Internet and Subscription-based Legal Research

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Internet and Subscription-based Legal Research

• Margaret Clark, Reference Librarian
• FSU College of Law Library
• December 2005

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Objectives

• Identify Web sources of value for conducting
  legal research
• Identify subscription databases other than L/W
  for conducting legal research

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Legal Research on the Web

• GOOD FOR
• Current and recent documents
• Significant or recent cases SC cases
• Federal state codes, statutes and regulations
• Government publications
• Foreign and international materials

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Legal Research on the Web

• NOT GOOD FOR
• Older cases historical materials
• Annotated codes
• Full-text journal articles
• Treatises
• Complete overview of the law
• In-depth, thorough legal research

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Subscription-based databases

• GREAT FOR
• Locating full-text articles, law reviews, some
  treatises
• Locating retrospective and current articles and
  cases
• Florida case law not in W/L

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Secondary Sources

• Treatises
• Law reviews and articles
• Encyclopedias and dictionaries

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Locating treatises

• Aleph, online catalog
• NetLibrary
• WorldCat
• Index Master

All are subscription databases.
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Locating law reviews

• LexisNexis Academic
• Index to Legal Periodicals (ILP), 1980-
• ILP Retrospective, -1980
• LegalTrac
• Hein Online
• JSTOR Project Muse
• E-journals page

All of these are subscription databases
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Locating law reviews

• Emorys list of legal journals
• Findlaws list
• Google Scholar
• Law Library of Congress
• University Law Review Project

All of these are free Internet sites
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Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

• Pathfinders/Research Guides
• LLRX (Law Library Resource Exchange)
• LexNotes.com Pathfinders
• Online encyclopedias
• Zimmermans Online Encyclopedia
• Cornell LIIs Wex
• Online dictionaries
• Law.com dictionary
• Lectric Law Lexicon

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Case Law

• Court Web sites
• Florida Supreme Court
• Portal Web sites
• Florida State Courts
• Findlaw.com
• National Law Journal
• Subscription databases
• Lexis-Nexis Academic
• Hein Online

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Case law Portal sites
Text of Opinions

• Findlaw Cases and Codes
• LexisOne.com
• Cornell LII
• American Law Sources Online (ALSO)
• National Law Journal
• Federal Court Locator
• Florida State Courts

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Case law US Supreme Court

• Opinions
• FREE
• Supreme Court 1991 to present
• Findlaw 1893 to present
• Lexisone.com 1790 to present
• SUBSCRIPTION DATABASES
• Hein Online 1754 to present
• BNA U.S. Law Week, 1997 to present
• LexisNexis Academic

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Case law US Supreme Court

• Oral Arguments
• Supreme Court site (transcript)
• Oyez Project (audio)
• Records and Briefs
• Findlaw 1999 to present

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Case law Federal courts

• PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records)
  www.pacer.psc.uscourts.gov
• Electronic public access to service that allows
  users to obtain
• Case information
• Docket information
• Documents
• From Federal Courts
• Courts of Appeal
• District Bankruptcy courts

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Case law Federal courts

• Searching PACER
• U.S. Party/Case Index
• PACER District Look-Up
• Subscription database
• agencies or individuals must register
• Very inexpensive
• .08/page (applies to number of pages that
  results in any search), OR
• .60/minute charge
• 2.40 maximum per document

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Case law Federal courts

• Other sites for federal cases
• www.uscourts.gov free Internet
• LexisNexis Academic subscription

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Case law Florida

• Free, Internet
• Florida Law Online portal site
• ALSO Florida (portal site)
• Florida Supreme Court 1999
• Fla. SC Records and Briefs Apr 1998
• FSU Briefs and opinions Nov 1989
• WFSU Oral Arguments Online 1997
• Opinions from other Florida courts
• Subscription
• Florida Law Weekly 1995
• LexisNexis Academic State search

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Court Rules

• LLRXs Court Rules
• U.S. Supreme Court, Cornell LII
• Federal Judiciary

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Constitutions

• U.S. Constitution (GPO Access)
• U.S. Constitution (Library of Congress)
• Florida Constitution

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Statutes - Federal

• Portal sites
• Law Library of Congress
• Federal
• GPOAccess, Cornell LII, US House of
  Representatives site, Thomas

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Statutes - States

• Florida
• Online Sunshine constitution, statutes
• Department of State public laws
• Digest of General Laws only electronic
• Law Library of Congress portal site
• Other States
• Findlaw, Cornell LII, Law Library of Congress
• Municipal Codes -- municode.com

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Legislative History

• Federal
• Thomas, GPO Access free
• LexisNexis Academic subscription
• Florida
• Online Sunshine official online site

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Administrative Law

• Federal
• Federal Register
• GPO Access, Regulations.gov (Internet)
• Hein Online (subscription)
• Code of Federal Regulations
• GPO Access (official text)
• E-CFR (most up-to-date)
• Cornell LII
• Florida
• FAC http//fac.dos.state.fl.us
• FAW http//faw.dos.state.fl.us

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Administrative Decisions

• Federal
• Individual agency web sites (directory)
• List of federal agency decisions
• Florida
• Division of Administrative Hearings (free)
• Florida Administrative Law Reports (sub)

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Current Awareness

• Cornells InSite highlights selected law-related
  Web sites
• LLRX Buzz Web journal on Internet legal research
• The Virtual Chase legal research articles
• Abstract Appeal weblog for Florida law
• Findlaws Breaking Legal Documents email
  newsletter

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Citation Guides

• Cornells Basic Legal Citation
• http//www.law.cornell.edu/citation/

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The End