LBSC 764 ACCESS TO LEGAL INFORMATION
Spring 2003
Syllabus
Roberta I. Shaffer, MLn, JD
Course Instructor
Office:
4111H Hornbake
Tele: 301-405-1260
Email: shafferr@umd.edu
Office
Hours: Tuesday, 4 to 5 p.m. and by appointment
Syllabus
Required
Texts and Readings
Assignments
Talking
Points
SYLLABUS: GENERAL
BACKGROUND
This course will introduce students to legal information from the
perspective of:
· Its historical roots;
· American research process;
·
Development of products, tools and services for legal research;
· Specific research requirements for specific applications
within specific legal settings;
· Particular attributes of users
of legal information
· Non-law resources and their role within
the legal research process
· Ethical and legal considerations in
the creation, distribution, access to, and use of legal
information
The course will not focus on providing students
with legal research skills per se, but students will use legal
materials directly and actively during the course, and should begin
to appreciate the peculiar characteristics of legal research, and
legal materials and their proper citation.
The course is oriented towards students who wish to pursue a
career in the information professions in which knowledge of legal
research and resources will have some importance. It will not be
assumed that every student will choose a career as a law librarian,
although career opportunities in law librarianship will be
discussed.
There are no specific pre- or co-requisites for the course.
However, it is expected that students have a basic understanding of
user behavior, government documents, the legislative process, and
general reference and research practices within the information
professions. Prior experience with or education in law, public
policy or paralegal studies will be useful, but will not be
duplicative with the topics covered in this course.
COURSE GOALS
The course goals are derived from the Subject Competencies
identified for Law Librarians and approved by the American
Association of Law Libraries (1988)
[www.aallnet.org/prodev/competencies.asp and
www.aallnet.org/about/graduate_guidelines.asp] to enable students
to:
· Locate pertinent materials of both a law and law-related
nature, and recognize their importance and relevance to the issue at
hand;
· Comprehend the relationships among branches and levels of
governance in terms of both the substance and procedural aspects of
law;
· Acquire a thorough understanding of the processes by which
law is created and applied to a given problem or situation;
·
Possess some knowledge of the legal professions and the public to
appropriately address the legal information needs of the population
being served;
· Develop a working vocabulary of legal
terminology, and a facility with legal citation and
abbreviations;
· Gain knowledge of the literature of the law in
its various formats; and
· Use and disseminate information in
ways that are both ethical and legal, and in keeping with generally
accepted professional standards and practices.
TOPICAL OUTLINE
Note: The topics indicated below will roughly coincide with class
sessions. Dates are provided as a guideline, but may not be adhered
to strictly. Students are encouraged to read materials as assigned
in order to balance their workload.
Jan. 28 Course Introduction
Structure of the
American Legal System
Readings: Friedman, A History of American
Law, pgs. 17 – 27 and pgs. 621 – 632
(Wasserman Reserve) and
Nutshell, pgs. 1-- 18
Feb. 04 Structure of the American Sources of the
Law
The Settings of Legal Research and Use of Sources
Readings: Dragich and Shuldberz articles (Wasserman Reserve) and
Nutshell, pgs. 19 - 43
Feb. 11 The Sources of the Law
Readings:
Nutshell, pgs. 44 – 167; 206 – 242; 243 – 262
Feb. 18 Legislative History
Readings:
Nutshell, pgs. 168 -- 205 and Gebbia-Penett and Schank articles
(Wasserman Reserve)
Additional Readings to be distributed in
class by guest lecturer
Charlotte White, [retired] Legislative
Historian, Covington & Burling
Feb. 25 The Process of Legal
Research
Readings: Nutshell, pgs. 263 – 298 and Berring
articles-- On Not Throwing Out the Baby and Legal Information and
the Search…(Wasserman Reserve)
Mar. 04 Online Legal Research:
Westlaw/KeyCite
Readings: Anzalone, KeyCite Research Guide &
McClaren, Westlaw Research Guide and Dabney article (Wasserman
Reserve)
Mar. 11 Online Legal Research:
Lexis/Nexis/Shepard’s
Readings: Readings TBA and distributed in
class
NOTE: Class on both Mar. 4th and Mar. 11th may take place in
downtown Washington at the offices of the two vendors. They are both
near metro stops.
