Transcript Free Electronic Legal Research for Summer Clerkships

Free Electronic Legal Research
for Summer Clerkships
Sue Altmeyer
April, 2010
Topics Covered
Loislaw and Casemaker
 Free Internet Sources
 Ohio Citation Manual

Loislaw and Casemaker
Loislaw and Casemaker
Links to Loislaw and Casemaker on the
library’s Electronic Resources page
Have primary sources – cases, statutes,
regulations for states and federal
Loislaw and Casemaker
What does Lexis/Westlaw have these do
not?
 Editorial features – headnotes,
annotations
 Practice Books
 Law Review articles
 Better search mechanisms and coverage
Loislaw
Lois Law
 Instructions for obtaining password

Casemaker

Casemaker –Free w/ free student OSBA
membership
Best low cost database for Ohio
 Ohio unreporteds back to 1981

Free Internet
Benefits of Low Cost Databases
Over Free Internet
Better Search Mechanisms
 Coverage
 May be more current
 Trustworthiness
 Aggregated Info – One stop shopping

What’s on the Free Web
All US Supreme Court Cases
 Reported Federal Appellate from 1882
 Some Unreported Fed App, Fed District
 State cases: reported – 1950unreported: early-mid nineties

What’s on the Free Web, contd
Statutes & Regulations- federal and
states
 Municipal Ordinances
 Law Review Articles
 Forms
 Dockets, Briefs & Pleadings


LOTS more!
Start with a Good Internet Portal
From the Library Home Page – Legal
Research on the Web
 Public Records & People Finders
 Cornell Legal Information Institute (LII)
 FindLaw
 Other Portals

American Law Sources Online
Use LEGAL Search Engines
Cornell University Legal Research
Engine
 LexisWeb
 FindLaw LawCrawler
 Justia
 List of Search Legal Engines


Try with ADA example
Case law
Legal Research Workstation - Case Law
 Google Scholar – state reported 1950-, fed
circuit/ district 1923 Ohio Supreme Court
 LexisOne – Last 10 yrs, Lexis searching


Demo Ohio Supreme Court case search
Gov’t Sites
GPO Access – Fed’l Govt. will be FDSys
 A-Z Index of U.S. Government Depts. &
Agencies
 E-CFR – current to last Federal Register,
one day or so
 Thomas.gov – Federal Legislative
History

Dockets
PACER – Federal Court dockets
 LLRX to find state court dockets
 Ohio – full text of documents on Summit
and Montgomery County
 See – Legal research on the WebDockets

Other Web Sites to Know

C-M Guide Forms & Practice Materials

Library Research Guides, ex. Major
Legal Treatises by Subject

Martindale Hubbell Law Digest
Ohio Citation Manual
Ohio Supreme Court >Clerk of Court and
Case Info>Reporter of Decisions>note
1992 Manual of Citations, Revisions to
manual
 Camtasia presentation re. Ohio public
domain cite, citation manual, reported v.
unreported

Citation format
Cases decided after May 1, 2002 must
use web cite, and Official Reporter cite.
Revisions to Manual of Citations,
Bluebook p. 226
 Bonacorsi v. Wheeling & Lake Erie Ry.
Co., 95 Ohio St.3d 314, 2002-Ohio-2220,
767 N.E.2d 707
 Brown v. McClain Constr. Co., 3d Dist.
No. 16-01-19, 2002-Ohio-2834

Citation format
Web cite not available, and case is reported:
Mers v. Dispatch Printing Co. (1985), 19 Ohio
St.3d 100, 483 N.E.2d 150.
Compare to Bluebook format - Mers v. Dispatch
Printing Co., 483 N.E.2d 150 (Ohio 1985)
Citation Format
Web cite not available and case not
published :

Jones v. Brown (Apr. 4, 1998), 8th Dist.
No. 18220, or Jones v. Brown (Apr. 4,
1998), Cuyahoga App. No. 18220
Library Resources
C-M - Lexis Academic
 Cleveland Public - Ohio Westlaw
 Pro se Lexis - Justice Center
 County Law Libraries – may charge fee
to use computer. Lexis, Westlaw or both

E-Handout

http://www.law.csuohio.edu/lawlibrary/re
sources/lawpubs/free.html
C|M|LAW Library Can Help
Call or email us - Contact a Librarian
 Stop in for review of print materials or
online materials
