Transcript
Secondary Sources
Legal Research
Fall 2011
Graham Bateman
Types of Secondary Sources
Dictionaries Legal Encyclopedias American Law Reports (ALR) Restatements Law Review Articles Books
Types of Legal Encyclopedias
General – includes state and federal laws American Jurisprudence (Am Jur) (W & L) Corpus Juris Secundum (CJS) (Westlaw)
State-specific (not a true encyclopedia) Louisiana Civil Law Treatise
Topic-specific Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice
Browse/Search Table of Contents or full-text
Look at nearby sections to see if any are of interest and look for definition or purpose sections
Switch back to TOC view.
Title of article
Search full text – or by citation or by TOC
Return to TOC
Louisiana Civil Law Treatise - Louisiana focused
Similar to a legal encyclopedia Sets contain– Civil Procedure, Property, Torts,
Business Law, Trusts, Successions, Criminal Law, Evidence, Family Law, Workers Compensation, Business and Family Law
Print finding aids Indexes – in each set and combined index Combined table of cases
Available on Westlaw (LACIVL) Each set individually or in a combined database
Civil Law Treatise
Civil Law Treatise Index
Treatise Index Terms
Civil Law Treatise
ALR
Hybrid of reporter and journal – contains full text of “lead case” and an article
In-depth description of a narrow area of law Contains a Table of Cases and Statutes
arranged by state Available on Westlaw TIP: In print, always use the multi-volume
index rather than the 1 volume Quick Index as it references more articles
Updating Article
In print – use pocket parts but also look for newer articles on same subject that may supersede your article
On Westlaw Updated automatically by adding new cases Original date of article does not reflect how
current the information is
New case citations added on frequent basis.
1. Note date of original publication of annotation text.
2. General TOC
Outline of article
Cum. Supp. Immediately follows main annotation.
Books
Thorough treatment of a single topic Different types of legal books:
Nutshells Written with little legalese and no footnotes
Hornbooks More indepth discussion with footnotes
Treatises More scholarly, thorough treatment of issue Heavily footnoted
Some books available electronically but many others are only available in print
How to Find Books in our Library
Use LSU Law Library Catalog If you know the author’s name, use Author If you know the title, use Title TIP: If you only have a topic, use Keyword,
NOT Subject Keyword searches the subject headings plus the
Title and the Notes fields If find a relevant book, look at the subject
headings and click relevant subject to find more books with the same subject heading
Having Trouble Finding Books in our Library? Broaden your search
Use more general search terms (ex: use “real estate” rather than “easement”)
Search World Cat from Law Library screen to see what other libraries have Then visit local libraries or use inter-library loan
Search for electronic books Library’s website Internet (excerpts or FT) Lexis and Westlaw – have some practitioner titles that
we don’t have in the library
Access books via “Area of Law”, by jurisdiction, or “Secondary Legal”
Restatements
Summarizes a common law area; sorts out the differences in the cases across the country
Published by American Law Institute (ALI) Members are nominated and voted in
Written by expert(s) in the field and discussed by all members of ALI
Structure of Restatements
Each section has: Rule of law Comments and illustrations (discuss how to
apply the rule) Reporter’s notes (provides background and
history) Summaries of cases which have applied rule
in appendix volumes Reminder: Always read rule before looking at
case summaries
Ease of Use
Can be confusing to determine what is in effect Tentative drafts, new series Case summaries are in different volumes that
cover a span of years Pocket part updates
TIP: Lexis and Westlaw are easier to use, with links to various parts and b/c case summaries are all gathered together
This is the actual rule
All the case summaries are together. In print, they are in different volumes.
See case citations or read the rule with associated comments
Read Reporters Notes
Click on next to page through case citations.
Can also see rule.
Law Review Articles
In-depth, thorough analysis of narrow legal issue Description, analysis, explanation, and
suggestion of alternative approach to law Typically authored by professors; also
attorneys and judges Contain citations to primary materials and
other secondary sources
Finding Articles – Indexes
Print Index to Legal Periodicals & Books (ILP) Current Law Index (CLI)
Electronic Legal Trac
Search Tips: Use Advanced Search Option and unclick default Full-Text search option
Index to Legal Periodicals Retrospective Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals
Finding Articles with Citation
Do a Title search in Law Library Catalog Search the Journal title, not the article title Still receiving it in print? Hein Online – click on hyperlink and use
citation search option in upper right hand corner of screen
Lexis Get a document
Westlaw Find
Note latest volume on Hein Online is v.42.
Look up specific article by citation.
Finding Articles – Full Text
Lexis Westlaw Hein Online Other electronic FT journals (over 8000!!)
Academic OneFile ProQuest
Coverage Reminder!!
Pay attention to the dates of coverage of the various indexes and full-text databases Lexis and Westlaw
Coverage varies; earliest is 1980 Hein Online
Begins with volume 1 for most journals ILP and CLI
Begins in 1980 and 1981 respectively Index to Legal Periodicals Retrospective
Coverage 1918-1981
Hein Online
PDF images of articles Starts with volume 1 for most journals but
does not have current volume Can access via Library Catalog or library
Databases page Printing TIP: use PDF option, not HPrint
You can look at article in PDF and decide which pages to print
Search TIP: Search engine is not very good; easier to do citation source
Important Reminders
Always read the primary materials referred to in the secondary sources!! Author may have mis-stated the law or law
may have changed Do not solely rely on the primary authorities
identified in the secondary sources Research primary materials independently as
well Update the statutes and cases mentioned
(Shepards and Keycite)
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