Mar. 18 Legal Citation
Characteristics of
Legal Information and Users
Readings: Bouchoux, Cite-Checker: A
Hands-On Guide to Learning…
pgs. 1 – 91 skim only (Wasserman
Reserve)
Odgen, Hibbitts, and Schauer & Wise articles
(Wasserman Reserve)
Note: Final Exam will be distributed in class/Due May 13th
Mar. 25 SPRING BREAK—No class
Readings:
Please be up to date on all previously listed readings by April
1st.
Apr. 01 Tour: Law Library of the Library of
Congress
101 Independence Ave., SE/Meet at kiosk near entrance
Madison Building, 2nd Fl.
Metro: Capitol
South
Apr. 08 Tour: Bureau of National
Affairs
1231 25th St., NW
Meet in front of building
Metro:
Foggy Bottom
Apr. 15 Tour: Law Firms/Downtown
Washington
TBA
Metro: Metro Center
Apr. 22 Tour: Howard University School of Law
Library
2929 Van Ness St., NW/Meet at inside entrance to the
Mercer Law Library at bottom of stairway.
Metro: Van Ness
All tour dates and locations listed above are
tentative.
Tour of the United States Supreme Court
Library--TBA
Due to security regulations must occur during
normal
business hours
Apr. 29 Student Project Presentations
May 06 Student Project Presentations
May 13 Review of Final Exam
Course Wrap-up
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Note: A detailed description of each assignment may be found at
the end of this syllabus
ASSIGNMENT: DUE DATE:
Tour Reports (20%) April 29th
Student Projects (20%) April
22nd (topic approval by Mar. 18th)
Final Exam (20%) May
13th
Personal Legal Glossary (20%) May 13th
Law in the News
(7%--7 articles) Weekly Feb. 4th through Mar. 18th
Class
Participation (13%) Ongoing
COURSE GROUND RULES
· All assignments and requirements must be submitted as indicated
on the date that they are due. Students who anticipate that they
will not be able to submit an assignment on the due date and in the
format required, must contact the instructor before the class due
date. A penalty will be imposed by any improper or late submissions
as follows: 5 points for one day late, and then 50% credit
thereafter up to one week. Assignments will not be accepted seven
days after they are due. A student will not be eligible to get
credit for the class unless all of the assignments have been
submitted by the end of the semester;
· All work must be
presented in any entirely professional way, and be free of any
grammatical, typographical or citation errors or
inconsistencies;
· All work submitted must be the original and
independent work product of the student’s, unless the instructor has
indicated a different expectation;
· All discussions must be
open, and opinions must be clearly stated as such;
· Any
statement of fact must be verifiable to a recognized source;
·
Full respect and attention shall be given to colleagues’ ideas and
comments;
· Every member of a team must contribute and
participate to the full benefit of the team;
· Students must be
flexible in their approach to learning and be open to learning
opportunities;
· Students must be willing to have fun, maintain a
sense of humor, and be able to laugh at themselves.
REQUIRED TEXTS &
READINGS
Anzalone, KeyCite Research Guide (West Group, 2000). To be
distributed in class.*
Berring, “Legal Information and The Search for Cognitive
Authority,” 88 California Law Rev. 1673 (2000). (Wasserman
Reserve)
Berring, “On Not Throwing Out the Baby: Planning the Future…,” 83
California Law Rev. 615 (1995). (Wasserman Reserve)
Bouchoux, Cite-Checker: A Hands-On Guide to Learning Citation
Form (West/Thomson Learning, 2001). On Wasserman Reserve.
The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (The Harvard Law
Review et al, 17th ed.) May be purchased at Maryland Book Exchange
or most bookstores.
Cohen and Olson, Legal Research in a Nutshell (West Group, 2000).
To be distributed in class.*
Dabney, “The Curse of Thamus: An Analysis…,” 78 Law Library J. 5
(1986). On Wasserman Reserve.
Dragich, “Will the Federal Courts of Appeals Perish If They
Publish,” 44 The American Univ. Law Rev. 757 (1995). On Wasserman
Reserve.
Friedman, A History of American Law (Simon & Schuster, 1985).
On Wasserman Reserve.
Gebbia-Penetti, “Statutory Interpretation, Democratic
Legitimacy…,” 21 Seton Hall Legis. J. 233 (1997). On Wasserman
Reserve.
