OORREEGGOONN CCOOUUNNTTYY LLAAWW LLIIBBRRAARRIIAANNSS OONN && OOFFFF TTHHEE GGRRIIDD LLEEGGAALL RREESSEEAARRCCHH ((IITT''SS NNOOTT AALLLL OONNLLIINNEE!!))
PCC PARALEGAL STUDENTS May 26, 2011, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.
PRESENTERS Laura Orr, Washington County Law Librarian Jennifer Dalglish, Clackamas County Law Librarian (in spirit) PROGRAM GOALS: Participants will learn:
1) When and how to get documents fast - and from whom
2) How to save legal research time and money
3) Learn about Oregon law library and legal research resources
AGENDA
Meet Your Law Librarians
Legal research tips
Legal research leverage
The 10 & 30-minute rules
⇩ Questions and closing remarks
QUESTIONS? Please feel free to ask questions in class,
OR send an email message: [email protected] or [email protected]
OR send a question to L-net: http://www.oregonlibraries.net/.
RESOURCES Clackamas County Law Library: http://www.co.clackamas.or.us/lawlibrary/ Washington County Law Library: http://www.co.washington.or.us/LawLibrary/ Oregon Council of County Law Libraries: http://www.occll.org/ Oregon Legal Research Blog: http://oregonlegalresearch.blogspot.com
Presenters: Jennifer Dalglish is the Law Librarian at the Alden E. Miller Law Library of Clackamas County located in Oregon City. She obtained a B.A. from The Colorado College in 1995, J.D. from The University of Montana School of Law in 1998, and M.L.I.S. from The University of Washington Information School in 2007. She is an active member of several professional law library and attorney organizations, serves on many committees and is the editor of a few newsletters. Jennifer’s favorite part of being a law librarian is teaching legal research and writing to patrons, students, librarians, court and county staff and other professionals. She enjoys writing and has published numerous articles on law librarianship, legal research and other areas of interest. She also enjoys listening to audio books during her commute, creating vegan recipes on the weekends and having “Friday Night Dance Parties” with her husband, three-year-old daughter and three-month-old son. Jennifer can be reached at [email protected]. Laura Orr, the Washington County Law Librarian, has worked, among other places, in a jail, in county and federal housing agencies, grocery stores, bookstores, a squash club, and in the following libraries: Free Library of Philadelphia (main library, a branch, and the bookmobile), University of Maryland Law School library in Baltimore, the former Bristol Polytechnic (now University of the West of England) and the University of Bristol law libraries, in Bristol, England, Willamette Law School library in Salem, Oregon, and the Yale Law School library in New Haven, Connecticut. Laura received her J.D. from Temple Law School in Philadelphia, PA and her B.S in Public Administration and M.L.S. from Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. She is active in a number of professional associations and founded (Jan. 2009) the Oregon Library Association (OLA) Legal Reference Round Table (LRRT). She teaches legal research and legal reference skills to paralegals, lawyers, librarians, and students of all ages. She has published articles on American and English legal research and served as coordinator and panelist for various lawyer and librarian meetings and conference programs and is the Oregon Legal Research blog founder and lead writer. Laura can be reached at: [email protected], (503) 846-8880. S:\Legal Research Training\Paralegal Training\Paralegal_PCC_May_2011_Agenda.doc
OREGON LEGAL RESEARCH RESOURCES NOT ONLINE OR THROUGH FEE-BASED DATABASE ACCESS ONLY
(Updated: May 6, 2011) The following is a list of Oregon and U.S. legal research materials sought after by law library and public library patrons. Some of the resources listed below are in paper format only or are online only to Oregon attorneys or other paid subscribers, e.g. those who subscribe to Westlaw, Lexis, HeinOnline, Fastcase, Casemaker (bar associations only), LoisLaw, VersusLaw, or other legal research subscription database. Many are specialized legal research resources that require knowledge of the principles of legal research, government organization, and law-making in order to use them to prepare for one’s case or other purpose. Notes:
Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) is online only for the current year, not for the superseded ORS, although one can use Oregon Laws dot org or the Internet Archives to find archived copies of the statutes formerly posted at the Legislature’s website.
Oregon cases prior to 1997 and superseded Oregon Revised Statutes are not online. The ones online
are not searchable except by citation so are of limited use to the legal researcher. Oregon laws (session law): Online back to 1999 on the Legislature’s website. E-court is not envisioned to be a free service, any more than PACER is. That is, they do (or may) offer
some “free” materials, but only under specific conditions. Also, E-Court, like PACER, is a court document filing system, not a legal research database. It will make complaints, briefs, motions, orders, etc. available online, to subscribers.
