Legal Research on the Web - Boston College Personal Web Server
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Transcript Legal Research on the Web - Boston College Personal Web Server
Legal Research on the Web
Boston College Law Library
Reality Legal Research Session
Mary Ann Neary
Legal Information Librarian
April 7, 2006
On Beyond LexisNexis and Westlaw
LexisNexis and Westlaw- major commercial
database systems - accessed through the
Worldwide Web.
But … many other excellent sources for legal
research on the Web, and most of them are free.
Today: some of the most useful ones.
First, we'll start with a few tips on what you can
and can't find on the web.
What are free websites good for?
Primary materials: federal or state codes or
recent court opinions
Always check: official or authentic?
Current items: cases or issues in the news
Government publications: state and federal,
foreign and international
Background information from sources such as
government agencies think tanks, or lobbying
groups
Free web sites
What works well – General tips
Official government sources, See .gov
Public service sites, See .org and .edu
Finding discrete documents
Findlaw, Google, Google Scholar
International legal materials, foreign
government sites
Concerns when using free sites
Authentic?
Official?
How to cite?
Concerns:
Confidentiality – electronic trail
What are free websites not good for?
Complete, concise overview of the law
Use books or encyclopedias in print
Sophisticated full-text searching
Use LexisNexis or Westlaw
Complex case-finding tools such as annotated
codes or citation databases
Use LexisNexis or Westlaw
What are free websites not good for?
Comparative research
Historical materials
Search all states’ statutes on a topic
Use print sources (LexisNexis or Westlaw)
Practice materials for a particular
jurisdiction, e.g. legal forms
Starting Point
Boston College Law Library Research
Pages
www.bc.edu/schools/law/library/research
Find links to major sites
Locating state cases
Issues re citation
Ask: Has the state adopted a public domain
citation format? Check Blue Book
Ex.: Wisconsin has adopted public domain cites for
cases decided after 12/31/1999
www.courts.state.wi.us
Sample cite:
Glaeske v. Shaw, 2003 WI App 71, 261 Wis. 2d 549,
661 N.W.2d 72
Locating state statutes
States post their statutory codes on the Internet;
not designated as official (and may not be
designated as authentic)
www.state.ma.us/legis
Try a gateway site for links to each state, e.g. LII
Legal Information Institute
www.law.cornell.edu
Serves as a gateway to federal, state and
international legal research web sites
Good resource for state-level materials,
e.g. Nevada regulations
Locating state regulations
Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law
School – use as a starting point
Problem with regulation tracking: any
proposed regulations?
Default to checking that state agency’s website
for notices of pending regulations
LII – Links to Nevada primary material
Locating federal cases
Note: No official public domain cite except for Supreme
Court
Findlaw
Find text of Newdow decision – case regarding Pledge of
Allegiance (Seeks to strike “under God”)
Need to know that it was decided in Fed. courts
Findlaw – Must know which circuit to search
Locate decision from 9th Cir.; text is in pdf format, but how to
cite it?
http://news.findlaw.com/usatoday/docs/conlaw/newdowus62602o
pn.pdf
How to know the status of this case?
No free citator on the web
Can use Shepard’s or Westlaw with a
credit card; approximately $5.00 to check
a cite …
BUT…
Need the Federal Reporter cite!
Google
Search Google for:
Newdow and pledge
Yields a Washington Post article that
supplies the Supreme Court’s docket
number
Supreme Court site – Docket info
Supreme Court Docket
No. 02-1624 Status: GRANTED
Title: Elk Grove Unified School District and David
W. Gordon, Superintendent, Petitioners v. Michael
A. Newdow, et al.
Docketed: May 9, 2003
Lower Ct: United States Court of Appeals for the
Ninth Circuit Case Nos.:(00-16423) Decision
Date: February 26, 2002 Rehearing Denied:
February 28, 2003
Find Newdow opinion on Supreme Court
site, but still no cite – just slip opinion
Federal Government Sites
Executive Branch
G.P.O. Access
Gateway to full-text U.S. government legal
materials, esp. administrative law
www.gpoaccess.gov
Includes: Federal Register, 1994-present;
Code of Federal Regulations, 1996- present;
Public Laws
Federal Government Sites
Legislative Branch
http://thomas.loc.gov
Includes: Full-text access to bills, 101st
Congress to 109th (current); Congressional
Record; Committee Reports, 104th Congress to
present; Treaties.
N.B. Can search multiple Congresses now
Federal Government Sites
Judiciary
Link to courts from www.uscourts.gov
Supplies links to all courts, including individual
circuits’ websites
Current (last few years) opinions available; issue re
citation
Court Rules, Forms and Docket Info
www.llrx.com/courtrules
Links to over 1,400 sources for state and
federal court rules, forms and dockets
International Legal Materials
International law definition:
“Law that governs relations between nation-states. In
modern times, international law has evolved to include
the relations between states and international
organizations and even individuals.”
E.g. Charter of the U.N.; Universal Declaration of Human
Rights; Geneva Convention
Web resource:
http://www.asil.org/resource/ergintr1.htm
International Legal Materials
Foreign Law Materials
Foreign Law definition:
“Law of another country”
Ex: What are the inheritance laws of Germany?
Many foreign law metapages available:
http://www.law.harvard.edu/library/services/research/g
uides/international/web_resources/internet_foreign_law.
php
World Law Institute
http://www.worldlii.org/catalog/215.html
Library of Congress – Guide to Law Online
http://www.loc.gov/law/guide/nations.html
Summary – Free vs. Fee-Based Sites
Free sites
Watch for authenticity
Reliable
provider/creator of site?
May find info re gun
laws on NRA site but
what incentive to give a
balanced view of
subject?
Commercial sites, e.g.
LexisNexis, Westlaw,
etc.
Incur costs but reap
benefit of reliable
source
Official citation available
for legal materials
Citator services
invaluable