Hibbitts, “Last Writes? Reassessing the Law Review…” 71 NYU Law
Rev. 615 (1996).
On Wasserman Reserve.
McClaren, Westlaw Research Guide (West Group, 2001). To be
distributed in class.*
Ogden, “Mastering the Lawless Science of our Law…” 85 Law
Library Journal 1 (1993). On Wasserman Reserve.
Schank, “An Eassy on the Role of Legislative Histories…,” 80 Law
Library J. 391 (1988). On Wasserman Reserve.
Schauer and Wise,“Nonlegal Information and the Delegalization of
Law,” 29 J. of Legal Studies 495 (2000). On Wasserman Reserve.
Shuldberz, “Digital Influence: Technology and Unpublished
Opinions…,” 85 California Law Rev. 541 (1997). On Wasserman Reserve.
Students are strongly urged to purchase a pocket-style law
dictionary. These are available at most bookstores and through web
booksellers.
Note: During the course of the semester various articles and
other materials will be distributed during class. It is expected
that students will treat these as required readings for the course,
unless some other expectation is stated.
* Indicates that the materials were generously donated by the
publisher. This also includes free access to the WESTLAW
database.
RECOMMENDED TEXTS
Berring and Edinger, Finding the Law (West Group, 1999).
Berring and Edinger, Legal Research Survival Manual (West Group,
2002).
Garner, Black’s Law Dictionary (West Group, 2nd pocket ed,
2001).
Kunz, Schmedemann, Downs and Bateson, The Process of Legal
Research (Aspen Law & Business, 4th ed., 1996).
McKinney. Legal Research: A Practical Guide and
Self-Instructional Workbook (West Group, 3rd ed, 2001) and Woods,
Computer-Assisted Legal Research Problem Set (West Group, 3rd ed,
2001) Note: Woods is a companion text to McKinney.
ACCESS TO LEGAL
INFORMATION--ASSIGNMENTS
Roberta I. Shaffer,
Instructor
Spring 2003
TOUR REPORT (20%)
Students are expected to participate in all the scheduled tours
and submit a report on the tour sites. The report is due on April
29th in class, but may be submitted electronically before the
beginning of class. Reports should be word processed and
double-spaced. The entire report should not exceed four (4) pages.
You may address each site separately, or compare and contrast them.
The tour report should cover the following points but your
additional commentary is encouraged.
· Who are the clientele/users of the library?
· Do these users
present any unique or specific research needs? How does the library
and staff address these needs in terms of services, collection,
staff expertise, and physical layout?
· Were there any particular
issues that the tour leader addressed, which intrigued, concerned or
challenged you?
· Would you consider employment at this site?
Give your reason(s) for your affirmative or negative response.
STUDENT PROJECTS (20%)
Students may work on a project independently or in teams of two.
Choose a topic of substantive law; a pressing legal issues that has
a strong legal information component; a technological application
relating to law or legal research; a “hot topic” relating to legal
research, legal publication, information public policy or the like.
Submit this topic for instructor’s approval before the beginning of
class on March 18th. Please feel free to consult with the instructor
before the 18th for topic ideas or assistance in refining your
topic.
You will then write a research paper that addresses the topic in
a way that demonstrates your understanding of the legal research
process, the tools thereof, and any particular strengths or weakness
in the information per se or the formats in which information on the
topic is collected, accessed and distributed to its intended
clientele(s).
Your paper should not exceed twelve (12) pages of double-spaced
word-processed text. Any citation to legal materials should conform
to the rules set forth in A Uniform System of Citation (17th ed.).
The project’s report is due in class on April 22nd, but may be
submitted electronically before the beginning of class. Project
papers will be placed on Wasserman reserve by Wednesday, April 23rd
. These are required reading. Students will make 10 to 15 minute
oral project presentations to the class in class on April 29th and
May 6th. In addition, the class and the instructor will be afforded
5 to 10 minutes per presentation for questions/comments.
FINAL EXAM (20%)
The final exam will present you with a series of basic legal
research questions that you will be required to answer. Your answers
must conform to the rules set forth in A Uniform System of Citation
(17th ed.). You must also outline the approach you took to do the
research and the steps you took to arrive at your answer(s).
