Legal Writing and Research Commons^™

Influences Of The Digest Classification System: What Can We Know?, Richard A. Danner

Faculty Scholarship

Robert C. Berring has called West Publishing Company’s American Digest System “the key aspect of the new form of legal literature” that West and other publishers developed in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Berring argued that West’s digests provided practicing lawyers not only the means for locating precedential cases, but a “paradigm for thinking about the law itself” that influenced American lawyers until the development of online legal research systems in the 1970s. This article discusses questions raised by Berring’s scholarship, and examines the late nineteenth and early twentieth century legal environment in which the West digests were …

Law Libraries And Options Galore, Gail F. Zwirner

Law Faculty Publications

Ms. Zwirner outlines some of the challenges facing the researcher in deciding which resources to use in pursuing information, and makes a case for the continued value of professional law librarians' insight and experience for assisting in these pursuits.

Websites With Free Legal Information, Patricia Morgan

UF Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Case Law Research Using Westlaw Campus, Robert Berry

Librarian Publications

Presentation by Robert Berry on the basics of Case law research.

Mobile Apps For Legal Research On The Go, Wiener-Rogers Law Library, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas -- William S. Boyd School Of Law

Nevada Legal Research Guides / Reference Desk Guides

No abstract provided.

Legislative History Research: A Basic Guide, Julia Taylor, Congressional Research Service

AALL Legal Website of the Month

The first report is published by the Congressional Research Service. It provides an overview of federal legislative history research, the legislative process, and where to find congressional documents. The report also summarizes some of the reasons researchers are interested in legislative histories, briefly describes the actions a piece of legislation might undergo during the legislative process, and provides a list of easily accessible print and electronic resources.

Marketing And Outreach In Law Libraries: A White Paper, Amanda Runyon, All-Sis Task Force On Library Marketing And Outreach

Law Librarian Scholarship

In recent years, libraries have turned to marketing and outreach to better educate library users about services and resources while gaining an understanding of their needs. Marketing and outreach are relatively new concepts in academic law libraries, and librarians tasked with these functions have found resources and examples of this type of work to be lacking. Though focused on academic law libraries, the article identifies the challenges facing all law libraries, explains why libraries need marketing and outreach plans, and provides examples of marketing and outreach successes.

Issues And Trends In Collection Development For East Asia Legal Materials, Joostaek Lee, Xiaomeng Zhang, Keiko Okuhara, Evelyn Ma

Law Librarian Scholarship

The authors delineate the general policy and guidelines for developing foreign and transnational law collections in U.S. law libraries, and they analyze factors that shape East Asian collections, such as law libraries’ preservation and digitization efforts and their related cost-efficiency, and the availability and quality of English translations. The authors then discuss the main sources for Korean, Japanese, and Chinese law.

Human Trafficking Law And Resources, Kincaid C. Brown

Law Librarian Scholarship

The U.S. State Department estimates as many as 27 million men, women, and children are global human trafficking victims at any given time. In 2012, only 46,570 new victims were identified. Globally, there were only 7,705 prosecutions and 4,746 convictions for human trafficking crimes in 2012. In the United States, there were 2,515 suspected incidents of human trafficking investigated between January 2008 and June 2010. Of these, more than 80 percent of the victims of sex trafficking were U.S. citizens or nationals, and more than 90 percent of the victims of labor trafficking were undocumented or qualified aliens.

(In)Competence In Appellate And District Court Brief Writing On Rule 12 And 56 Motions, Scott A. Moss

Publications

No abstract provided.

Other Uses Of Legislative History, Mary Whisner

Librarians' Articles

Although we usually think of using legislative history to determine legislative intent when interpreting statutes, Ms. Whisner shows that legislative documents can be useful for other, less controversial purposes as well.

Transactional Drafting: Using Law Firm Marketing Materials As A Research Resource For Teaching Drafting, Edward R. Becker

Articles

Since I started teaching drafting, I would like to think that I have continued to learn some lessons about teaching both the substance and the skills of transactional drafting. One of those lessons that I am going to be talking about today is one that I stumbled across by happy accident rather than one that I consciously sought. Specifically, I want to talk about and highlight the ways that law students can use law firm marketing materials to increase their understanding of both drafting and lawyering skills in law school and, hopefully, in practice.

Research Strategies, Maureen Moran

Law Faculty Publications

It is 3 a .m. and you are up, prepping for class. Again. You have reading to do for Torts, for Contracts, and for Civil Procedure, and if you fall behind even one day, you will be spending hours late at night for the next few days trying to catch up. Or, worse, you will be unprepared and that will be the day your professor will call on you. And to add to your stress, you have a research project for your legal writing class due in less than two days, and you have not even started. Your professor told …

Foreign And International Legal Research, Maureen Moran

Law Faculty Publications

As you have been learning, the American legal system is only one of hundreds in the world. Each of those legal systems has its own rules, sources, and authorities. But these systems do not exist in a vacuum. What rules govern when two or more States or entities interact? What are the enforcement mechanisms? The study of these questions comprises the fields of foreign law and international law. The purpose of this chapter is not to give you a comprehensive review of all the resources available for researching this vast field of law. Rather, the goal is to give you …

Research Strategies And Organization, Courtney L. Selby

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

Each research project is by nature unique, and thus it requires that a distinctive strategy be applied. This chapter explores the ways in which a savvy researcher can take the essential elements of a fresh search, examine answers to some critical questions related to the issue(s) at hand, develop a strategy for approaching the research process that fits the unique problem, and implement that strategy in a cost- effective and efficient way. It culminates in recommendations for organizing the information gathered so that you may convey your findings in a clear, thoughtful, and useful manner. The chapter concludes with tips …

Where To Begin Researching International Sports Law, Rebecca Mattson

Law Library Faculty Works

In this article, the author discusses selected sources for researching international sports law.