DOCUMENT/BOOK TITLE/SERVICE
Online, open source, free and/or public
access
ONLINE TO OSB MEMBERS via
Fastcase and/or OSB BarBooks
ONLINE TO PAID SUBSCRIBERS
LEGAL FORMS, generally See below for more Oregon Legal
Forms information.
Except for Oregon Family Law forms for
simple divorces, there are very few
official, court approved state legal forms online for self-represented litigants.
See the OLR Blog post on the Legal Forms Pyramid.
Yes. Yes, e.g. Westlaw legal forms, Gale legal forms
Oregon Appellate Court Briefs
Some at SOLL (also, see guide at Wash
Co Law Lib) Not all briefs on the public website and, unlike microfilm and
bound briefs, extracts of record are not
included.
No Westlaw, Lexis
2
(Oregon) City codes, current Some No Westlaw, Lexis, other (?) (Oregon) County codes, current Some No No
County codes, superseded Rarely No Westlaw, Lexis, other (?)
(Oregon) County budgets – line item
Rarely (budgets submitted for
approval are online for some
jurisdictions, but not detailed line-item
budgets)
No No
(Oregon) Court approved legal dictionaries
No No Yes
Oregon Court dockets (OJIN) Free at courthouse
and some county law libraries
No Yes
Complaints, motions, orders, and briefs in Oregon courts (full-text)
Some through OJIN, but not briefs No.
Yes. Few, if any, Oregon public law libraries have these commercial court
records databases, due to excessive cost. (E.g. a copy of a complaint can
cost from $25 to hundreds, depending on
date and length.)
Jury instructions, Oregon Print & OSB
BarBooks at county law libraries
OSB Barbooks OSB BarBooks
Legal encyclopedias Print only and online if county law library
has subscription No Yes
Legal forms, OSB
County Law Libraries have print and online
practice books & OSB BarBooks
OSB BarBooks Yes, OSB BarBooks
Legal journals* Some No Yes Legal monographs (books &
treatises) Some if law library
subscribes. No Some vendors have
online versions.
Legal newspapers
Current (7-14 days), often headlines only. Some law libraries
subscribe.
No Yes
Legal treatises Some, if law library
subscribes.
Oregon treatises, through OSB
BarBooks, but not private legal
publisher treatises.
Some vendors have online versions.
(Oregon) Municipal codes, superseded
Some No Yes, selective.
OCDLA publications No No No
Oregon Employment Appeals Board (EAB), pre-2000
EAB has only back to 2000. Not at
Archives. No No
Oregon DOJ AG Opinions 1997 forward Yes Yes (to 1940) Oregon legislative history pre-
1995 Paper or micro only, from State Archives
No Lexis has ORS to 1995.
3
and selected law libraries.
Oregon legislative bills
1995 to present. Previous bills
available only at State Archives.
Yes, from 1995, via Legislature’s website.
Current session via Lexis and Westlaw.
Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) Superseded
Current only online at Legis website.
(Earlier years also at Internet archive, but
not official.)
No. Lexis has ORS to 1995.
Oregon state bar (OSB) publications
OSB BarBooks, with current pubs, but not superseded or CLE
course books.
Yes, current practice books, via BarBooks.
Yes, OSB BarBooks. Westlaw & Lexis have OSB Bulletin archives
Oregon Agency Budgets Some, but not line-item budgets
No No. Public records request sometimes required.
Disciplinary reports (OSB) Yes. Yes (?) Yes Oregonian & other newspapers Current (7-14 days) No Yes
PECBR** 2002 forward online
at ERB website. No
Casemaker (not available except to selected state bar associations – not
Oregon)
FEDERAL LAWS (Selected sources)
Online, open source, free and/or public
access
ONLINE TO OSB MEMBERS via
Fastcase & BarBooks
ONLINE TO PAID SUBSCRIBERS
U. S. Code - official Print/online not current
Yes USC, USCA & USCS
U. S. Supreme Court Yes Yes Yes U. S. Appellate Court Previous 10 years Yes Yes
U. S. District & Bankruptcy Courts Selective Yes Yes U.S. Congressional Research
Service reports Selective No Yes
FINRA and (former) NASD decisions
Only summaries are online.
