PA201 INTRODUCTION TO PA201 INTRODUCTION TO LEGAL RESEARCHLEGAL RESEARCHUNIT 4 – SECOND UNIT 4 – SECOND AUTHORITIES & CASE AUTHORITIES & CASE FINDING MATERIALSFINDING MATERIALSA. E. Sloan (2009). Basic Legal Research Tools and Strategies (4th ed.). New York: Aspen Publishers

REVIEW OF UNIT 3

Court Opinions FIRAC

Facts Issue Rule Analysis Conclusion

REVIEW OF UNIT 3

Anatomy of a Published Case Case Name Court Editorial Summary Headnotes The attorneys The Judges The Court’s Opinion Docket Number Name of Reporter

CHECKLIST FOR UNIT 4

Review the unit introduction and key terms Read Chapter 3, pages 29-47 and 59-75 in Basic

Legal Research Tools and Strategies Read Chapter 4, pages 77-98; 108-120; and 126 in

Basic Legal Research Tools and Strategies Read about defining the issue in a case brief Learn about Bluebook Rules 10.4 and 10.5 Participate on the Discussion Board Complete and submit the Written Assignment Review the unit’s key terms Prepare for the quiz by completing the practice

exercise Take the Unit 4 Quiz

WHAT ARE SECONDARY SOURCES?

Sources that provide commentary on the law Not binding on Courts Not cited as frequently as primary sources Are excellent research tools

WHAT DOES SECONDARY SOURCES DO?

Summarize or collect authorities from a variety of jurisdictions

Help find a mandatory or persuasive primary authority on a subject

Provide narrative explanations on complex concepts that would be difficult

WHEN ARE SECONDARY SOURCES HELPFUL?

When researching an area of law you are unfamiliar with

When you are looking for primary persuasive authority but do not know how to narrow the jurisdictions that are likely to have useful information

When researching an undeveloped area of the law

When an initial search of primary sources provides either no authority or too much authority

LIMITS ON USING SECONDARY SOURCES

Not binding on the Courts, so not normally cited to in a Brief or memoranda

Never rely exclusively on a primary source that appears in the secondary sources – read the authority yourself!

Two reasons to this: The summary of the primary authority might not

include all of the information necessary to your analysis

The Secondary source may not be completely current

LOCATING SECONDARY SOURCES

There are many Secondary Sources May need to use more than one to complete

a research project You can search by: Citation

Many secondary sources cross-reference other secondary sources

Subject Index Table of Contents

By words in a the document (when searching electronically)

TYPES OF SECONDARY SOURCES

Legal Encyclopedias Treatises Legal Periodicals American Law Reports (A.L.R. Annotations) Restatements of the Law Uniform Laws and Model Acts

LEGAL ENCYCLOPEDIAS

Use for general background information and limited citations to primary authority

Do not provide analysis or suggest solutions to conflicts in the law

Report on the general state of the law Usually used to get background information

on your research topic You will rarely cite a legal encyclopedia Two general legal encyclopedias – American

Jurisprudence, Second Edition (Am.Jur. 2d) and Corpus Juris Secundum (C.J.S.)

LOCATING MATERIAL IN LEGAL ENCYCLOPEDIA IN PRINT

Locate material in a legal encyclopedia in print by:

Using the subject index or table of contents Locating relevant sections in the main

subject volumes The index volumes are published annually,

be sure to use the most current set State encyclopedias provide an overview of

the law in an individual state Fig. 3.1 and 3.3 on page 34 and 35

LOCATING MATERIAL IN LEGAL ENCYCLOPEDIAS: LEXISNEXIS

Locate material in legal encyclopedias in LexisNexis (Am. Jur. 2d) by:

Executing a word search in the database containing a legal encyclopedia

Viewing the table of contents of the encyclopedia

TREATISES

Treatises provide: An in-depth discussion of a single subject

(i.e. constitutional law, torts) and some analysis of an area of law

Citations to primary authority Have a narrower focus than legal

encyclopedias Again this is for research purposes and don’t

cite in your written analysis Figure 3.4 on page 37

LOCATING MATERIAL IN PRINT TREATISES

Locate information within a print treatises by: Using the subject index or table of contents Locating relevant sections within the text

LOCATING MATERIAL IN TREATISES: LEXISNEXIS

Locate material in treatises in LexisNexis by: Executing word searches in databases for:

Individual publications Multiple secondary sources Specific subject areas Individual jurisdictions

Viewing the treatise’s table of contents

LEGAL PERIODICALS

Use legal periodicals for: Background information Citations to primary authority In-depth analysis of a narrow topic Information on a conflict in the law or an

underdeveloped area of the law Often referred to as “law review” or “journal”

articles

LEGAL PERIODICALS (CONT.)

Many law school publishes this as well as commercially published journals, legal newspapers and magazines

The articles are usually focused narrowly on specific issues

Generally well researched and contain citations to many primary and secondary authorities

Can be useful for developing ideas for analyzing a question of first impression or resolving a conflict in the law

LEGAL PERIODICALS (CONT.)