The exam is due in class on May 13th, but will be distributed in
class on March 18th. Students may work in teams and may enlist the
assistance of anyone who has expertise in legal research. However,
any teamwork or assistance must be noted with the answers to the
questions. The instructor will make herself available at selected
area law libraries to assist students, as well. We will discuss our
answers and research process during class on May 13th.
PERSONAL LEGAL GLOSSARY (20%)
During the course of the semester, students should come across
unfamiliar terms or words used in the context of law, and should
begin to maintain a personal legal glossary of these terms and
words. It is expected that any unfamiliar word or term or its usage
in a legal context will be verified through use of a dictionary,
thesaurus, directory, or other legal research tool, by way of class
discussion, or through conversation with the instructor. These words
and terms should be defined in a way that the student will best
understand them (in the student’s own words) and captured in the
glossary.
The Personal Legal Glossary is due in class on May 13th with
words and terms presented in alphabetical order, word processed, and
single-spaced entries. The length of the glossary will be entirely
dependent upon the student’s knowledge coming into the class, and
the depth of knowledge that the student desires upon completing the
course.
LAW IN THE NEWS (7%)
Every day the popular media is filled with news stories that are
directly about the law or have some significant legal aspect to
them. Beginning with our class on Feb. 4th and up to and including
our class on Mar.18th, students should identify a law or law-related
article to bring to class each week and discuss. Each student is
responsible for a total of seven (7) article submissions. It is not
necessary to provide any written analysis or personal commentary
about the articles. Be sure to include your name on the article and
a full citation to the source.
As you find materials in the media, consider their topics/issues
as possible areas for your class project. You may also use this
assignment as an opportunity to begin to collect background
materials on the topic that you have chosen.
CLASS PARTICIPATION (13%)
Everyone in the class has something to contribute, which is drawn
from where they have been or where they are going within the
information profession. Those who are new to legal research will
bring their fresh perspectives and experiences using materials in
other disciplines. Those who have already done legal research can
share their impressions and war stories.
It is important that we all participate, but we should be sure
that we do not loose sight of the fact that participation includes
being a good listener and reactor, as well as expressing our own
ideas. Class participation is an excellent vehicle for peer-to-peer
learning, which is one of the defining characteristics of the
graduate school experience.
Class participation is particularly valuable in bring salient
points from readings into the classroom lectures and discussions, or
in presenting areas in the readings, the tours and the assignments
that are not clear to the student. There will be ample opportunity
for active participation in the “law in the news” discussions in
class and in the Q&A during the project presentations.
Caveat: If a student has any question about an assignment’s
purpose, parameters, or proper approach to problem solving, the
student should seek clarification and guidance from the instructor
directly. Office hours, meeting by appointment, email, the
telephone, and pre- and post-class offer a number of options.
Access to Legal
Information Talking Points
Roberta I. Shaffer
College of Information Studies/The College
with Connections
University of Maryland—College Park
Office:
Hornbake South Wing 4111h
Tele: 301-405-1260
Email:
rs371@umail.umd.edu
Two major legal systems in world today: Civil and Common Law
Common Law—derived from England with triangular origins in
Property, Contract & Torts. Came to US colonies, but amended
greatly even from early pre-republic years do to different cultural
climate in US—business and territorial expansion
HOWEVER, look at how many states have legal roots that are not in
Common Law: 15 from Louisiana Purchase (La, Ak, Mo, Iw, ND, Tx, SD,
NM, Nb, Ks, Wy, Mn, Ok, Co, and Mt), add Spanish colonies: Florida,
Calif, and Az. Consider Dutch in NY, French in Maine, religious
influence on laws of MD, Ut, Pa, and Ma.
Unique features:
· Follow precedent/Stare Decisis
· Judicial Review (the only
key balancer not in Constitution)
· 2 legal jurisdictions with
parallel authority: States and Federal Government
· Look at legal
problem from perspective of legal SUBSTANCE and legal PROCEDURE. Are
of equal value.
