Finding Practice
Tools
by Sue Altmeyer
for the National Business Institute Program,
“Finding it Free and Fast on the Net:
Strategies for Legal Research on the Web”
November 3, 2008
Using Attorney Work Product Caveats
•
Do your own research
•Tailor to your facts
•You may have other
arguments
•May be out of date or wrong
Using Attorney Work Product –
Copyright Issues?
Stueber Article:
•Document used original?
•Copying text or ideas?
•How much is borrowed?
Isaacs Article:
•Attorneys HAVE sued
•Fair Use if ADAPT document
Thomas G. Field, Jr., FROM CUSTOM TO LAW IN
COPYRIGHT 49 IDEA 125 (2008)
Briefs, Motions & Pleadings On
Lexis & Westlaw
• Ohio briefs 1990-, motions & pleadings
1999/2000• Full text searching–type of case &
document, attorney
• At public or county law library
Briefs/Motions in Dockets
Search by type of case:
• PACER
• Montgomery County Docket
(search by attorney on Montgomery
Docket)
Search by type of document:
Summit County Docket
Finding Court Dockets
• LLRX Court Rules Forms and Dockets
• Cleveland Marshall’s Court Webpages,
Dockets & Briefs.
Example
Find an Anders Brief filed in
Ohio
U.S. Supreme Court Briefs
• Findlaw Supreme Court Briefs (19992007)• ABA’s Briefs for the 2007-2008 Term
• Where to Find Briefs of the Supreme Court
of the U.S. –pay & free databases,
document retrieval
• Yale University – Curiae Project – selected
cases.
Federal & State Court Briefs
• Ohio Supreme Court Briefs (2006 -)
Articles:
• Free and Fee Based Appellate Court
Briefs Online - Links for state &
federal courts.
• A Brief Summary: Free Briefs on the
Web
Shared Legal Document Sites
• JDSupra Documents are tied
to attorney profiles
• Scribd
• DocStoc
• LawLink
• Legal On-Ramp
General Internet Searching for
Briefs
• Clusty, Google, Dogpile, etc.
• LexisWeb or Westlaw Webplus (if you
subscribe to Westlaw)
• Cornell University Legal Research Engine
• Try blog search directories - Justia Blog
Search; U.S. Law Blog Directory
Tools for Brief Writing
Cite Genie
• Firefox extension
• Copies from Lexis or Westlaw: Puts
citation into proper format for the
jurisdiction or Bluebook Briefs form
• Adds correct pinpoint citation.
• Blog post re.
Jureeka
• Firefox add-on
• Type a citation into the toolbar –free web
version of case returned
• Fed coverage good
• Ohio – Supreme Ct from 1992
• On web documents (pdf, html), Jureeka
links legal citations to free web copy of the
case, statute, etc.
• Blog post
Zotero
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Firefox Extension
Organizes caselaw, webpages, articles
Attach notes & full text docs
Search sources, tags
Sticky notes & highlights for webpages,
word docs (not pdfs)
• Create footnotes & bibliographies in
Bluebook Law Review format
Forms and Sample Contracts
• Cleveland Marshall Law Library’s
Research Guide: Forms and Practice
Materials
Forms and Sample Contracts
• Who publishes the site? A legal publisher?
bar association?
• Does the site sell forms?
• Who wrote the form?
• Use with caution, tailor to your facts
Sites for Transactional & Litigation
Forms
LexisONE Automated Forms
• Registration required
• free & fee
• some free HotDocs forms.
• Download Hotdocs Player
• interview-style questions, custom document
generated based on answers.
• purchase Hotdocs software to convert your
document into a Hotdoc
Sites for Transactional and
Litigation Forms
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•
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•
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•
Legal Forms Menu
Findlaw Forms
All About Forms.com
Freelegalforms.net
‘Lectic Law Library Forms Room
WashLaw Legal Forms
Gale LegalForms – via Public Library
Transactional Documents via SEC
IDEA/EDGAR
• sample SEC filings
• documents attached: management
contracts, executive compensation plans,
articles of incorporation, by-laws, material
contracts, voting trust agreements See
Item 601, Regulation S-K.
Forthcoming SEC Database
• IDEA - Interactive Data Electronic
Applications
• tagged fields of information
• search for precise information
• generate reports.
• Edgar available during transition
• SEC's Press Release.
More sophisticated SEC Filing
databases
• Lexis and Westlaw, GSI, Mergent
• SECInfo.com
Transactional Forms
• CORI: Contracting and Organizations
Research Institute –from Edgar/IDEA
• Home Business Online Legal Forms
• Legal & Business Forms
• WorldLawDirect -22 forms in MS Word
Transactional Forms – Other Ideas
• Clusty, Google, Dogpile, etc.
• LexisWeb or Westlaw Webplus (if
subscribe to Westlaw)
• Cornell University Legal Research Engine
• Use court dockets
• Cleveland Law Library FAQs – ex. Living
Wills Durable Power of Attorney
Legal Drafting Advice
• Cleveland Marshall Law Library’s
Research Guide: Forms and Practice
Materials
• AdamsDrafting Blog
Agency Forms
• Forms.gov – federal. Some fillable.
• USA Fed Forms.com - federal. Some
fillable.
• State of Ohio - Agency Forms
Court Forms – Cuyahoga County
• Eighth District Court of Appeals also see
Sixth District Court of Appeals
• Common Pleas Court
• Domestic Relations
• Probate Court Fiduciary Forms
• Juvenile Court Custody
• Juvenile Court Expungement
More Ohio Court Forms
• Cleveland Marshall Law Library’s
Research Guide: Forms and Practice
Materials
• Cleveland Law Library FAQ – Self Help
• Franklin County Law Library – some
written by library for pro ses
Nationwide Court Forms
• LLRX Court Rules, Forms and Dockets
• American Law Sources Online
• Findlaw Forms
Jury Verdicts
Preferred Sources:
• Westlaw or Lexis search (Casemaker
database for Ohio OK)
PLUS
• JVR Case Evaluation Manual (LRP)
Jury Verdict Internet Sources
• MoreLaw Recent Jury Verdicts and
Settlements – full reports free
• Verdict Search (By American Lawyer
Media) – free lists w/ name & jurisdiction
Jury Verdict Internet Sources,
Cont’d
• National Law Journal (also published by
ALM) – one year of newspaper searchable
for free. List of a few recent verdicts and
settlements
• Verdicts.com – free list, no party names.
Advanced field searching
Jury Verdict Internet Sources,
Cont’d.
• Jury Verdict Review and Analysis – free
list w/jurisdiction but no names, free
emails
• Lawyer’s Weekly USA - free list
w/jurisdiction but no names
• Jury Verdict Research.com – for fee staff
search
• Jury Verdict Publications – a few free
issues online
General Internet Searches for Jury
Verdicts
• Try a search for "jury verdict", jurisdiction,
keywords