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25:
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Because of this "publication pattern" in order to find out if there has been a change with respect to a particular regulation a print CFR user has to go through a two-step process of checking 1) the List of
Sections Affected (LSA) and 2) the latest issue of the Federal Register for the current month.
349:
Some jurisdictions provide copies of their statutes online while others do not. You can often find new, or "slip laws" on the web (arranged in chronological order), as well as the subject arrangement of the statutes, known as the codified version, or code. The official code for federal statutes, the
195:
Legal research is the process of identifying and retrieving information to support legal arguments and decisions. Finding relevant legal information can be challenging and may involve the use of electronic research tools as well as printed books and materials. However, many resources that are useful
303:
The key to using legal indexes is to identify not only the key facts but the legal issues which are central to the case. Keyword searches in databases may also be a challenge, because people may describe legal concepts in varying ways. "Issue spotting" is a skill that lawyers home in law school and
438:
The challenge with the executive branch is to track down the rules and regulations of federal and state administrative agencies. Luckily administrative regulations have a "life cycle" that is very similar to that of statutes. Regulations start out as an agency document, which many agencies now post
321:
after the name of the service. Citators track resources, written at a later point in time, which cite back to a particular case. Because cases cite to related cases, citators can be used to find cases which are on the same topic. A common research strategy is to use "one good case" to find related
269:
Only a small percentage of court decisions are officially published in a print court reporter. The most published decisions are issued by the United States
Supreme court. State trial courts produce the lowest percentage of published cases. Some courts provide copies of their decisions free on the
265:
In general, the decisions of a higher court in a court system may be considered "binding" on the lower courts in that court system. The decisions of the
Supreme court of a particular state are binding on the courts within that state. However, the decisions of a Pennsylvania state court may or may
325:
Legal forms can be some of the hardest documents to find because one person may call a form by one name while another person knows it by an entirely different name (neither of which may be the actual, official name of the form). The same form may be known by a different name in a different
292:, such as slander. These causes of actions have various elements which must be proved to establish a claim (there may also be various defenses). The general category, the cause of action and the various elements of the cause of action and defenses may all be index terms. The major
381:. Legislative history is used to find what is known as the "legislative intent," or purpose behind statutory language. Again, legislative history documents may be found both in print in law libraries and government documents libraries, as well as in online formats such as
492:
The relationship between statutes and regulations means that one can usually never consider just a regulation alone. This intertwined grouping of regulations, statutes, and cases is often best deciphered using secondary sources such as books and journal articles.
266:
not be followed by a federal court in the Third
Circuit, which includes Pennsylvania. The status of United States Supreme court opinions is complex, but U.S. Supreme Court decisions are final on both federal disputes and federal issues raised in state courts.
422:
A legislature usually has neither the time nor the expertise to administer all of the details of a particular statute. It may, for example, pass a statute mandating clean water. However, it delegates the authority to actually implement the statute to a
559:
direct readers to the source of information cited within a legal document. When conducting legal research, part of the challenge is to figure out how to cite to items, or how to decipher a legal citation encountered in a primary or secondary source. The
564:
has developed to try to make citations more broadly understandable without specific reference to a particular guide to legal citation. However, it is important to use citations that will be understood by the audience for the legal research project.
374:. They are called 'annotated codes' because they include summaries of cases which interpret the meaning of the statute. They may also include references to journal articles, legal encyclopedias and other research materials.
548:, other legal journals and magazines, and legal newspapers place content on the web. Not all law journals provide their text on the web, and some content may be placed behind a paywall.
270:
web while others do not. Even if they are on the web they seldom go back before 1994, when the web first became popular. The only exception is with U.S. Supreme Court opinions.
204:
Primary sources of law are the original sources of the law. Such sources include statutes, government regulations, case law and the text of the state and federal constitutions.
38:
407:, the full text of committee reports and other legislative information. The Library of Congress provides access to legislative documents from 1774 through 1875 as part of its
284:
In print, to find the cases, legal researchers use indexes of various types. Classification systems provide index terms. For example, there may be a category of law,
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In addition to the text of the current law itself, legal researchers may also have to research the background documents connected with the statute, which is known as
428:
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throughout their careers as they gain experience. For the layperson, reading secondary sources, such as books and journal articles, can help.
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403:, bill status information (did it become a public law? who sponsored it? what committee was it referred to?), the text of debates from the
356:
is usually one to two years out of date both in print and on the web. Legal
Researchers often use the more timely, commercially published
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138:
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has an e-CFR pilot project is underway to provide a version of the CFR without having to refer to a separate publication for updates.
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164:
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258:. The federal appellate courts are subdivided into numbered "circuits." Pennsylvania, for example, is in the jurisdiction of the
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277:, for example, provides the text of recent opinions on its website. It is one of the best places to obtain new opinions. The
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Once a case has been found, legal researchers must make sure that it has not been overturned by a higher court. Lawyers use
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books known as "legal treatises" are available that summarize the law on specific subjects. Law school libraries also hold
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358:
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Legal researchers may also need the briefs and other background materials connected with a case, which are included in
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297:
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Legal reference books and journal articles are available at some public libraries and at law school libraries. In
87:
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J. Myron
Jacobstein and Roy M. Mersky, Fundamentals of Legal Research, 8th ed. (Foundation Press, 2002) p. 1
481:(CFR). Presidential documents can also be accessed in the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents and the
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records. Other types of documents may exist in databases which cannot be searched with search engines such as
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312:
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can be found in many libraries, at free online dictionaries, and from online commercial services.
