Legal ResearchMark Kloempken

EncyclopediasTreatisesPeriodicals

Basics1. Basic civics

a. judicial -- court cases

b. legislative -- statutes

c. executive -- rules & regulations

2. Primary vs. Secondary Authoritya. “the law”

b. about “the law”

3. Mandatory vs. Persuasive Authority

Beginning a Research Problem

1. Analyze the situation/facts/law

2. Search termsa. Sloan: parties/relationships; places/things;

claims/defenses; relief.

b. Bottom line -- pull out relevant factual and legal concepts or keywords.

c. Identify synonyms and broader/narrower terms, key words, terms of art

Secondary Sources

1. Will lead you to primary. Will help you interpret primary.

2. Give general state of the law (vs. analyze it)3. Will give you background in unfamiliar area

(all areas now) including jargon & terms.4. Undeveloped areas of law5. Are generally NOT for citing or relying on.

Using Secondary Sources

1. Look for an index

2. Look for a TOC

3. Using either or both of above, find potentially relevant sections in main volume(s)

4. Update -- pocket parts or supplements or both

Legal Encyclopedias

1. Use for Background, Jargon

2. They give the general state of the law - don’t analyze -- settled doctrine

3. Cite as last resort only for very basic principles4. American Jurisprudence KF 154 .A4 - Reading Room

5. Corpus Juris Secundum KF 154 C56 - Reading Room

American Jurisprudence 2nd (Am Jur)

1. 231 volumes

2. Am Jur (1936-60)

3. Some think more clearly written than CJS

4. Some consider it more authoritative

5. West Publishing owns Am Jur and CJS

Am Jur 2nd1. FORMAT

a. Topics in alphabetical order as with CJS, TOC

b. More attention to federal statutes than CJS

c. No summary at beginning of section

d. Extensive footnotes to primary material

e. General index & New Developments volume

2. WEAKNESSESa. Over reliance on case law

b. No comprehensive summary of state rules

c. Slow to recognize new areas of the law

1. Hypothetical: A 19 year old college student at the University of Texas in El Paso crossed the American/Mexican border one weekend. After visiting a few bars, he re-entered Texas the following Monday. His car was searched at the border and two Mexican nationals were found hiding in the trunk. In spite of loudly claiming total ignorance of their presence, he was arrested and charged with a Federal offense. He has appeared in your office and is seeking legal advice. Am. Jur. Slides are used with permission of West Publishing Co.

American Jurisprudence 2d (AmJur)

American Jurisprudence 2d (AmJur)

ALIENS AND CITIZENS

GENERALINDEX

American Jurisprudence 2d (AmJur)

ALIENSAND

CITIZENS

American Jurisprudence 2d (AmJur)

American Jurisprudence 2d (AmJur)

American Jurisprudence 2d (AmJur)

§1832. Transporting or moving aliens withinUnited States

American Jurisprudence 2d (AmJur)

Corpus Juris Secundum (C.J.S.)

1. CJ (1911-1937)

2. 154 Volumes

3. Restates the body of American law as derived from reported cases and legislation

4. To classify and articulate legal doctrines, not to explain legal system

Corpus Juris Secundum (C.J.S.).

1. FORMATa. Topic and sections in alphabetical orderb. Detailed table of contentsc. References to large number of cases; almost

no statutesd. Brief summary of legal principles in bold type

2. WEAKNESSESa. Over reliance on case lawb. Sheer size of the set makes it cumbersome

CJSEncyclopedia

Article - Aliens

References to Key Numbers in West

Digests

Case Citations

Summary of Legal Principles in Bold Type

Updating CJS

1. Cumulative Annual Pocket Parts in each Volume

2. Contain Recent Case Citations

3. Located at end of each bound volume in sleeve

Updating CJS

Brief case descriptions suggest they

may be helpful

Am.Jur. V. C.J.S.

1. Am.Jur.a. Over reliance on

case law, but more coverage of statutory law than C.J.S.

b. No comprehensive summary of state rules

c. Slow to recognize new areas of law

1. C.J.S. a. Over reliance on

case law

b. Sheer size of the set may make it cumbersome

c. Slow to recognize new areas of law

Advantages to Using Encyclopedias on Lexis & Westlaw

1. Terms & Connectors Searching2. Browse the Table of Contents3. Hypertext links to cited sources4. Portability: Information on your desktop, WiFi5. Download/E-mail/print information 6. Avoid cost of subscribing to print version or

time to go and use it at a library7. Multiple users at the same time (don’t have to

wait for a book that someone else is using)

Disadvantages to Using Encyclopedias on Lexis & Westlaw

1. Cost of searching online

2. Fewer access points (e.g., no subject index online)

3. Harder to browse online (i.e., harder to flip back and forth through “pages”)

Encyclopedias OnlineLexisNexis v. Westlaw

1. Some titles only on one service and not the other.

2. Some titles not updated or not updated as quickly on one compared to the other.

State Encyclopedias

1. 17 true state encyclopedias

2. Mimic Am Jur. 2nd and CJS

3. Limited in scope

4. Generally include references to other works from the same publisher

5. Missouri has no true encyclopedia

Treatises

1. Definition – book that explores a particular doctrine in exhaustive depth

2. Purposea. Clarify

b. extensive footnotes

c. great detail on a given subject

d. some often cited by courts

Treatises

1. Formata. bound volumes -

updated with pocket-parts and/or supplements

b. looseleaf - updated by inter-filing

Why Use Legal Treatises?