· Custom called “common law” is “memorialized”
and built (Dragich uses Coral Reef analogy) through case law
FORMS OF LEGAL PRACTICE
·
Transaction
· Litigation
· Advocacy
· Judicial
·
Legislative
· Academic
FORMS OF LEGAL WRITING
· Judicial
· Scholarly
· Practice & Process
·
Adversarial
· Legislative
· Academic (the unique nature of the
casebook)
VALUE OF AUTHORITY OF LEGAL RESOURCES
· Primary/Mandatory
· Secondary/Persuasive
· Finding Tools
or Practice Guides (no authority/not cited)
· VIP in US law is also concept of COGNITIVE AUTHORITY
PRIMARY/MANDATORY AUTHORITY (can use primary
authority to locate other primary authority through citators)
· Constitutions
· Statutes (official & annotated)
·
Cases (official/nominative & commercial/value-added)
·
Administrative Rules & Regulations (official & looseleaf
)
· Ordinances and local codes (official)
SECONDARY/PERSUASIVE AUTHORITY (Collective or
Critical—Use these sources to locate primary authority)
· Treatises
· Law Reviews
· Hornbooks
·
Restatements
· Official [Government] Reports, Statistics, Maps,
Election Results…
· Primary Sources of other “peer”
jurisdiction
· Uniform Laws and Model Codes
Secondary Authority for Limited Purposes:
· Legal Encyclopedias
· American Law Reports
FINDING TOOLS & PRACTICE GUIDES (no
authority/not cited)
· Digests (Century/Decennial/General, Regional, Jurisdictional,
and Subject)
· Citation & Abbreviation Guides
· Citators
(Shepards & KeyCite)
· Legal Dictionaries, Legal Thesauri
& Legal Maxims (The big Bs)
· Words & Phrases
· Legal
Periodical Indexes
· Looseleaf Services
· Directories
·
Form Books
· National Reporter Bluebook
· Computer-assisted
databases and websites
· Legal Bibliography
TRADITIONAL METHODS OF FINDING PRIMARY AND SECONDARY
AUTHORITY
· Descriptive Word Indexes
· Legal Concept
· Citing/Cited
Authority
· Annotations
· Footnotes
· Popular Name
Tables
· Topical Outlines
· Topic and Key Number
·
Alphabetic Listings
· Full-text/key word or phrase
US Contribution to Law is in large part through its system of
bibliography that is about 120 years old and has been evolving:
· Comprehensive and Integrative
· Provides Mechanisms for
Currentness
· Provides Mechanisms for
Harmonization/Comparative
· Developed in a culture that values
“sharing and access to information”
· Developed in a culture that
sought to balance enterprise and regulation
· Delegation of
“authority” to publish and distribute taken very seriously (Evil
Empires or Benevolent Despots)
· Found role for “legal
looseleaf, ” citator, law reviews
· Early adopters of digital
formats
· Early adopters of full-text searching despite fluidity
of language of the law
· Private Sector Model
Negative Impacts:
· Taxonomy dependent
· Loopholes to Access
· Financial
considerations for distribution
· Lack of editorial
diversity
TRADITIONAL METHODS FOR UPDATING LEGAL
RESOURCES
· Looseleaf Replacement Pages
· Pocket Parts
· Advance
Sheets
· Web-based or database
· Slip laws or slip
opinions
· Supplements
LEGAL Encyclopedias (straddle line betw. Secondary &
Finding)
American Jurisprudence 2nd (AmJur2d)—federal/statutory
Corpus
Juris Secundum (CJS)—state/case law, common law, x-ref to treatises
PLUS state legal encyclopedias for 8 most populous states
West Federal Procedure, Lawyers’ Edition: specialized
encyclopedia with Federal civil, criminal and administrative law for
both substantive and procedural issues.
Treatises & Hornbooks (Strong Secondary Authorities)
· Originally written by legal scholars; today editorial
boards
· Historical development of a specific legal concept in
specialized areas of law
· Updated through one of traditional
methods (usually pocket parts/supplements)
· Very respected by
courts
· Scholarly writing style
· Not practice or “how to”
oriented
Notable Examples: Moore’s Federal Practice; Wigmore on Evidence;
Prosser on Torts; Corbin on Contracts; LaFave & Scott
Substantive Criminal Law; McCarthy on Trademarks and Unfair
Competition; Chisum on Patents; Nimmer on Copyright; Collier on
Bankruptcy; Rotunda & Nowak Treatise on Constitutional Law;
Wright & Miller Federal Practice and Procedure; Scott on
Trusts….
