Cost Effective Legal Research:
The Internet & Beyond
Professor Lisa
Smith-Butler
2008
Introduction
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There are three primary sources of
American law produced by the three
branches of government:
– opinions/cases are issued and
published by courts;
– statutes are enacted and then
published by legislatures; and
– regulations are promulgated and
next published by regulatory
agencies operating via the
delegated power of the
legislative branch.
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In addition to the print versions, there are
numerous Internet sites that provide access to
primary sources of law (cases, statutes, or
regulations) as well as secondary sources of law
such as law reviews, forms and other legal
documents. While some sites charge fees for
access, many do not.
When using these free sites with understanding,
you can be said to be performing cost effective
legal research.
Federal and Florida primary sources of law will
be reviewed along with secondary resources at
both fee and reputable free Internet sites.
Evaluating Web Sites
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Before deciding to use a web site, evaluate it
just as you would evaluate a print resource.
Consider:
– whether the publisher of the site is reputable
and knowledgeable?
– whether the content of the site is accurate,
authentic and objective?
– whether the content can be retrieved via
keyword, author, or title searching?
– whether the information is current? and
– the frequency with which the information is
updated.
Federal Court Information
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Today, we will review Internet sites that
publish opinions and information from the
following courts:
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U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal
U.S. District Courts.
United States Supreme Court
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Opinions published by the U.S. Supreme
Court appear in print in the following
sources:
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Supreme Court Reporter (S.Ct.)
United States Reports (U.S./official)
United States Reports, Lawyer’s Edition
(L.Ed.)
United States Law Week (U.S.L.W.)
United States Supreme Court
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Supreme Court decisions are also available
in fee electronic resources such as:
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Westlaw (use SCT database) or
Lexis (use Federal Legal US Library).
United States Supreme Court
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The United States Supreme Court created the official web site,
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/ , in 2000.
This site provides the full text of opinions from 1991 onwards.
Recent opinions are provided in date issued order with hyper
text links. Earlier opinions are located in the “bound volumes.”
Opinions can also be searched via keyword at the search text
box that asks to search for documents containing:
United States Supreme Court
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In addition to the full text of Court opinions
from 1991 onwards, this site also contains
historical information about the Court,
biographical information about the justices,
the Court’s calendar, court rules, and case
handling guidelines.
United States Supreme Court
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In addition to the official site, there are
also other sites that provide access to the
full text of U.S. Supreme Court decisions.
These include:
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Cornell’s Legal Information Institute at
http://www.law.cornell.edu/ ;
Findlaw at http://www.findlaw.com/ ;
Flite at FedWorld at http://www.fedworld.gov/
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Oyez, Oyez, Oyez at http://www.oyez.org/ .
United States Supreme Court
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Cornell’s Legal Information Institute, available at
http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/, provides complete access to the
full text of U.S. Supreme Court decisions from 1990 onwards.
Selected historical Supreme Court decisions are also available at
this site.
How can you locate cases at this site?
– party name searching;
– keyword searching;
– use of Cornell created descriptive word index, called Topic; or
– searching with the name of Justice who wrote the opinion.
United States Supreme Court
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The site also provides biographical
information about the justices as well as
historical information about the Court. Court
rules can also be located at this site.
Findlaw
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Findlaw, available at http://www.findlaw.com/, provides access
to the full text of U.S. Supreme Court decisions from 1893
onwards.
Selected briefs submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court are also
available at this site.
The site can can be searched by:
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party name;
official U.S. citation;
year of decision or volume number; or
keyword searching of the full text of the opinion.
Flite
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Flite (Federal Legal Information Through
Electronics) is available via the NTIS
Fedworld site at http://www.fedworld.gov/
The full text of U.S. Supreme Court opinions
from 1937 – 1975 are available at this site.
Opinions can be searched by party name
(called case search at the site) or by keyword.
Oyez
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Northwestern University publishes the Oyez, Oyez,
Oyez site at http://www.oyez.org/ which archives the
audio of selected oral arguments made to the U.S.
Supreme Court.
This site provides selective coverage rather than
comprehensive coverage of U.S. Supreme Court
decisions. Northwestern scholars select the leading
constitutional cases for publication.
