LAW LIBRARY
222 East Weber Avenue, 4th Floor, Courthouse, Stockton, California 95202
209 468 3920 fax: 209 468 9968 email: info@sjclawlib.org
LAW LIBRARY WEBSITE IS: SITE FOR THIS HANDOUT IS:
http://www.sjclawlib.org/ http://www.sjclawlib.org/research%20handout.htm
LEGAL RESEARCH HANDOUT
This webpage is designed as a legal research guide using Internet resources and accompanies an oral presentation about law libraries.. It is a LONG page, so that it can be printed out by giving just one print command or if you want to print out only ONE section, select that section (by holding down your left mouse button and dragging across and highlighting the material you want to copy). Then click the printer icon or go to fileand then to print. When the print screen appears, click on "selection" and then "OK."
LAW LIBRARIES
California County Law Libraries http://www.cccll.org
(list of County Law Libraries) http://www.cccll.org/cccll-cll.htm
LibrarySpot http://www.libraryspot.com/libraries/lawlibraries.htm
California Digital Library (MELVYL) http://melvyl.cdlib.org/F/?func=file&file_name=find-b&local_base=cdl90
HOW TO USE A COMPUTER
To learn to use a computer:
English:
http://tech.tln.lib.mi.us/tutor/welcome.htm
Spanish:
http://tech.tln.org/tutor/spanish/welcome.htm
To learn to use the mouse
http://www.ckls.org/~crippel/computerlab/tutorials/mouse/page1.html
ABOUT THE INTERNET & THE LAW
Currency: Information on the Internet can be very old and outdated. Look at the bottom of a webpage to see if it indicates the last time it was updated. At this time, the government websites are generally very current and reliable.
Accuracy of the source: Since virtually anyone can create a webpage, the reputation of the creator of the webpage is important. Government, law library, and university websites are credible sources for legal information.
Evaluating Internet resources: http://www.infopeople.org/howto/bkmk/select.html
USING AN INTERNET SEARCH ENGINE
How you structure your search is important.
To improve your search, look at the directions for searching provided by that particular search engine you have chosen.
Developing a Search Strategy.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Strategies.html
http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/5locate/adviceengine.html
Choosing a search engine.
http://library.albany.edu/internet/choose.html
*RECOMMENDATION: Try GOOGLE first. http://www.google.com
Compare results by trying other search engines to decide which one works best for you. OR, just do the same search on different search engines for more complete results.
http://lii.org/search/file/searchtools
PUBLICATIONS
Many state and federal agencies have placed their publications on the Internet. They can be read on the Internet, printed from the Internet, or ordered -- via the Internet -- from that agency.
CALIFORNIA
FREE CALIFORNIA ONLINE "HANDOUTS"
State Bar Association: Consumer Education Pamphlets (not easy to find from homepage; go to Public Services and then to Consumer Information) -- long URL
http://www.calbar.ca.gov/state/calbar/calbar_generic.jsp?cid=10581&id=1400
Attorney General http://caag.state.ca.us/publications/index.htm
TO ORDER THE PUBLICATIONS IN HARD COVER:
http://caag.state.ca.us/publications/orderform.htm
SOME OF THE AVAILABLE PUBLICATIONS ARE:
BROWN ACT
http://caag.state.ca.us/publications/2003_Intro_BrownAct.pdf
UNLAWFUL DISCRIMINATION: CIVIL RIGHTS HANDBOOK
http://caag.state.ca.us/civilrights/pdf/01cr_handbook.pdf
Women's Rights Handbook
http://caag.state.ca.us/publications/womansrights/index.htm
Consumer Affairs http://www.dca.ca.gov/r_r/conspub1.htm
Senate http://www.sen.ca.gov/publications/
These brochures are not available online, but there is a list of titles and order instructions.
HOW TO ORDER:
http://www.sen.ca.gov/publications/order.htm
SOME OF THE AVAILABLE PUBLICATIONS ARE:
U.S. and California Constitutions, a citizen’s guide to the legislative process and the budget process, both in English and Spanish.
Legislative Counsel How a Bill Becomes Law: Overview of Legislative Process
FEDERAL
U. S. GOVT. PRINTING OFFICE
http://www.access.gpo.gov/aboutgpo/index.html
TO ORDER
http://bookstore.gpo.gov/index.html
BEN'S GUIDE TO U. S. GOVERNMENT FOR KIDS
ONLINE LEGAL RESEARCH GUIDES
Many law schools and county law libraries have excellent research guides available on specific topics. A few of these websites are listed here.
Cornell http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/lawlibrary/Finding_the_Law/default.htm
Georgetown http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/lib/guides/index.html
University of San Diego http://www.sandiego.edu/lrc/guide.html
Los Angeles County Public Law Library http://lalaw.lib.ca.us/
STATISTICS & CENSUS
CALIFORNIA
CRIMINAL http://caag.state.ca.us/cjsc/pubs.htm
"COUNTING CALIFORNIA" (government produced data) http://countingcalifornia.cdlib.org/
MEDICAL http://www.dhs.ca.gov
FEDERAL
US CENSUS http://www.census.gov/main/www/cen2000.html
ABOUT THE LAW -- IN GENERAL
Parallels -- the Federal System is reflected in the State System and local government.