Although useful to your research, avoid citing it to it if you can support with primary authority

If you can’t find a primary authority, you may cite to a persuasive article

An article persuasiveness depends on number of factors: year it was published, author’s experience, reputation of article, the depth of the research and analysis, expert vs. student

LOCATING PERIODICAL ARTICLES: ELECTRONIC RESOURCES

Locate legal periodicals in LexisNexis by searching in the databases for multiple or individual publications

Selected periodicals may be available on the Internet

AMERICAN LAW REPORTS

Use A.L.R. Annotations for an overview of an area of law and citations to primary authorities

Especially useful for locating persuasive authority from other jurisdictions

LOCATING MATERIAL IN A.L.R. PRINT

Locate material within A.L.R. in print by: Using the A.L.R. Index; Locating relevant Annotations in the main

volumes Fig. 3.7 and 3.8 on page 42-43

RESTATEMENTS

Use Restatements to: Research common-law subjects Locate mandatory and persuasive authority

from jurisdictions that have adopted a Restatement

Look at the rules in the majority of United States jurisdictions; Sometimes state emerging rules

Also provides commentary on the proper interpretations of the rules, illustrations demonstrating how the rules should apply in certain situations, and summaries of cases applying and interpreting the Restatement

LOCATING INFORMATION IN RESTATEMENTS

Locate information within a print Restatement by:

Using the subject index or table of contents to identify relevant sources

Locate selected Restatements electronically in LexisNexis by:

Executing a word search in a Restatement database

Viewing the Restatement table of contents

UNIFORM LAWS AND MODEL ACTS

Use Uniform Laws and Model Acts to: Interpret a law adopted by a legislature Locate persuasive authority from other

jurisdictions that have adopted the law Locate selected uniform laws and model acts

in LexisNexis by: Executing a word search in the appropriate

databases Viewing the act’s table of contents Fig. 3.11 on page 48-49

ANY QUESTIONS?

DEFINING THE ISSUE IN A FACT PATTERN

Defining the issue in a case is usually not difficult because the case itself or the editor often sets forth the issue for you.

However, spotting and defining the issue in a fact pattern which you are being asked to research for relevant cases can be more challenging. 

DEFINING THE ISSUE IN A FACT PATTERN

To properly define the issue, you must be sufficiently familiar with the area of law to recognize the questions raised by the scenario. 

To formulate the issue, you should recognize the position that each party in the dispute would take and then state the question that describes the unique facts to this case in neutral terms that does not favor one party over the other.

DEFINING THE ISSUE IN A FACT PATTERN - EXAMPLE

In an employment dispute, a 50-year-old Spanish-surnamed black female employee who was fired from her job may feel that the employer was discriminating against her because of her age, her sex, and her ethnic origin (all classifications that are protected from discrimination by the civil rights law). The employer may feel that its action was justified because the woman’s declining eyesight made it impossible for her to perform her job as a bus driver safely. The employee may counter this defense by stating that she has an annual eye exam and wears corrective lenses that correct her vision to 20/30, and that other younger drivers whose vision is not as good as hers have been retained. 

WHAT’S THE ISSUE?

POSSIBLE ISSUE

Is it discriminatory for the school board to terminate for safety reasons a 50-year-old black, Spanish-surnamed female bus driver whose vision has been corrected to 20/30 while retaining Caucasian male drivers over the age of 50 whose vision is 20/30 or worse?

DEFINING THE ISSUE IN A FACT PATTERN

When reading the facts, start thinking about what area of law may need to be researched (criminal, constitutional, etc.)

Begin matching the facts to the area of law – brainstorming

Know what position each side is taking and based on that develop a question that the Court needs to answer

Do your research! As you increase your research you can finalize the issue that is before the court

ANY QUESTIONS?

BLUEBOOK 10.4 AND 10.5

Court and Jurisdiction Every case citation must indicate which court

decided the case In the parenthetical that immediately follows

the citation, it must include the court, date or year of decision

Example: U.S. v. John Doe, 123 A.2d 456 (Court, year of

decision)

BLUEBOOK 10.4 AND 10.5

For Abbreviations look at T.1 which begins on page 193; T.7 which begins on page 337; T.10 which begins on page 342

Gives information for Federal and State Courts

BLUEBOOK 10.4 AND 10.5

Example: Commonwealth v. Virelli, 620 A.2d 543 (Pa.

Super. Ct. 1992) Case Name: Commonwealth v. Virelli Volume: 620 Page case is found on: 543 Name of Reporter: A.2d which stands for

Atlantic Reporter Second Edition Name of Court: Pa. Super. Ct. which stands

for Pennsylvania Superior Court (see T.1 on page 229)

Year it was decided: 1992

BLUEBOOK

It may take time to get used to, but the more you use it the easier it will get

T.1 – provides abbreviations and citations Separated by Federal and State T.13 – provides periodicals abbreviations The inside covers of Bluebook and preceding

page provides a “Quick Reference” on how to cite to Court Documents

QUIZ FOR UNIT 4

Is hand graded by me, will not be automatically graded like the past 3 units

You will be graded on Bluebook citation – take your time, use the Bluebook

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT

For this week's Written Assignment, you will continue to practice your case briefing skills by preparing a case brief of Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. Practice makes perfect, so here's another chance to hone your skills.

First, review the Unit 3 materials on “How to Brief a Case” under “The Anatomy of a Case Brief”. 

Next, click listen to the opinion announcement. Then review the written opinion of the court.  Finally, prepare a brief for the case. Be sure

to provide the: facts, issues, rules, analysis and conclusion sections of your brief.

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT (CONT.) In addition to fulfilling the specifics of the

assignment, a successful case brief must also meet the following criteria: Length should be 2-3 pages, excluding cover page

and references page Double Spaced and in a 12-point font Viewpoint and purpose should be clearly

established and sustained  Assignment should follow the conventions of

Standard American English (correct grammar, punctuation, etc.). 

Writing should be well ordered, logical and unified, as well as original and insightful

Your work should display superior content, organization, style, and mechanics 

Appropriate citation style should be followed 

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT (CONT.)

Make sure you follow ALL the criteria set out in the written assignment – don’t lose points on something simple (font, pages, etc.)

Remember to spell check and grammar check!

Use FIRAC method – review the PowerPoint if you need to refresh how to do it

Start early! That way you can go back and revise if necessary. Don’t wait until last minute to do this assignment.

ANY QUESTIONS?