When available, audio of oral arguments is provided.
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Cases can be searched at this site via:
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keyword;
term/date;
advocate; or
Oyez created
subject index.
United States Circuit Courts of Appeals
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Decisions from all U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals
between 1789-1879 are published in the print
resource, Federal Cases.
From 1879 to the present, decisions from the Circuit
Courts are published in the Federal Reporter (F.,
F.2d, F.3d.) series, part of the West National
Reporter series.
These decisions are also published in fee electronic
resources such as Westlaw (CTA-11) and Lexis
(Federal Legal US Library).
U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals
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Emory created the Federal Courts Finder
(http://www.law.emory.edu/FEDCTS/).
The site provides access to the full text of
decisions from the Circuit Courts of Appeals
from approximately late 1994 through March
2003.
U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals
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In addition to the 11 Circuit Courts of
Appeals, the site provides access to the
following Courts:
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Court of Appeals for Armed Forces
Court of Federal Claims
Federal Circuit
D.C. Circuit
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The site can be searched by:
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date;
party name; or
keyword
11th Circuit Court of Appeals
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Decisions from March 2003 onwards can be
found at the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals site
at
http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/index.
php .
Opinions can be searched by:
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keyword;
docket number of case; or
date of decision.
U.S. Courts
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The U.S. Courts site at
http://www.uscourts.gov/courtlinks also
provides hyper text links to the official web
sites of federal courts located within a state or
circuit.
Access to the hyper text links is via a map.
Directions to the court as well as links to the
court’s official web site are provided as well.
United States District Courts
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Published alongside decisions from the U.S.
Circuit Courts of Appeals between 17891879, opinions of U.S. District Courts are
also published in the print resource, Federal
Cases.
Between 1879 – 1932, decisions from U.S.
District Courts were also published with
Circuit Court opinions in the Federal
Reporter (F., F.2d, F.3d) series, part of
West’s National Reporter Series.
United States District Courts
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In 1932, publication of opinions from the
U.S. District Courts began in the Federal
Supplement (F. Supp., F. Supp. 2d) series,
again part of the National Reporter series.
These opinions are also published in fee
electronic databases such as Westlaw (DCT)
or Lexis (General Federal Legal US Library.)
U.S. District Courts
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Free access to the decisions of U.S.
District Courts is not as plentiful as is
access to the U.S. Supreme Court’s
decisions or the Circuit Courts' decisions.
Villanova’s Federal Courts Locator at
http://www.law.villanova.edu/library/resear
chandstudyguides/federalcourtlocator.asp
provides access to some of these
decisions.
U.S. District Courts
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This site lists the states in alphabetical order.
It then provides hyper text links to the district
court sites available within the state.
Thus the dates of coverage, type of
information, and search engine vary from
one court to the next.
District Courts
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As the last slide demonstrates, the Villanova
site ultimately links to the official court sites.
Federal district court opinions can now be
located, via hyper links, on the U.S. Courts
site at http://www.uscourts.gov/courtlinks.
Federal Legislation
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Federal statutes are enacted by the U.S. Congress, creating
the laws of the United States. In order to read the federal laws
currently in force, you will need to consult a code, specifically
one of the following:
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United States Code (U.S.C./Official);
United States Code Annotated (West and USCA
database in Westlaw); or
United States Code Services (Lexis and USCS
database in Lexis).
Session Laws
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While codes provide access to the law that is
currently in force, session laws provide the
historical or chronological arrangement of the
law.
Federal session laws are published in print
formats in:
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Statutes at Large (Stat./Official); or
United States Code Congressional and
Administrative News (U.S.C.C.A.N.)
Federal Legislation
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Both the U.S. House and Senate maintain Internet sites.
These sites provide hyper links to the United States Code.
The U.S. Senate site can be found at http://www.senate.gov/
This site provides access to the following information:
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names of senators & contact information;
Senate committees, including transcripts of
hearings and reports;
roll call votes;
committee actions taken; and a
calendar of activities.
Federal Legislation
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In addition, this site allows the researcher to
search for bills of the current congressional
session via bill number or keyword. Search
results are hyper linked to Thomas.
