Legal Research Illustrated: An Abridgment of Fundamentals of Legal Research

by Mersky, Roy M.; Dunn, Donald J.

• ISBN13: 9781587780660
• ISBN10: 1587780666
• Edition: 8th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-07-01
• Publisher: West Academic

Summary

Fundamentals of Legal Research and Legal Research Illustrated offer an authoritative introduction to legal research, with updates on the latest developments on the subject. These teaching tools provide an in-depth discussion of the legal research process, current legal research sources, computer-assisted research, key Internet sources, and other research aids. The numerous appendixes speed up and simplify research, and illustrations and charts help present and clarify fundamentals. Highlights of these editions include updated chapters covering the newest sources; almost 200 new illustrations, with an increased emphasis on the Internet; major rewrites of the chapters on digests, federal legislation, federal legislative histories, administrative law, citators, electronic legal research, legal citation form, and federal tax; and more than 1,000 new entries in the appendix on legal abbreviations. Users have access to an author forum available on The West Education Network (TWEN).

Table of Contents

Preface	iii
Acknowledgments	v
Glossary of Terms Used in Legal Research	xv
An Introduction to Legal Research	1	(13)
Sources of Law	1	(8)
The Materials of Legal Research	9	(4)
An Essential Skill	13	(1)
The Legal Research Process	14	(7)
Court Reports	21	(17)
The Reporting of Court Cases	21	(3)
The Segments of Court Cases	24	(3)
Official and Unofficial Reports	27	(1)
The Elements of Judicial Reporting	28	(1)
Organization of Court Reports	29	(1)
Illustrations	30	(6)
Abbreviations and Citations of Court Reports	36	(2)
Federal Court Cases	38	(24)
United States Supreme Court Reports	40	(6)
Lower Federal Court Reports	46	(5)
Illustrations	51	(11)
State Court Cases and the National Reporter System	62	(12)
State Court Reports	62	(1)
National Reporter System	63	(5)
Methods of Citing State Cases	68	(1)
Locating Parallel Citations	68	(2)
Internet Resources	70	(1)
Illustrations	70	(4)
Digests for Court Reports	74	(30)
Digests: In General	74	(1)
West Group's Key Number Digests	75	(1)
Key Numbers and Digest Paragraphs in Westlaw	76	(1)
Conducting Research Using a State Key Number Digest	77	(3)
Key Number Digests for Federal Court Cases	80	(1)
Regional Key Number Digests	81	(1)
Decennial and General Digests	82	(2)
Keeping the Key Number System Current	84	(1)
Illustrations: Finding Topics and Key Numbers	85	(13)
Other Specialized West Group Digests	98	(1)
Chart Illustrating West Group's Key Number Digests	99	(1)
Other Digests	99	(1)
Words and Phrases and Popular Name Tables	100	(1)
Illustrations	101	(3)
Annotated Law Reports	104	(16)
American Law Reports	105	(1)
Finding A.L.R. Annotations	106	(2)
How A.L.R. Is Kept Current	108	(2)
United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers' Edition	110	(1)
Illustrations: Locating and Updating A.L.R. Annotations	110	(10)
Constitutions	120	(14)
Federal Constitution	120	(5)
Illustrations: Federal Constitution	125	(6)
State Constitutions	131	(2)
Foreign Constitutions	133	(1)
Federal Legislation	134	(30)
The Enactment of Federal Laws	134	(2)
Publication of Federal Laws	136	(2)
Codification of Federal Laws	138	(6)
Illustrations	144	(11)
Popular Names for Federal Laws	155	(1)
Tables for Federal Laws	155	(1)
Illustrations: Popular Names and Tables	156	(6)
Federal Legislation: Research Procedure	162	(2)
Federal Legislative Histories	164	(39)
Legislative Histories in Legal Research	164	(2)
Documents Relevant to a Federal Legislative History	166	(4)
Federal Legislative History Documentation	170	(1)
Sources for Locating Compiled Federal Legislative Histories	171	(5)
How to Identify/Find Citations to Documents Relevant to a Federal Legislative History	176	(4)
Illustrations: Identifying Documents	180	(8)
Illustrations: Documents	188	(4)
How to Obtain Legislative History Documents	192	(8)
Finding Aids and Sources for Documents	200	(1)
Pending Legislation	200	(1)
Congressional Quarterly Materials	201	(2)
State Legislation	203	(13)
Session Laws	203	(1)
Codification of State Laws	204	(1)
Electronic Access to State Legislation	205	(1)