No Yes
* Law journal articles: There are tens of thousands of journals and hundreds of thousands (maybe millions) of possible articles researchers need, many of which, though not all, are indexed by a variety of publishers. Neither the law library nor the public library could possibly have all databases or print editions of the journals from which researchers request articles, nor do libraries have all the indexes. Libraries have developed interlibrary loan and other types of manual and automated sharing methods to serve the needs of researchers. **PECBR doesn’t have all cases online and has a per-page copy charge. (Casemaker has many of the PECBR cases on its database, but only state bar associations may purchase subscriptions to the service.)
Type of PrimaryAuthority
U.S. Constitution
U.S. Supreme Court decision
interpreting and applying federal law
Federal statute *
Federal administrative regulation""
U.S. Court of Appeals decisioninterpreting and applying federal law
U.S. District Court decision interpretingand applying federal law
State constitution***
When and WhereMandatory
Always mandatory on all federal andstate courts
Always mandatory on all federal andstate courts
Always mandatory on all federal andstate courts
Always mandatory on all federal andstate courts
Always mandatory on federal courtswithin the jurisdictional boundaries of theCourt of Appeals issuing the decision
Always mandatory on specialized lowerfederal courts, if any, within thejurisdictional boundaries of the DistrictCourt issuing the decision and overwhich the District Court has appellate
jurisdiction
Always mandatory on all state courtswithin the given state
When and WherePersuasive
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
May be regarded as persuasive byfederal and state courts that do not needto treat the decision as mandatory
May be regarded as persuasive byfederal and state courts that do not needto treat the decision as mandatory
N/A
(continues below)
~I\.)
~~[; ::sIC~ ,.
ftIIJ ~0 )::T
~IIJ:JC~
"-
\~~~
!IIIIII!I'IIIII II ~.. -- r-
Decision of a state's highest court
interpreting and applying that state'sI ***aw
Decision of a state's intermediate
appellate court interpreting and applyingthat state's law***
State statutet
State administrative regulationtt
Always mandatory on all lower statecourts within the given state
Always mandatory on all lower statecourts within the jurisdictionalboundaries of the intermediate appellatecourt issuing the decision; in somestates, may also be mandatory on lowerstate courts outside those jurisdictionalboundaries
Always mandatory on all state courtswithin the given state
Always mandatory on all state courtswithin the given state
May be regarded as persuasive byfederal and state courts that do not needto treat the decision as mandatory
May be regarded as persuasive byfederal and state courts that do not needto treat the decision as mandatory
N/A
N/A
(continues on p. 44)
The additional comments in the following footnotes bear only on the validity of the authority, not on itsmandatory or persuasive character:
. Assuming there is no conflict with the U.S. Constitution.. Assuming there is no conflict with the U.S. Constitution or a federal statute... Assuming there is no conflict with the U.S. Constitution, a federal statute, or federal administrative lawt Assuming there is no cOOiflictwith the U.S. Constitution, a federal statute, federal administrative law, or
that state's constitution
tt Assuming there is no conflict with the U.S. Constitution, a federal statute, federal administrative law,that state's constitution, or any of that state's statutes
Figure P. Primary Authorities: When and Where Mandatory or Persuasive
II:rCoS'IC:f(I)rIIJ:E
~(,)
STATE COURT SECTION
Chief Justice:Wallace P. Carson, Jr.
Supreme Court Bldg.1163 State StreetSalem 97301-2563(503) 986-5700
Justices of Supreme CourtW. Michael GilletteRobert D. DurhamR. William RiggsPaul J. De MunizThomas A. BalmerRives Kistler
Appellate Court Records:Scott Crampton
Supreme Court Bldg.1163 State StreetSalem 97301-2563(503) 986-5555
Judiciary Homepage:www.ojd.state.or.us
Court Administration:(Ms.) Kingsley W. Click
Court AdministratorSupreme Court Bldg.1163 State StreetSalem 97301-2563(503) 986-5500
Governor:Ted Kulongoski (D)
900 Court Street, NE, RooSalem 97301-4047(503) 378-3111
Oregon Homepage:www.oregon.gov
Main State Capitol:(503) 378-3111
Attorney General:Hardy Myers (D)
100 Justice Bldg.1162 Court S1.N.E.Salem 97301-4096(503) 378-4400www.naag.org
Secretary of State:Bill Bradbury (D)
141 State CapitolSalem 97301(503) 986-1523www.nass.org
Vital Statistics:State Health DivisionVital Statistics Section800 NE Oregon StreetPO Box 14050Portland 97293-0050(503) 731-4108www.vitalrec.com
OREGON COURT SYSTEM
SUPREMECOURT
7justicesJurisdiction:
1 " Mandatory jurisdiction in capital criminal, tax,
~ ballot title, disciplinary, original proceedingcases.