Blackstone Commentaries (The Bible and The Bard—The Three
Bs)
Kent Commentaries
Restatements (Strong Secondary Authorities)
· 1932 – 1946 Response to overwhelming case law going in
different directions; influence of civil law trained immigrant
lawyers
· American Law Institute: Leading Thinkers from among
practitioners, bench, teachers; and legislators (today some “expert”
laymen)
· Black Letter Law “Restated” in simple, but legal
terms
· Provide examples and variations
· “best practices” and
evolving practices
Restatement Topics: Agency; Conflict of Laws; Contracts;
Judgments; Property; Restitution; Security; Torts; and Trusts
Added: Foreign Relations; Trusts—Prudent Investor; Unfair
Competition; Suretyship & Guaranty; and Property—Wills and other
donative transfers
Law Reviews & Journals (Strong Secondary Authority/Source
for new theories of law)
· Often first place to introduce or
critique a new legal doctrine
· Law school or scholarly
institutions sponsor
· Very American form of scholarly legal
writing
· Cover law generally with some second-tier reviews and
journals that focus on specific subjects: international;
environmental; intellectual property; taxation; gender; law and
_________.
· Scholars (as well as practitioners and judges) write
articles and students edit (check citations in footnotes)
·
Students also write “comments” and “casenotes”
· Highly
analytical
· Valued for narrative and FOOTNOTES
· Often catchy
titles
Access to articles:
· Shepards and KeyCite
· Index to Legal Periodicals (1908 –
present); subject access loosely based on West; author access; case
and statute tables; added books in 1994; scholarly with coverage
limited to law only sources
· Current Law Index/Legal Resources
Index/Legal Trac (same content with different titles for different
format); began in 1980; Uses LCSH; includes newspapers and other
materials not “law” per se; more practice and practitioner
oriented
Cases
Play critical social role in US Society: opinions of court
promote basic values of stability, certainty, predictability,
consistency, and fidelity; highly important in diverse population.
REACTIVE to social issues.
· Decisions of courts (cases) are published in books called
Reporters.
· Most precedent in appellate and courts of last
resort, except on Federal level.
· West Publishing Co. leading
editor, publisher and distributor of federal cases at District Court
(Trial/one in every state, DC and federal territories)—set of books
called Federal Supplement now in second series. Official publication
of about 1/5 cases.
· and Courts of Appeals (intermediate
appellate—13 Circuits with states grouped by geography)—set of books
called Federal Reporter now in third series. Official publication of
about 50% of cases.
· Federal Rules Decision—collection of
federal district court cases not published in Federal Supplement.
This cases deal only with procedural, not substantive, legal
issues.
· Issue of “official publication” (see NYT article
distributed in class)
New rule of law (overturning or
substantially changing an established precedent; Entirely new
doctrine; resolving conflict among peer or lower courts; or high
public interest.
· US Supreme Court has official (government) set
of books plus many others that are commercially published with added
editorial features.
· States mostly given up publishing official
case reports and allow West to serve as official reporter through
the 7 regions of the National Reporter System. This started in 1887
with Digest system. Regions here based loosely on geography and more
on common interests in 1887.
· Can find official state reporter
citations in National Reporter Bluebook. White pages give state cite
from regional. Blue pages give regional from state cite. Also can
get in Shepards and KeyCite.
· Cases first come out as Slip
Opinions, then Advance Sheets, and finally bound volumes with cases
placed in chronological order of receipt at West.
· West and
certain looseleaf services will publish decisions from specialized
federal courts. Examples of these Reporters are Military Justice;
Bankruptcy; Federal Claims; Veterans Appeals; US Tax Court;
Maritime; Environmental; Patents; Fair Employment Practices; and
Trade.
· The Administrative Office of the US Courts is the
governance body for all federal courts.
· The Federal Judicial
Center is an independent, but official government agency that
studies trends in courts.
· The National Center for State Courts
is like the FJC, but for states. It is located in Williamsburg, Va.
Finding Tools for Cases:
· Digests (Century, Decennial [after 1986, every 5 yrs], General,
jurisdiction specific and subject-specific.
