Transcript Internet Legal Research - Cleveland

Internet Legal Research for
Professor Mika’s Legal Drafting
Class
April 21, 2010
Outline
Forms – form sites, gov’t, statutory
 Sample transactional docs & pleadings
 Case Map
 Interactive Forms

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

Forms

Forms and Practice Materials
Resource Guide
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

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

Attorney Work Product Sites
• JDSupra Documents are tied
to attorney profiles
• Scribd
• DocStoc
• LawLink
TRY IT

Look for a lease form on JD Supra

Find information about the attorney who
submitted the form
Evaluating Web Sites
Credibility: author; possible bias,
accuracy.
 Currency / Updating, Coverage
 Writing Quality
 Ease of use
 Stability

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.
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

Try it

Find an executive compensation plan
which provides for a parking space
More sophisticated SEC Filing
databases
Lexis and Westlaw
 Mergentonline – Available via University
Library, Cleveland Public
 SECInfo.com

Government Agency Forms
Forms.gov
 State of Ohio - Agency Forms

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

Court Dockets
PACER – Federal Court dockets
 LLRX to find state court dockets


See – Legal research on the WebDockets
Dockets - Ohio
Ohio – full text of documents on Summit
and Montgomery County & others
 Full text on Ohio Supreme Court docket,
2006 and later

PACER
8 cents a page
 Money savers:

Justia Federal District Court Dockets
 FreeCourtDockets.com
 Recap
 PACER Recycling Center

Court Dockets

May search a case opinion database
first, find case, then go on docket
Free Case Law
Google Scholar
 Ohio Supreme Court
 More: Legal Research on the Web –
Case Law

A2J Author
• Creates question and answer session to
help fill out a form
• For law schools, legal service
organizations, courts and members for
non-commercial use
• Kansas Divorce Forms
• NPADO.org – noncommercial use only
Statutory Forms
American Law Sources On-Line
(ALSO)
 Ohio Revised Code

Legal Drafting Advice
• Cleveland Marshall Law Library’s
Research Guide: Forms and Practice
Materials
• AdamsDrafting Blog