Attached - theprattlawlibrarian
Case law Research
Teaching goals:
– Using only online resources to answer a research question; and
– Finding research and monetary differences among them.
Fact Pattern
• Your firm is part of the New York City Bar
Association’s roster of pro-bono attorneys and are getting ready to go to trial in a robbery case.
Your firm’s client is Jane Doe, a graduate of the
Fashion Institute of Design. She worked as the manager of a fancy footwear store on Fifth Avenue until she was arrested.
The state lodged criminal charges against her. She alleges she is innocent.
The Case
• Interviewing Ms. Doe, a partner learned the following:
• After the summer collection was delivered, in the presence of the truck driver,
– she had checked their amount and style,
– chose the only Manolo Blahnik shoes delivered,
– put them away in her locker without trying them on,
– locked the store, and
– went home.
• The following morning she showed up and discovered the store had been robbed of its entire summer collection, except her chosen shoes.
The prosecutor assigned to this case informed the partner that the state’s expert witness will say that:
• the shoes had been tried on; and
• the footprints taken from inside the shoes have been identified as your client's based on a sample taken from your client while in custody.
• The sample was taken without her consent or even knowledge.
The 2010
Manolo Blahnik Summer Collection
Elaborating a Defense
• Your firm wants to keep that testimony out of court.
and
• You research the following preliminary issues:
• Is that testimony admissible?
– What are the rules for expert witnesses?
– Are there different rules of admissibility for a novel scientific theory?
Westlaw
• Log into Westlaw
• Navigate the directory
• Navigate the NY Tab
• Select Carmody Wait
• Scan TOC
• Search
• Review Results
• Select AmJur
– “footprint identification”
• Search allcases
• Review results
• Print or download State v. Jones
• Keycite
v. Lexis
• Log into Lexis
• Navigate the directory
• Navigate the NY Tab
• Select NY Jur
• Scan TOC
• Search
• Review Results
• Select AmJur
– “footprint identification”
• Search federal and state cases
• Review results
• Print or download State v. Jones
• Shepardize
Library Literature
Fee-based databases:
• WestlawNext
• Bloomberg
( https://www.bloomberglaw.com/login.htm
)
• Loislaw (cancelled)
• Other databases available through state bar associations
( see attached chart )
• Free of charge databases:
– lexisOne ( http://law.lexisnexis.com/webcenters/lexisone/)
– Google Scholar ( http://scholar.google.com/)
