislative History • Texas Statutes

  24. TEXAS ADMINISTRATIVE LAW • The Administrative Procedure and Texas Register Act passed in 1975 marked the beginning of the organization and dissemination of Texas administrative agency rules and regulations.

  25. TEXAS REGISTER • Rules and Regulations - the daily business of state government are published in the:Texas Register. • The Register is equivalent to the Federal Register

  26. TEXAS REGISTER • It is published biweekly and includes • Executive Orders • Appointments • Attorney General Requests for Opinions and Opinions • Open Records Decisions • Proposed and Final Rules and Regulations • Texts of Adopted Rules • Notices of Open Meetings

  27. TEXAS REGISTER • The Texas Register is published in html format on the WWW - • http://lamb.sos.state.tx.us/texreg/ • The Texas Register is published weekly, every Friday. Each issue will be posted on the Web to coincide with the distribution of the printed version which may mean that the issues will not be posted until the following Monday or Tuesday.

  28. TEXAS ADMINSTRATIVE CODEhttp://lamb.sos.state.tx.us/tac/ • The Texas Administrative Code is published under the authority of the Secretary of State. The Texas Administrative Code Act mandates the compilation and indexing of the rules and regulations into an administrative code.

  29. TEXAS ADMINSTRATIVE CODEhttp://lamb.sos.state.tx.us/tac/ • The Texas Administrative Code contains 16 titles including administration, agriculture, banking and securities, community development, cultural resources, health services, insurance

  30. SOURCES OF TEXAS ADMINISTRATIVE LAW • Texas Administrative Code • WESTLAW : TX-ADCWESTLAW The Texas Administrative Code is available on Westlaw, database identifier "TX-ADC". • Internet to the Texas Administrative Code from the Texas Secretary of State: http://www.sos.state.tx.us/tac/

  31. SOURCES OF TEXAS ADMINISTRATIVE LAW • Texas State Agencies • http://www.texas.gov/agency/agencies.html • Texas Register • WESTLAW: TX-ADR • http://lamb.sos.state.tx.us/texreg/

  32. TEXAS SECONDARY AUTHORITIES • Texas Jurisprudence 3d • print and CD-ROM (LawDesk) • Texas Law Reviews • Texas Law Reviewhttp://www.utexas.edu/students/tlr/ • TexLaw - The online service of Texas Lawyer http://www.texlaw.com/ • Treatises on Texas Subject Matter

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