Precedent
Definition: http://www.lectlaw.com/def2/p069.htm
Common Law
Definition: http://www.lectlaw.com/def/c070.htm
Cases -- recorded in REPORTERS
Definition: http://www.lectlaw.com/def/c197.htm
To learn more about the National Reporter System http://www.law.syr.edu/lawlibrary/research/researchmethods/westcasereport.pdf
To view cases for free, go to Findlaw or LexisOne.
To understand more about legal Citations (standard format style)
http://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/
Encyclopedias (covers wide range of topics)
Encyclopedias and treatises are not available for free on the Internet.
CALIFORNIA California Jurisprudence (known as CalJur)
Witkin's Summary of California Law (indexed, not alphabetical)
FEDERAL American Jurisprudence (known as AmJur)
Corpus Juris Secundum (known as CJS)
Treatises (intellectual/technical coverage of one topic)
CALIFORNIA Witkin (Evidence/Procedure/Criminal Law)
FEDERAL (many on topics like trusts, contracts, insurance, etc.)
Practice Materials (practical, how to, designed for attorneys)
CALIFORNIA
CEB
Matthew Bender (Pleading & Practice, Criminal Defense Manual, etc.)
*Rutter Group (These are part of the grant and will be placed at Cesar Chavez, Tracy, and Lodi.)
FEDERAL (on topics like immigration, federal practice, etc.)
Forms & Format
*JUDICIAL COUNCIL FORMS
FREE and interactive = ACCESSLAW http://www.accesslaw.com (need recent version of Adobe Acrobat)
Other "forms" require pleading paper. Samples are available in Legal Professional's Handbook and Law Office Procedures Manual (grant items). This is an example of the format used in a completed document. http://usff.com/calbolt/pdfs/messingdemur.pdf
PLEADING PAPER (also known as "ruled and numbered" paper)
WORD -- legal pleadings "pleading wizard" (go to file, new, legal pleadings)
Internet -- this is interactive http://www.uslegalforms.com/paper/capleading.doc (in order to see the options available to make formatting changes, RIGHT CLICK)
OR can buy paper at office supply or stationery store and use with typewriter..
LOCAL FORMS http://www.stocktoncourt.org/courts/forms.htm
LOCAL RULES http://www.stocktoncourt.org/courts/rules.htm
Self Help
CALIFORNIA
Courts Self-Help Center http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/
NOLO Press http://www.nolo.com/
Sphinx Publishing http://www.sphinxlegal.com/sphinx/
TO FIND THE LAWS
A lesson in the many "numbers" of laws in California (parallel in Federal system)
First # Bill # -- for that session of the legislature; numbers are assigned in the order that bills are introduced.each session
(S.B. # or A.B. #)
Second # Chapter # -- numbers are assigned in the order that governor signs each year (the US laws at this stage are called PUBLIC Laws) These are published as the Statutes and Amendments to the Codes.
Third # Code # -- number assigned when the whole Chapter or a part is assigned to a logical location in the existing California Codes, by topic. These are published as West's Annotated California Codes and Deerings California Codes Annotated.
MUNICIPAL CODES & COUNTY ORDINANCES
These, too, are usually given a couple of different numbers -- at least when first passed and when codified.
Seattle Public Library (or just use GOOGLE for the city)
http://www.spl.org/selectedsites/municode.html
Findlaw http://california.lp.findlaw.com/ca01_codes/municode.html
CALIFORNIA http://www.ca.gov/state/portal/myca_homepage.jsp
BILL TRACKING http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html
CODES http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.html
ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS
FEDERAL http://www.gpoaccess.gov/index.html
BILL TRACKING http://thomas.loc.gov/
U.S. CODES http://www.gpoaccess.gov/uscode/index.html
FEDERAL REGULATIONS
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html
http://cfr.law.cornell.edu/cfr/
WEBSITES THAT ARE GREAT LEGAL RESOURCES
There is a lot of overlap within these sites.
Findlaw http://www.findlaw.com
LLRX (Law Library Resource Xchange) http://www.llrx.com
LexisOne http://www.lexisone.com (cases are full-text searchable & site is free, but you need to register)
Hieros Gamos http://www.hg.org
'Lectric Law Library http://www.lectlaw.com/ (this site is a little slow, a little strange, & attempts to be humorous)
CALIFORNIA
California has a great deal more legal information available than most states.
* Locating the Law (published PDF by SCALL -- Southern California Assoc. of Law Libraries) This is a complete, basic Legal Research Guide that includes California specific material http://www.aallnet.org/chapter/scall/
FEDERAL
How our laws are made http://thomas.loc.gov/home/lawsmade.toc.html
OTHER STATES
Go to Findlaw or do a Google search. Most states now have their codes online.
MISCELLANEOUS
Locating an Attorney:
State Bar Association. http://www.calbar.ca.gov/state/calbar/calbar_home.jsp
Martindale Hubbell Directory http://www.martindale.com/xp/Martindale/home.xml
Definitions of Words:
Go to a legal dictionary.
'Lectric Law Library Lexicon http://www.lectlaw.com/def.htm
NOLO Press -- good, easy to understand http://www.nolo.com/lawcenter/dictionary/wordindex.cfm
PARTING WORDS: WHEN IN DOUBT, GOOGLE!