Appendix A: Statistical Analysis Of The Data, Susan Nevelow Mart Study Of Search Functions In Lexis And Westlaw, Jeffrey T. Luftig

Research Data

Appendix A is Jeffrey Luftig's statistical analysis of the empirical data in the study of citator and digest functions in Lexis.com and Westlaw.com published in Susan Nevelow Mart, The Case for Curation: The Relevance of Digest and Citator Results in Westlaw and Lexis, 32 Legal Reference Services Q. 13 (2013), available at http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/0270319X.2013.759036. A preprint version of Nevelow Mart's article is available at http://scholar.law.colorado.edu/articles/102/.

Universal Citation In Sixty Seconds, Anne Burnett

Presentations

A large format infographic describing the system for citation which permits reference to legal or law-related information in any medium without requiring reference to proprietary products. Includes a timeline of the Universal Citation Guide from 1993 to 2012, citation elements, a list of states and territories that adopted the practice and an interactive QR code for accessing AALL's page on this citation format. The poster also encouraged viewers to advocate for adopting Universal citation with judges, attorneys and legislators.

Finding Legal, Factual, And Other Information In A Digital World, Timothy L. Coggins

Law Faculty Publications

This updated listing of Internet sites for legal, factual, and other research offers a combination of more established sites and newer sites developed since the publication of the previous listing. The article began as a comprehensive bibliography of research and other sites for an Advanced Legal Research course and a series of continuing education sessions for legal assistants and paralegals.1 The current version includes sites for primary authorities, both federal and state, as well as URLs for other types of information, such as sites that assist in finding expert witnesses and biographical and background information about individuals.

Deals And Dispute Resolution: Teaching Research Skills In A Short-Term Simulation Class, Karen Westwood

Faculty Scholarship

My colleague, Reference Librarian Jean Boos, and I were invited to participate in planning a Deals and Dispute Resolution class atWilliam Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, and we were told that the instructors wanted to require the students to research their issues. Our challenge was to come up with a meaningful research experience that wouldn’t devolve into a treasure hunt for the students.

In a situation where the timeframe and setup of a course don’t lend themselves to in-depth research skills instruction, librarians can still fully participate and add value for students. In our experience, this course …

Chapter 9: Fastcase, Gail F. Zwirner

Law Faculty Publications

In February 2005, the Virginia State Bar (VSB) Council approved plans to offer all Virginia lawyers free access to an online legal research program through a portal on the VSB's website. Then-Chief Justice Leroy Rountree Hassell, Sr., considered access to an online research tool a high priority for Virginia attorneys and urged the VSB to provide this kind of service. On June 13, 2005, the Virginia Supreme Court adopted a formal Rule of Court directing the VSB "to contract to provide online computerized legal resea1·ch services to its members."1 In February 2006, the VSB gave its notice of intent to …

Chapter 5: Administrative Law, Gail F. Zwirner

Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Where To Begin Researching Civil Rights Law, Rebecca Mattson

Law Library Faculty Works

In this article, the author discusses selected sources for researching civil rights law.

Cost Effective Legal Research, Mike Martinez Jr, Katy Stein

Law Librarian Scholarship

This article discusses free and low-cost legal research resources that can help reduce the cost of litigation. A lawyer using such resources must appreciate not only the advantages of such resources, but also the disadvantages.

Low Cost Alternatives For Legal Research: Using Casemaker And Loislaw, Emily Janoski-Haehlen

Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Mobile Legal Research: Do We Need An App For That?, Roger V. Skalbeck

Law Faculty Publications

A month after the conference, Thomson Reuters launched the WestlawNext iPad app. Current marketing touts mobile access to WestlawNext that is suitable on four major smartphone platforms. At right is a screen shot from the native iPad app as well as WestlawNext in Apple's Safari browser. The iPad app does not let you send documents to your Kindle, and in fact does not let you download or print items directly, as shown in the highlighted screen element in each.

Using this as a starting point, below I suggest arguments for and against using apps for mobile legal research. The focus …

Saving Some Green: Free Resources On Environmental Law, Suzanne B. Corriell

Law Faculty Publications

Environmental legal research often requires examining federal, state, and local laws, in addition to understanding science and technology. While there are many print and subscription-based resources available for a fee, websites also can help you navigate the laws and stay current with environmental news, and legal and scientific developments.

At Ease: A Primer For Legal Research Related To Military Law Issues, Darla Jackson

Other Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Make Your Life Easier: Free Online Productivity Tools And Resources, Kincaid C. Brown

Law Librarian Scholarship

CiteGenie works primarily for caselaw and Internet resource research but is experimenting with the ability to add citations for statutes and regulations. CiteGenie provides a number of formatting options and allows you to choose citation rules for a particular state, use parallel citations, remove star-pagination marks from quoted texts, and personalize abbreviations. This tool is easy to use; when researching in Firefox, select CiteGenie from the right-click menu and a pop-up displays the copied text and citation to be pasted.

Legislative Intent And Legislative History In Michigan, Kincaid C. Brown

Law Librarian Scholarship

Determining legislative intent is one of the key roles that the judicial system plays in Michigan, and legislative history can be a useful tool for evaluating the intent of the legislature when enacting a law. However, legislative history resources can be difficult to gather and some resources may not be persuasive in Michigan courts. This article provides a brief description of the Michigan legislative process, the court’s view of using legislative history to determine legislative intent, and a list of Michigan legislative history resources.