· Shepard and
KeyCite: The HISTORY AND TREATMENT of a case
· Encyclopedias
·
Law Review and Treatise footnotes
· Looseleaf Service
(practitioner oriented)
· Words & Phrases—legal definition
from cases and statutes of vernacular words
· Legal Dictionary
(Blacks, Bouvier, Ballentine)legal words and legal (many Latin
phrases)
· Maxims (Broom’s)
· Burton’s Legal Thesaurus (3rd
ed, 1998)
· American Law Reports Annotated (ALRs)
· Annotated
Codes
· Fred R. Shapiro Oxford Dictionary of American Legal
Quotations (1993)
Statutes (including Constitutions) compare to
cases--PROACTIVE
Constitutions set up the structure of government and the
relationship of government to citizens and government entities
relationships to each other
(balance of powers and division of
authority).
Copies of constitutions usually found in official and annotated
codes.
Codes are organized by subject and accessed by way of an
index, title outline, or table of popular names of the statute or
act.
Session laws are issued in sequential order of passage and are
usually “official.”
USCAAN and USCS track legislative life of a
statute
USCA and USCS track the application life of a statute.
These are unofficial annotated codes that add much information to
the mere reproduction of the statute under the appropriate title (50
Titles in USC)
· There are subject compilations of state codes that give you all
state statutory cites for a particular subject.
· Uniform
Laws—starting with UCC. All collected and annotated in ULA
·
Model Codes
· Suggested State Legislation (Council of State
Governments)
Administrative Law (often called the Fourth Branch of
Government)
1800’s—not too much administrative law on federal level; states’
rights and laissez-faire public policy to encourage expansion west
and growth of agriculture and manufacturing.
By 1930’s—social welfare (labor laws!) and business regulation
(anti-trust, securities regulation)
1960’s—child care and health care; education; environment
2000’s—treaties; world organization (NAFTA, WTO, WIPO)
Federal Register 1936—administrative agencies pass
regulations
CFR 1938—50 titles roughly akin to USC. Annual
updating with about ¼ of titles at a time. Check List of Sections
Affected (LSAs) to update CFR with FR activity.
Administrative
Procedure Act of 1946—set out standards since agencies were hearing
two hats—that of legislature by enacting regulations and that of
judge by enforcing those regulations.
By 1940’s American law invention of looseleaf service—access to
agency rules, regulations and decisions in one place with much
practitioner oriented advice. Big names in publishing—CCH and
BNA.
Cover most of the highly regulated industries: tax, securities,
environment, banking, antitrust, labor, transportation, educational
and health entitlements…
Shepards and KeyCite cover CFR citations in court decisions and
law review articles.
States have regulatory agencies and codes much akin to CFR. BNA
publishes “Directory of State Administrative Codes and Registers”
(2d ed, 1995) and “A Guide to Administrative Regulations of the
States and Territories” (annual).
Local Codes and Ordinances—often not published and disseminated
except for very large cities. Usually have to go to county law
library to find collection or now on websites. Carroll is national
publisher that publishes selected codes and comparative guides to
large cities and counties.
Directories
Lawyers—Martindale-Hubbell and West Legal Directory
(WLD)
Judges—Yellow Books, WANTS, BNA, and introductory pages of
case reporters
Agency Staffs—yellow books and website of
agency
Form Books divided by forms that cover transactional practice
needs (fill in the blanks and exemplars) and litigation forms and
checklists. In litigation, big name is AmJur (connected to
encyclopedia and ALRs). In other areas, big names are West, Rabkin
and Johnson, Bender’s, Moore’s, and Michie.
Newspapers and Bar Journals
National Law Journal; Law and Technology News; ABA J; Legal Times
of Washington…
Attributes: Practical, Newsy, Ethics and Professional News,
Product Reviews
Key Professional Associations
AALL
SLA Legal Division
ABA and state bar
associations
AALS
Citation Guides
· Bieber’s Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations (4th Ed., 1998)
·
David Raistreck, Index to Legal Citation and Abbreviations (2d ed,
1993)
· The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (17th ed.,
first edition mid-1920’s)
· Various Court Rules (consult specific
court’s citation and document formatting requirements)
· AALL
Universal Citation Guide (1999)
· Deborah E. Bouchoux, Cite
Checker: A Hands-On Guide to Learning Citation Form (2001)
·
Association of Legal Writing Directors, ALWD Citation Manual (2000)
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