Characteristicsa. Overview, in-depth discussion of an area of

lawb. Analysis & Commentaryc. Citations to primary sourcesd. May be one volume (e.g. hornbooks) or

Multivolumee. May be hardbound or looseleaff. More and more are becoming available online

Use for background info, more detailed, more specific than an encyclopedia.

Locating Treatises

1. Washington University Library Catalog: a. http://catalog.wustl.edu

2. Mobius Library Catalog: MO Research Libraries

a. http://mobius.missouri.edu

3. Worldcat Library Catalog: A Global Research Libraries

a. http://library.wustl.edu > Click on WorldCat

Search By Author Title Word

Choose Library

Subject Search

Main Subject Heading

121 items under this subject

Titles listed

alphabetically

Item # 74: Updated Title (See hyphen)

Call Number

Location in Library

Latest received

May ’04 update arrived in July ‘04

Identify Treatises Using IndexMaster

1. IndexMaster is a compilation of the indices and/or tables of content of over 10,000 legal titles from over 90 legal publishers at one location…www.indexmaster.com. Searchable and viewable, the index and table of contents will provide the researcher with the content necessary to determine if the book meets their needs.” IndexMaster, “About Us” http://www.indexmaster.com/aboutus.html visited 8/30/06

2. Once you find a useful treatise on IndexMaster: a. check the Online Catalog http://catalog.wustl.edu to see if the library

owns the treatise.

b. Check to see if the treatise is available online on LexisNexis, Westlaw, LoisLaw, etc.

c. Out in the “real world,” use IndexMaster to identify titles that you would like

You can view the table of contents and index for each title. Check tosee if the library has a title that you want, or see if you can find it in one of the online services like LexisNexis, Westlaw or LoisLaw.

1. Immigration Law and Procedure by Gordon, Mailman and Yale-Loehr

2. Multi-volume treatise in looseleaf format

3. Updating is done via interfiling, NOT with supplementary pamphlets

4. Index Volume at end of set

1. Index Volume of Multi-volume set

2. Alphabetical Index organized by topic

3. Refers the reader to another topic entry“Smugglers of Aliens”

1. SMUGGLERS OF ALIENS is an index topic

2. Refers reader to Volume 8: Section 111.08[2]

1. Section 111.08[2][a]

2. Discussion of the law on “Transporting” aliens in Subsection iii

3. Note the many citesto primary authority (Cases and Statutes) in the footnotes

4. Secondary sources often lead back to primary law

Selecting the Best Treatise

1. Look For:a. Coverage

b. Organization

c. Currency

d. Accuracy

e. Reputation of Book

f. Reputation of Author

g. Reputation of Publisher

Advantages to Using Treatises on Lexis & Westlaw (same as for Encyclopedias)

1. Terms & Connectors Searching2. Browse the Table of Contents3. Hypertext links to cited sources4. Portability: Information on your desktop, WiFi5. Download/E-mail/print information 6. Avoid cost of subscribing to print version or

time to go and use it at a library7. Multiple users at the same time (don’t have to

wait for a book that someone else is using)

Disadvantages to Using Encyclopedias on Lexis & Westlaw (same as for

encyclopedias)

1. Cost of searching online

2. Fewer access points (e.g., no subject index online)

3. Harder to browse online (i.e., harder to flip back and forth through “pages”)

Treatises OnlineLexisNexis v. Westlaw v.

LoisLaw

1. Most titles only on one service and not the others.

2. Publisher dependent

Periodicals1. Law Reviews

a. General and Specialized

b. student edited

c. available in large academic law libraries

d. coverage on Westlaw; Lexis; Web

2. Bar Journalsa. shorter, less scholarly, less footnoted articles

b. Intended for practicing attorneys

c. Every state has one; also some local

Characteristics of Law School Law Reviews

3 sections:a. Lead articles (written by

scholars/practitioners)

b. Note and Comment (Student writing)

c. Book reviews

Selection Criteria

1. Type of Publicationa. Law Review vs. Bar Journal vs. Newspaper

2. Type of Articlea. Lengthy Article vs. Essay vs. Comment vs. Case Note

vs. Recent Developments

3. Coverage4. Accuracy5. Persuasiveness6. Reputation of Author7. Reputation of Periodical

Electronic Periodical Indexes

1. Index to Legal Periodicals (WilsonWeb) 1981 - current

a. 760 legal periodicals and 2000 books

b. Law reviews, bar association journals, university publications, yearbooks, institutes, government publications

2. Legal Trac (C.L.I., Legal Resources Index) 1980 - current

a. almost 900 journals and legal newspapers