" Discretionary jurisdiction In civil, noncapitatcriminal, administrative agency, juvenile,disctpnnary, certified questions from lederalcourts, original proceeding cases.
~
COURTOF APPEALS
10judgesJuris<flCtlon:
" Mandatoryjurisdictionin civil,noncapitalcriminal, administrative agency, juvenile, originalporceedlng, Interlocutory decision cases.
" No discretionary jurlsidctlon.
TAX COURT
m 160
1 judgeJurisdiction:
- Exclusive jurisdiction overdisputes involving state tax laws.
- Appeals lrom county boards 01equalization and OregonDepartment 01 Revenue.
" Magistrate Division - 5Magistrates
COUNTYCOURT
(7 courts)
JUSTICE COURT
(30 courts)
30 judges.Jurisdiction:- Tort, contract,personal
property rights ($5,000), smallclaims.
- Misdemeanor, DWVDUI.
" Moving traffic, parking,miscellaneous traffic.
" Preliminary hearings.
7 judgesJurisdiction:
" Adoption,mentalhealth,probate.
" Juvenile.
No jury trials.
Jury trials lor some case types.
uIant'J Rcltrr/-(C;vr/ b,'r'cIvyshJc U9tJ(, ('Cf:
~CIRCUIT COURT
(27 judicial districts in 36 counties)
169judgesJurisdiction:
-1" Tort, contract, real property rights ($0/00
maximum), adoption, probate, civil appealsI' from Justice Courts, mental health.
- Exclusive domestic relations (except
adoption), miscellaneous civil jurisdiction.
- Misdemeanor, exciuslve felony, criminal
appeals, libel, slander, false Imprisonment,
maUcious prosecution." Ordinance violation.- Juvenile.
Jury trials lor some case types.
~
MUNICIPAL COURT (112courts)
94 judgesJurisdiction:- M'lSdemeanor, DWVDUI." TraffirJotherviolation.
Jury trials for some case types.
t Indicates route 01appeal
191
Court 01last
resort
Intermediateappellate
courts
Courts01gen&f81
jurisdiction
Courts 01limited
jurisdiction
I
I
I
I
,
I
,
rI
I
I
I.
r
1W
'i, '
\
I
" fJ~/k/Jb7J, 'LrJr/~stQr("~ "~//Jr't7./AAJIb /frJ/!<
3. U.S.Court of Appeals Cases
c'
All published decisions by the U.S. Courts of Appeals are
collected in the Federal Reporter. This is currently in itsthird series and is abbreviated as «F.", «F.2d", or «F.3d"
(Federal Reporter, Second Series).
The U.S. Court of Appeals (the intermediate federalappellate court) is divided into 12 circuits and a special
court called the Federal Circuit that hears appeals relatingto patents and customs. Belowis a table of the states ineach circuit.
l' 4. U.S.Supreme Court Cases
Last,but certainly not least, there are three separate
reporters for United States Supreme Court cases.Each ofthem contains the same casesbut different editorialenhancements.
You might wonder why it is necessary to have threereporters for a singlecourt. It's really not; many small lawlibraries only buy one, or two at the most.
a. United States Supreme Court Reports (U.S.)
This reporter is the so-called «official"reporter, commis-
sionedby Congress. Other reports that cover these casesare termed unofficial reports. This doesn't mean the
opinions collected in the official reporter are moreaccurateor authoritative than those in the unofficial
reporters; for basic legal research purposes there is little~ .
Iii. differencebetween the officialand unofficial reporters.I1i However, most courts require a citation to the official
"+: reporter when referring to a U.S. Supreme Court case in
.t .court documents.:i
Supreme Court Reporter (S. Ct.)
is reporter is part of the West Group series 'of reporters,
rhich means it is also part of an elaborate cross-reference
~stemknown as the «key system" (explained in Chapter 10,
:hepard'sand Digests: Expand and Update Your Research).
. you are using the West research system, it is a good idea
:0 Usethis reporter.."
HOW CASES ARE PUBLISHED 8/3
1st CircuitIMaine New Hampshire Rhode Island I
Massachusetts Puerto Rico I2nd Circuit
I
IConnecticut NewYork Vermont I
I3rd Circuit IDelaware Pennsylvania Virgin Islands
II
New Jersey
:4th Circuit
Maryland South Carolina West Virginia\North Carolina VirginiaI
5th Circuit ICanal Zone Mississippi Texas ILouisiana I.