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521:. Many major legal research materials may be found online, through both free services, such as
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to implement the details of the "enabling legislation" that gave the agency authority to act.
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451:
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on the web. Similar to statutes, regulations are often published in chronological order in
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16:
Process of identifying and retrieving information to support legal arguments and decisions
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has its own website. Presidential documents are published in the
Federal Register and in
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680:
Empirical Legal
Research: A Guidance Book for Lawyers, Legislators and Regulators
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to make sure that their case is still "good law." This process is often known as
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Cases on the web can often be found via the website of the individual court. The
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jurisdiction. Law libraries often have many sets of formbooks to search.
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Impeccable
Research: a Concise Guide to Mastering Legal Research Skills
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308:
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The
Judicial branch is the court system. Each jurisdiction in the U.S.
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for legal research are fee-based, and many are not easily accessible.
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legislative information service, provides the full text of proposed
94:. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed.
288:(non-crime injuries to people). There are many types of torts, or
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The foremost executive branch entity is, of course, the Office of
285:
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and State courts can also be a source of free legal information.
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Cohen, Morris L.; Berring, Robert C.; Olson, Kent C. (1989).
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Federal regulations, for example, are first printed in the
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Morris L. Cohen, Robert C. Berring, and Kent C. Olson.
83:
454:, before they are published in subject order in the
242:," often (but not always) known as a Supreme Court.
718:Legal Research: How to Find and Understand the Law
216:(federal and the fifty states) has any number of
646:"Legal Citation Guides/Authorities (U.S. Based)"
443:, and finally are published in subject order in
429:United States Environmental Protection Agency
411:Project Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation
8:
685:Robert C. Berring and Elizabeth A. Edinger.
254:, and a trial court, which is known as the
53:Learn how and when to remove these messages
739:Basic Legal Research: Tools and Strategies
689:. (12th Ed., West Group Publishing, 2005).
479:Title 3 of the Code of Federal Regulations
183:Learn how and when to remove this message
165:Learn how and when to remove this message
110:Learn how and when to remove this message
487:United States Government Printing Office
464:United States Government Printing Office
601:
418:Executive branch sources (Regulations)
345:Legislative branch sources (Statutes)
341:sources may take time to ferret out.
7:
741:. (3rd Ed., Aspen Publishers, 2006).
727:. (7th Ed., Aspen Publishers, 2007).
716:Stephen Elias and Susan Levinkind.
713:. (West Publishing Company, 1989).
692:Roy M. Mersky and Donald J. Dunn.
275:Supreme Court of the United States
248:Supreme Court of the United States
137:tone or style may not reflect the
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366:(USCS). The USCA is available on
246:At the federal level, there is a
34:This article has multiple issues.
706:. (9th Ed., Thomson West, 2007).
652:. 24 August 2017. Archived from
562:vendor neutral citation movement
535:Computer-assisted legal research
431:. Agencies issue administrative
147:guide to writing better articles
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64:
23:
720:. (14th Ed., Nolo Press, 2007).
483:Public Papers of the Presidents
370:while the USCS is available on
208:Judicial branch sources (Cases)
42:or discuss these issues on the
694:Fundamentals of Legal Research
533:, and commercial services for
485:available in print and at the
471:President of the United States
279:United States court of appeals
260:Third Circuit Court of Appeals
252:United States court of appeals
1:
734:. (Thomson West 3d ed. 2021).
725:The Process of Legal Research
296:for finding law cases is the
220:, mainly one of three types:
704:Legal Research in a Nutshell
678:Frans Leeuw, Hans Schmeets,
523:Law Library Resource Xchange
359:United States Code Annotated
256:United States district court
696:. (Foundation Press, 2002).
456:Code of Federal Regulations
298:West American Digest System
90:the claims made and adding
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650:Harvard Law School Library
364:United States Code Service
723:Christina L. Kunz et al.
682:, Edward Elgar Pub 2016.
760:American legal scholars
141:used on Knowledge (XXG)
517:and resources such as
515:American Jurisprudence
145:See Knowledge (XXG)'s
511:Corpus Juris Secundum
624:. West. p. 26.
519:American Law Reports
405:Congressional Record
240:court of last resort
711:How to Find the Law
702:and Kent C. Olson.
656:on 26 February 2018
621:How to find the law
507:legal encyclopedias
397:Library of Congress
379:Legislative history
313:Shepard's Citations
353:United States Code
75:possibly contains
497:Secondary sources
425:Government agency
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36:Please help
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660:25 February
590:Natural law
546:law reviews
527:PACER (law)
475:White House
433:Regulations
226:trial court
749:Categories
631:0314743049
596:References
509:, such as
84:improve it
39:improve it
489:website.
441:registers
337:. These
214:judiciary
88:verifying
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569:See also
311:such as
309:citators
473:. The
387:Westlaw
368:Westlaw
322:cases.
82:Please
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529:, and
393:THOMAS
335:Google
331:docket
218:courts
544:Many
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445:codes
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383:Lexis
372:Lexis
286:torts
662:2018
626:ISBN
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