Legal Research Techniques

Law 151B
Spring 2013
Course Web Site: http://personal.law.miami.edu/rschard

Evaluating Information and Evaluating Authority
Refresher: Evaluating Web Sites (flash)
Boilerplate: a technological milestone
DHMO.org
Dog Island
World Trade Organization (http://gatt.org)

DomainTools
Register.com (http://register.com)
Google
Urban Legends & Folklore or Snopes.com
Scout Report (http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/report/sr/criteria.html)
Places to complain about fraud:
     Internet Fraud Complaint Center (FBI & National White Collar Crime Center)
     National Fraud Information Center
     SEC Complaint Center (corporate, consumer or mail fraud)
     FTC Consumer Complaint Form (trade, retail, consumer fraud)
     Florida Division of Consumer Services

What is Authority? (pdf)
Authority? (doc)

February 4-13

Secondary Sources: The Basic and the Practical
Refresher Recordings:
The Process of Legal Research (flash)
How and When to Use Print Sources (flash)
Secondary Sources Part I (flash)
Secondary Sources Part II (flash)
Reading: Nutshell Chapters 2 & 8, and Section 3-4
Handout: Exercise on Secondary Sources
Due: Topic Selection for Pathfinder (2/11)
Subject Guide to Treatises
Hein Online
Index to Legal Periodicals
Legaltrac
SSRN (working papers)

Powerpoint: Secondary Sources (pdf)
Due: Research Journal Entry (2/20)

Constitutions and Statutes
Reading: Nutshell Chapter 4
Exercise: Sign-up for statutes research practicum (2/25) (Sign-up sheet will be available on TWEN)
Due: Secondary Sources Exercise (2/27)
Powerpoint: Statutory Research (pdf)
Florida Senate Calendar (Session Dates Description and 2013 dates)
Online Sunshine (FL Statutes, Constitution, Laws)
Florida Statutes (from FL Senate - with bills, etc.)
Sunshine Statutes
American Law Sources Online (for material from other states)
U.S. Code (Fdsys)
U.S. Code (LII)
Hein Online

Powerpoint: Constitutions
Constitution of the United States: Analysis and Interpretation (from GPO provides basic description and leading cases for each section)
Founders' Constitution (text plus supporting documents on understanding the history of each clause)
Century of Lawmaking (from the Lib. of Cong. includes Farrand's Records and other original documents)
The Federalist Papers (Avalon Project at Yale)
State Constitutions (from Constitution Society)
Florida Historical Legal Documents

Spring Break

Case Law Research
Reading: Nutshell Chapter 3
Citation of Unpublished Opinions
Refresher Recording: Case Law Research
Due: Draft Introduction to your Pathfinder (required) (3/20)
State Court Structure (National Center for State Courts)
Google Scholar
Fastcase
U.S. Courts
State Court Web Sites (National Center for State Courts)
Federal Judicial Center
Robing Room (Comments on judges)
Miami-Dade County Judicial Poll Results
FL Supreme Court Briefs and Opinions
Oyez

Court Rules
Federal Court Rules (Includes Proposed Rules, Comments, etc.)
Florida Rules of Court Procedure (Florida Bar) (Includes Proposed Rules)

Legislative History
Reading: Nutshell Chapter 5
Handout: Exercise on Legislative History
Due: Administrative Law Exercise (3/25)
Powerpoint: Federal Legislative History
Congressional (Proquest)
Thomas
Congress.gov (Beta)
FDsys
Hein Online
Florida Legislative History (FL Senate, 1998-2010)
Florida, Current Sessions
Florida Legislative History Research Guide
Legislative Histories of Selected U.S. Laws on the Internet
Due: Encyclopedia Section for Pathfinder (required) (4/1)

Research Strategy
Reading: Nutshell Chapter 1
Powerpoint: Research Strategy (pdf)
Research Guide: Integrated Research Strategy

Fact-Finding, Interviewing
Reading: Choose one of the articles in the Additional Readings section of the TWEN page.
Reading: Adam J. Post, Advice for Your First Client Interview, Law Trends & News (Fall 2009).
Reading: Jim Calloway, The Initial Client Interview, Oklahoma Bar Association (2002).

Looseleafs and other Topical Sources
Reading: Nutshell Sections 8-1 to 8-3
Powerpoint: Looseleaf Sources (pdf)
BNA Subscriptions
Environmental Law Reporter
Tax Resources

Florida and State-Specific Legal Research
Florida Law Weekly (description)
The Florida Bar
     Florida City-County-Circuit Listing
Florida Bar LOMAS
Florida Bar - General Practice Solo and Small Firm
Municode (municipal ordinances or codes)
Miami-Dade Public Library System
Florida Government Information Locator
11th Judicial Circuit (Clerk of Court)
Florida Professional Liability (Office of Insurance Regulation) (malpractice claims)

Government Documents and Agency Materials
Last day for pathfinder drafts (optional) (4/19)
Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents
Department of Labor
Department of State
FedStats
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
GPOAccess
IRS
Library of Congress
National Institutes of Health
OpenCRS (Congressional Research Service Reports)
Public Papers of the President
Statistical Abstract of the United States
Uniform Crime Reports
U.S. Census Bureau
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
USA.gov
USAJobs

Search Engines and Online Techniques
Search Engine Showdown
Search Engine Land
Recommended Search Engines
Most Dangerous Search Engine? (Wired article about Shodan)
Internet Archive (books, music, video, archive)
Ask, Bing, ChaCha, CompletePlanet,Ixquick, ipl2, MetaCrawler,
GoodSearch, Spezify,WolframAlpha, Yahoo, Yippy, Zuula

Business & Other Non-Legal Research
Reading: Nutshell Sections 8-4 to 8-9
Daily Business Review
Public Records Online (search property records)
Sunbiz (Florida Division of Corporations)
Florida Secured Transaction Registry
UM Libraries Business Sources Guide (other business databases)
SEC (public company filings)

No Class