Finding State Legislation	206	(1)
Illustrations for State Legislation	207	(7)
Comparative State Statutory Research	214	(1)
State Legislative Histories	215	(1)
Court Rules and Procedures	216	(15)
Court Rules in General	216	(1)
Federal Court Rules: Sources, Interpretations, Analysis, and Forms	216	(6)
Federal Court Rules of Specific Applicability, Including Local Rules	222	(1)
Court Rules for State Courts	223	(1)
Citators	223	(1)
Illustration	223	(8)
Administrative Law	231	(34)
Federal Administrative Regulations and Decisions: Introduction	231	(1)
Publication of Federal Regulations: Historical Background	232	(2)
Sources of Federal Regulations	234	(3)
Finding Federal Regulations	237	(2)
Updating Regulations	239	(2)
Illustrations: Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations	241	(13)
Sources of Additional Information on Administrative Agencies	254	(1)
Presidential Documents	254	(4)
Illustrations: Presidential Documents	258	(4)
Federal Administrative Decisions	262	(1)
State Administrative Regulations and Decisions	263	(2)
Looseleaf Services	265	(16)
Introduction to Looseleaf Services	265	(2)
Using Looseleaf Services	267	(4)
Illustrations	271	(10)
Citators	281	(37)
Shepard's Citations	282	(2)
Illustrations: Shepard's Features	284	(6)
Illustration: Updating Shepard's Citations	290	(5)
Illustrations: Shepard's for Different Types of Authority-Cases	295	(6)
Illustrations: Shepard's for Different Types of Authorities-Constitutions, Statutes, Rules and Regulations	301	(7)
Illustration: Shepard's Focus	308	(1)
Illustration: Shepard's on LexisNexis Custom Restrictions	309	(1)
KeyCite on Westlaw	310	(4)
Illustrations: KeyCite on Westlaw	314	(3)
Other Citator Services	317	(1)
Legal Encyclopedias	318	(11)
Introduction	318	(1)
Current General Encyclopedias	319	(3)
Illustrations: Encyclopedias	322	(6)
State Encyclopedias	328	(1)
Specific Subject Encyclopedias	328	(1)
Legal Periodicals and Indexes	329	(32)
Legal Periodicals	330	(7)
Comprehensive Periodical Indexes	337	(3)
Illustrations: Legal Periodicals and Indexes	340	(8)
Other Indexes to Periodical Literature	348	(2)
Indexes to Special Subjects	350	(2)
Other Sources	352	(1)
Illustrations: Law Review Citations in Shepard's Citators	353	(3)
List's of Subject Legal Periodicals	356	(5)
Treatises, Restatements, Uniform Laws, and Model Acts	361	(29)
Treatises: In General	361	(5)
Treatises: Research Procedure	366	(1)
Illustrations: Treatises	366	(4)
Restatements of the Law	370	(4)
Illustrations: Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability	374	(7)
Uniform Laws and Model Acts	381	(2)
Illustrations: Uniform Law	383	(7)
Other Legal and General Research and Reference Aids	390	(25)
Opinions of Attorneys General	390	(2)
Opinions of the Office of Legal Counsel	392	(1)
Law Dictionaries	392	(2)
Law Directories	394	(4)
Miscellaneous Legal Reference Sources	398	(2)
Forms	400	(2)
Jury Instructions and Verdict and Settlement Awards	402	(1)
Researching the Supreme Court of the United States	403	(3)
Briefs, Records, and Oral Arguments on Appeal	406	(3)
Professional Responsibility	409	(1)
Legal Writing Resources	410	(1)
Foreign Law	411	(1)
Business-Related Resources	412	(1)
Other Non-legal Information Sources: An Approach to Finding Them	413	(2)
International Law	415	(45)
Introduction	415	(4)
International Agreements: United States Sources	419	(8)
International Agreements: Additional Sources (Other Than United States Publications)	427	(4)
Customary International Law	431	(4)
General Principles of Law	435	(1)
Adjudications	435	(7)
Secondary Sources	442	(3)
Documents of International Organizations	445	(9)
Illustrations	454	(6)
Electronic Legal Research	460	(59)
Introduction: The Interface of Technology and Legal Information	460	(1)
The Westlaw and LexisNexis Databases	461	(6)
Formulating a Search Request on Westlaw and LexisNexis	467	(10)
Illustrations: Westlaw and LexisNexis	477	(4)
Compact Disks	481	(1)
The Internet	482	(11)
Illustrations: Internet Websites	493	(3)
APPENDICES
A. State Guides to Legal Research	496	(5)
B. State Reports	501	(2)
C. Coverage of the National Reporter System	503	(2)
D. Fundamental Lawyering Skills §3 Legal Research	505	(5)
E. Selected Law-Related Internet Sources	510	(6)
F. Chart on Legal Research Procedure	516	(3)
Index	519