The search results display a citation list
which then provides access to the full text of
the bill.
Federal Legislation
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The U.S. House also maintains its own site at
http://www.house.gov/. It too provides hyper links to
the full text of the United States Code.
It provides access to the following information:
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names of House members and contact
information;
committee hearings & reports (selected);
roll call votes; &
house calendar.
Federal Legislation
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Most importantly, there is Thomas at http://thomas.loc.gov/.
Maintained by the Library of Congress, Thomas provides
access to the following information:
– pending bills, including the full text, the status of the bill and
the bill summary;
– recently enacted public laws;
– the Congressional Record (current and archived from 1989
onwards);
– House & Senate Committee Reports (selected);
– roll call votes; and
– House & Senate directories.
Thomas
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The pending bills and public laws can be
searched by number or keyword.
The Congressional Record can be
searched by date or keyword.
Committee Reports and Hearings can be
searched by keyword, number or date.
Federal Legislation
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Cornell’s Legal Information Institute also
allows researchers to search the United
States Codes via:
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keyword;
citation; or
popular name.
The full text of the Code is provided at this
site as are links to applicable regulations.
Federal Legislation
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The full text of the United States Code
(USC) can also be accessed via GPO
Access at http://www.access.gpo.gov/.
The Code can be searched by keyword or
title.
Federal Regulations
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Federal regulations are the third primary source of
American law discussed.
Proposed regulations and final regulations are
published every business day in the Federal Register
in print. This information is available in electronic
format at fee based sites. Check out the FR
database in Westlaw and the Federal Legal US
Library in Lexis.
Final regulations are published in print in the Code of
Federal Regulations (C.F.R.). Again, the C.F.R. is
also available electronically for a fee in the CFR
database (Westlaw) and the Federal Legal US
Library (Lexis.)
Federal Regulations
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The full text of both the Federal Register and the Code of Federal
Regulations is also available via the Internet.
GPO Access, available at http://www.access.gpo.gov/ , is maintained
by the Government Printing Office. It provides access to the full text of
the following:
– Federal Register from 1994 onwards is available at this site and
can be searched via date or keyword. The current day’s issue lists
the Table of Contents and provides hyper text links to the
applicable pages. With the National Archives, you can now have
the Federal Register’s daily Table of Contents delivered to your
email address.
The Federal Register publishes proposed regulations, provides
the initial official publication of final regulations, publishes
Executive Orders and Presidential Proclamations as well as
notices of agency meetings.
Federal Regulations
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This site also provides the full text of the
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) which
can be searched by keyword, citation, or title.
The CFR is archived from 1996 onwards.
Archived sections can be searched by
citation.
Updating is also available with the List of
Sections Affected, LSA, at this site.
Executive Publications: Office of the President
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Executive Orders
Presidential Proclamations
Presidential Briefings
Presidential Radio Addresses
are available in full text at the White House
Internet site, available at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/. Searching is via
date or keyword.
Executive: Presidential Publications
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The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents is
available at the GPO Access site. It provides access to the full
text of:
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addresses & remarks made by the President;
bill signings;
Executive Orders;
interviews with the media;
meetings with foreign leaders; and
Proclamations.
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The site is published weekly and can
be searched via:
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keyword; or
by browsing the Table of Contents.
USAGov
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USAgov is available at
http://www.usagov.gov/ as a gateway or
portal.
It provides links to federal government
executive agencies, the U.S. Congress, and
the U.S. Courts.
Florida
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In addition to publication in print sources,
Florida publishes many of the judicial,
legislative and executive documents on
official Internet sites.
These sites are not officially authenticated.
Florida Courts
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Print decisions from the Florida Supreme
Court and the appellate courts were initially
published in the Florida Reporter (1846 –
1948) but gave way to official publication in
the Southern Reporter (S., S.2d) series, also
part of the National Reporter Series.
Selected trial court decisions from Florida’s
trial courts are published in the Florida Law
Weekly which is available in print and
electronic format.
