Tips and Tricks
for Legal Research
Online
A Program by
Amy Hale Janeke, JD, MLS
Reference Librarian
5th Circuit Court of Appeals
Law Library
ahjaneke@ca5.uscourts.gov
Why Tips and Tricks?
Computers are only one of the tools you
need to learn to use. Not everything is
online and even if it is, sometimes it is
hidden. This is especially true for legal
information.
What Can I Use a Computer to Do?
• Find the law
• Find a case interpreting the law
• Find some factual information
What Is On-line?
• Some court decisions
• Court rules
• Most laws
– But not the annotations to the laws
(unless you are using a for-pay database)
• Some topic specific information
• Some forms
Who Can I Trust?
• When is the information updated?
• Who does the updating?
• What are the sources of information used
to get the information?
Sometimes you can weigh a website’s
credibility by looking at who put the
information on the web.
Who Can I Trust?
Look for websites ending in:
• .gov – government
• .edu – educational institution
Be wary of sites ending in:
• .com
• .net
• .biz
When to Use a Computer
• When you have a specific citation
• When you need the absolutely latest version
of information
When Should I NOT Use a Computer?
• When you don’t have a specific
citation
• When you don’t know what you
are looking for
• When you are looking for info prior
to the 80s
Examples of Citations
• Tex. Transp. Code § 547.603- TX code
citation
• 17 USCA 501 - federal code citation
• 487 U.S. 474 - federal case citation
§ 547.603. Windshield Wipers Required
A motor vehicle shall be equipped with
a device that is operated or controlled by
the operator of the vehicle and that
cleans moisture from the windshield.
The device shall be maintained in good
working condition.
Example
You need to find the TX law dealing with the
open container law. You go online to the
TX Legislature’s web site at
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/ and start
searching…
Or you can Google it…
Scroll
Down
Searching by Citation
An easier, more efficient way to search is by
using a direct citation. In this case, it would
be Pen. Code § 49.031.
Scroll
Down
Open Container Example
Elapsed time…roughly two minutes. You
found the correct information and ended
up at the same place as when you used
the computer to search, but it took much
less time. See why it is best you need to
have a direct citation before going to the
Web?
Law Portals
A portal is a web page with
links to several areas. One of
the best nationwide for legal
information is
www.findlaw.com
Finding Cases On-line
• Supreme Court cases
– State
– Federal
• Appellate Court cases
– State
– Federal
Online
Local
courthouse
only
Finding Cases On-line
You cannot find:
• State Trial Level Cases
• Unpublished Cases
Supreme / Appellate Court Records
• Go back to 1997 for Supreme Court, 1998 for
Court of Appeals
• Searchable by name or docket number
You can go directly to the
TX Court’s web site
Or use the Findlaw.com portal again
What is the difference?
•The TX Court site isn’t search
friendly.
•Findlaw.com allows searching
in cases from both supreme and
court of appeals.
Free Forms Online
• Where can you get them?
• Can you get them for all districts?
Free Forms Online
Now let’s switch to federal
materials
When you watch a DVD, you
will sometimes see this…
Copyright Protection……
blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah don’t copy this
or we’ll hunt you down
like a dog.
Title 17 USC 501
Finding the US Code Online
• Several places to access it
• Contains law only, no cases
www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/
What if you want to look up a
Supreme Court Case?
Go to the Supreme Court’s
official website:
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/
Finding a 5th Circuit Case
http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/
How do I find a law using keywords?
• The Library of Congress has a searchable
database of bills and laws. You can search
by date, topic, author, or number.
http://thomas.loc.gov/
Other Cool Websites
• www.llrx.com – Law Library Resource
Xchange
• www.nolo.com – Nolo Press, a self-help
publisher of materials. Many Texasspecific books.
Free Handbook on
Finding Legal Info
• Called Locating the Law, 4th ed.
• Online - www.aallnet.org/chapter/scall or print
copies are $20.
• Written by law librarians
• Copyright free- use and
disseminate all you like.
Suggested Readings
• The Complete Internet Handbook for
Lawyers by Jerry Lawson or Lawyer’s
Guide to Fact Finding on the Internet by
Carole A. Levitt and Mark E. Rosch.
• The Invisible Web: Uncovering Search
Information: Sources Search Engines
Can’t See by Chris Sherman and Gary
Price.
Suggested Readings
Legal Research: How to Find & Understand
the Law (7th ed.), Nolo Press, 2003.
Locating the Law Handbook- freewww.aallnet.org/chapter/scall/locating
.htm
Legal Research
Today you learned:
•
•
•
•
What’s online and what’s not,
Finding cases online,
Finding laws online, and
Cool legal research databases.
Websites Visited
•
•
•
•
www.capitol.state.tx.us/ - Texas laws
www.findlaw.com - legal research portal
www.courts.state.tx.us/ - Texas courts
www.texaslawhelp.org/TX/index.cfm – Texas
free legal help site
• www.gpoaccess.gov/ - official US Code site
• www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/ - Cornell’s legal
site
• www.supremecourtus.gov - Supreme Court
Websites Visited con’t
•
•
•
•
http://thomas.loc.gov/ THOMAS (federal laws/bills)
http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/ - 5th Circuit
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/ - Ben’s guide to the gov’t
www.aallnet.org/chapter/scall - “Locating the Law”
Thank you for your attention!
Amy Hale Janeke, JD, MLS
Reference Librarian
5th Circuit Court of Appeals
Law Library
ahjaneke@ca5.uscourts.gov