Introduction to American Legal Research

TODAY WE’LL DISCUSS…
The structure of the legal system in the United States
Primary American law and where to find it
Secondary American sources and where to find them
Major print and online sources
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WHAT IS THE LEGAL SYSTEM IN THE U.S.?
Common law jurisdiction
Federal system of government
1 national system, created by the Constitution
50 different state systems
Government has 3 branches:
Legislative
Executive
Judiciary
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FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
U.S. Constitution
Legislative Branch:
House of Representatives & Senate; pass laws called statutes.
Executive Branch:
President signs or vetoes statutes.
Agencies promulgate Regulations.
Judicial Branch:
Trial & appellate courts decide cases.
Highest court is Supreme Court.
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MOST STATE GOVERNMENTS HAVE A SIMILAR STRUCTURE
State Constitution
Legislative Branch:
Usually 2 houses: House of Representatives & Senate;
pass statutes.
Executive Branch:
Elected Governor signs or vetoes statutes.
Agencies promulgate Regulations.
Judicial Branch:
Trial & appellate courts decide cases.
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WHAT IS A COMMON LAW SYSTEM?
Body of law that originated in medieval England
Common law system relies on…
Court opinions
Statutes (also called laws, legislation, codes, acts of Congress)
Regulations (issued by state or federal agencies)
Interplay between statutes, regulations and court opinions.
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SOME DIFFERENCES BETWEEN COMMON AND CIVIL LAW SYSTEMS
“Codes” are subject compilations of laws
No presumption that all statutes or “codes” cover all legal problems
Major areas of common law not governed by statute
Uses principle of stare decisis (also called “binding precedent”)
Judges interpret the law, don’t simply apply it(judicial activism)
Reliance on precedent
Looks to most recent “authority”
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WHAT ARE “PRIMARY LEGAL MATERIALS”?
The laws themselves
May be constitutions, statutes, regulations, court opinions
(federal or state)
Mandatory authority within the jurisdiction
Persuasive authority outside the jurisdiction
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CONSTITUTIONS – FEDERAL AND STATE
U.S. Constitution
Provides for “separation of powers”by forming three branches of federal government
Available online at http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/constitution/
States also have constitutions
Online at http://www.law.cornell.edu/states/listing.html
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STATUTES : FEDERAL
Federal statutes:
Laws passed by both houses of the U.S. Congress and signed by the President
The President may also “veto” a law
Congress may override the President’s veto
The U.S. Supreme Court may later declare a law unconstitutional
This is “separation of powers”!
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STATUTES: FEDERAL
Federal statutes:
Published chronologically as “Public Laws”
Public laws online from 1987/1988 to current at http://thomas.loc.gov/bss/d109/d109laws.html
Federal statutes are also published in the United States Code, arranged by subject
Online at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/uscode/index.html
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STATUTES: STATE
State statutes:
Passed by both houses of the state legislature and signed by the governor
The governor may veto the law
The legislature may override the veto
The state Supreme Courts or the U.S. Supreme Court may later declare the law unconstitutional
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STATUTES: STATE
State statutes:
Passed by both houses of the state legislature and signed by the governor
The governor may veto the law
The legislature may override the veto
The state Supreme Courts or the U.S. Supreme Court may later declare the law unconstitutional
State statutes are published chronologically as “Session Laws”
Also published in subject compilations called “codes”
Online at http://www.law.cornell.edu/states/listing.html
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REGULATIONS: FEDERAL
Administrative agencies have been given authority by Congress to…
Issue regulations to administer the day-to-day implementation of complex legislation
Adjudicate disputes in the first instance
Some agencies are…
Department of Energy
Department of Agriculture
Department of Defense
And others…
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REGULATIONS: FEDERAL
To become law, regulations are proposed and made public in the Federal Register
Then go through a period of public comment
And are published as a final rule in the Federal Register
Regulations may later be found illegal by federal courts, or may be voided by statute
Federal regulations are published chronologically in the Federal Register
Online at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html
Federal regulations are also published by subject in the Code of Federal Regulations
Online at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html
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REGULATIONS: STATE
State agencies also issue regulations
State regulations are published in administrative “codes” and registers
Online individually
http://www.law.cornell.edu/states/listing.html
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TO SUM UP…
So far we’ve seen…
Primary legislative materials
Constitutions
Statutes
Regulations
Now we’ll look at…
Primary judicial materials
Court opinions
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COURT SYSTEM: FEDERAL
District Courts
Trial court level
Usually do not publish opinions
Circuit Courts of Appeal
12 circuits, including D.C.
Map: http://www.law.emory.edu/FEDCTS/
Appellate jurisdiction
Usually publish opinions
Supreme Court of the United States
Appellate jurisdiction over Circuit Courts and state courts
Almost always publish opinions
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COURT SYSTEM: STATE
State circuit or district courts
Trial court level
Rarely publish opinions
State Court of Appeal
Appellate jurisdiction
Usually publish opinions
State Supreme Court
Appellate jurisdiction
Almost always publish opinions
Decisions can be appealed to U.S. Supreme Court
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COURT OPINIONS ARE PRIMARY MATERIALS TOO!
Principle of “stare decisis” is significant in American law = Key difference between common and civil law systems
“Stare decisisis = the doctrine of precedent, under which it is necessary for a court to follow earlier judicial decisions when the same point arises again in litigation.” (Black’s Law Dictionary, 8th ed.)
Mandatory within the jurisdiction,
persuasive outside of the jurisdiction
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LOCATING COURT OPINIONS
Federal and state court opinions published chronologically in “reporters”
No subject compilations!
“Digests”: Subject index to court opinions
Westlaw - http://lawschool.westlaw.com/DesktopDefault.aspx
and Lexis - https://www.lexis.com/research are better for case finding than print digests
“Annotated codes”: Summaries of court opinions construing statutes follow each statutory section
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COURT OPINIONS: FEDERAL & STATE
U.S. Supreme Court opinions published in United States Reports, Supreme Court Reporter, Supreme Court Reports (Lawyers Ed.)
Online at http://www.supremecourtus.gov/
Circuit Court opinions published in Federal Reporter and District court opinions, specialty court opinions published in Federal Supplement
Both online http://www.law.emory.edu/caselaw/
State Court opinions published in state reporters
Online at http://www.law.cornell.edu/states/listing.html
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COURT OPINIONS MUST ALWAYS BE “UPDATED”!
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Must determine whether the case is still “good law”!
Case has not been overturned by another case or abrogated by a statute.

TO REVIEW…
Common law jurisdiction
Mirror-image structure of federal and state legal systems
Primary materials: the law itself
Legislative materials
Judicial materials
Now let’s talk about the process of American legal research…
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HOW DO I START RESEARCHING AMERICAN LAW
Use “secondary sources”
Explain, describe, discuss the law
Not the law itself; cannot generally be cited to a court
Researchers use secondary sources to…
Start research when unfamiliar with an area of law
Obtain a detailed understanding of an area of law
Find citations to major primary sources in an area of law, as a starting point in research
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WHAT ARE “SECONDARY” SOURCES?
Books (also called “treatises”)
Legal encyclopedias
“Restatements of the Law”
Articles in law reviews and journals
To locate, use periodicals indexes or search full text in Lexis or Westlaw
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GENERAL INTERNET SOURCES FOR AMERICAN LEGAL RESEARCH
FindLaw: http://www.findlaw.com/
GPOAccess: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/index.html
Cornell Legal Information Institute: http://www.law.cornell.edu/
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