Florida’s Judicial System
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Florida’s Supreme Court publishes its
opinions as well as historical and
biographical information about the Court
and the Justices at the Florida Courts
site at http://www.flcourts.org/ . This site
also provides links to Florida’s five district
courts of appeal, twenty circuit courts,
and sixty-seven county courts.
This site is maintained by Florida’s Office
of State Courts Administrator
Florida Supreme Court
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The Supreme Court of Florida publishes the full text
of the decisions at the Florida Courts site.
Opinions are available from 1999 onwards.
Opinions are published in date issued order and can
be searched in this manner.
Keyword searching of the entire site also allows
keyword searching of cases.
This site is mirrored at the Florida Information
Resource Network at http://www.firn.edu/supct/
Florida Supreme Court
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Briefs of the Court have been posted at
Florida State University’s Internet site at
http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/flsupct/index.ht
ml. This site provides briefs filed from
September 1995 onwards in all cases in
which the Court issued an opinion.
Searching is via keyword or docket number.
Florida Courts
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In addition to Supreme Court decisions, this
site also provides links to the other Florida
courts. Some of these courts now publish
their opinions.
Bar Exam results are also published at this
site.
Links to Gavel to Gavel are also here.
Gavel provides live and archived broadcasts
of oral arguments made before the Florida
Supreme Court.
Online Sunshine
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Online Sunshine , available at
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/ , is the official site
of the Florida legislature.
It provides the full text of:
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Florida’s statutes;
the most recent session laws;
pending bills;
Senate Daily Journals from 1999 onwards; and
Florida’s Constitution.
Online Sunshine
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Florida’s statutes can be searched via:
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keyword; or
by browsing the titles.
Regulations
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Regulations promulgated by Florida’s
regulatory agencies under the auspices of
the legislative branch are published in print
and electronically in the Florida
Administrative Code (FAC) which is also
available online at
http://www.flrules.org/Default.asp .The FAC
can be browsed via a Table of Contents that
has hyper text links to the appropriate
chapter.
Executive Orders
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Executive Orders issued by the Governor
can be found at the
http://www.myflorida.com/ site.
Orders are archived from 1996 onwards.
Orders can be searched via date and
keyword.
My Florida
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My Florida, available at
http://www.myflorida.com/, is a state
sponsored Internet portal to Florida’s
government information.
It provides access via links to Florida’s
courts, legislature, and executive branches.
The site can be searched via keyword.
State Information
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Other Internet sites provide the researcher
with links to cases, statutes, and regulations
to all fifty states.
Findlaw at http://www.findlaw.com/ was
developed by a group of northern California
law librarians and attorneys. It is now
owned by West Group. At this site, there are
links to states’ executive, judicial, and
legislative branches. Boolean keyword
searching is available.
State Information
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Washlaw at http://washlaw.edu also provides
links to state information for all fifty states.
This site can also be searched via keyword.
Municipal Codes
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The Municipal Code Corporation at
http://www.municode.com/ is a commercial
site that presently provides free retrieval of
full text documents.
Codes and ordinances of cities and counties
in all fifty states are posted and can be
searched via keyword.
States are organized alphabetically and
codes/ordinances are then listed under the
appropriate state.
Secondary Materials
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Hieros Gamos at http://www.hg.org/ was created by Lex
Mundi and allows for keyword searching. It provides access
to:
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legal guides to foreign countries, including the
European Union;
global bar directories;
directories of experts; and
law journals.
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Other helpful sites include:
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Jurist at http://www.jurist.law.pitt.edu/
Law Librarians’ Resource Exchange at
http://www.llrx.com/
Martindale Hubbell at
http://www.martindale.com/
Virtual Chase at http://www.virtualchase.com/
Subscription Internet Legal
Resources
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BNA at http://www.bna.com/
CCH at http://www.cch.com/
KeyCite at http://www.keycite.com/
Lexis-Nexis at http://www.lexis.com/
LoisLaw at http://www.loislaw.com/
Shepard’s Online at
http://www.shepards.com/
Versus Law at http://www.versuslaw.com/
Westlaw at http://www.westlaw.com/
Conclusion
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At present, there are many Internet site that
will provide you with free access to legal
information.
Questions? Contact the Reference Desk at
954.262.6201 or via email to
[email protected]