II6thCircuit IKentucky Ohio Tennessee IMichigan I
\
7th Circuit
IIllinois Indiana Wisconsin
8th CircuitI
Arkansas Missouri North Dakota
:,Iowa Nebraska South Dakota
Minnesota IiIi I
9th CircuitI ',.
Alaska Hawaii Nevada
Arizona Idaho OregonCalifornia Montana WashingtonGuam
10th Circuit
Colorado New Mexico Utah
I
!iIi
Kansas Oklahoma Wyoming1[,
11th Circuit I Iii I,i'Alabama Florida Georgia
District of Columbia Circuit
Washington, D.C.
Federal Circuit
Patent and CustomsCases
Frequently Used Oregon Legal Abbreviations (updated 5/24/11) (These are not necessarily in Bluebook, Shepard’s, or Keycite Style)
A. Atlantic Reporter* A.B.A. American Bar Association A.L.I. American Law Institute A.L.R. American Law Reports* A.L.R. Fed. American Law Reports Federal Am. Dec. American Decisions (pre 1911) Am. Jur. 2d American Jurisprudence Second BC Bellinger and Cotton’s Annotated Codes and Statutes of Oregon (1902) BNA Bureau of National Affairs B.R. West’s Bankruptcy Reporter C.L.E. Continuing Legal Education Cal. Rptr. California Reporter Cal. Code West’s California Code Annotated C.B. Internal Revenue Cumulative Bulletin CCH Commerce Clearing House CC&R Covenants, Conditions, & Restrictions CCP Oregon Council on Court Procedures C.J.S. Corpus Juris Secundum C.F.R. Code of Federal Regulations Cr.L./Crim.L.Rptr. Criminal Law Reporter D Deady’s General Laws of Oregon (1845-1864) DL Deady’s & Lane’s General Laws of Oregon (1843-1872) DR Disciplinary Rules (Rules of Professional Responsibility) F. Federal Reporter* F.A.P.A. Family Abuse Protection Act (Oregon) F.Cas. Federal Cases (pre 1900) F.E.D. Forcible Eviction and Detainer (FED) (Oregon) F.R. Federal Register FRAP Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure FRCP Federal Rules of Civil Procedure F.R.D. Federal Rules Decisions F.Supp. Federal Supplement H.B./HB House Bill H Hill’s Annotated Laws of Oregon (1887-1892) LCDC Oregon Land Conservation & Development Commission LOL Lord’s Oregon Laws (1910) LUBA Oregon land Use Board of Appeals L.Ed. United States Reports, Lawyers Edition N.E. North Eastern Reporter* N.W. North Western Reporter* N.Y.S. New York Supplement OAR Oregon Administrative Rules
2
OC Oregon Code Annotated (1930) OCLA Oregon Compiled Laws Annotated (1943 and 1947) OEC Oregon Evidence Code OL Oregon Laws (Olson’s 1920) Op Atty Gen Opinions of the Attorney General Or Oregon Supreme Court Reports Or App Oregon Court of Appeals Reports Or Const Art Oregon Constitution Article Or L Rev Oregon Law Review Or Laws Oregon Laws (Session Laws) ORCP Oregon Rules of Civil Procedure ORE Oregon Rules of Evidence ORS Oregon Revised Statutes (official) ORSA Oregon Revised statutes Annotated (Thomson/Reuters) OTR Oregon Tax Court Reports P. Pacific Reporter* P.A. Public Act P.L. Public Law R.C.L. Ruling Case Law (predecessor to Am Jur) S.A. Special Act S.B./SB Senate Bill S. Ct. Supreme Court Reporter (U.S.) S.E. South Eastern Reporter* SLR Supplementary Local Rules So. Southern Reporter* ss Special Session of the Legislature Stat. United States Statutes at Large S.W. South Western Reporter* T.C. Tax Court UCCJA Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act ULA Uniform Laws Annotated U.S. United States Reports U.S.C./USC United States Code (official) U.S.C.A. United States Code Annotated (Thomson/Reuters) USCCAN United States Code Congressional & Administrative News (T/R) U.S.C.S. United States Code Service (Elsevier/Lexis/Matthew Bender) U.S.L.W. United States Law Week UTCR Uniform Trial Court Rules *Note: Reporter series, be sure to designate the series number (e.g., SE2d, P3d, etc.) & year For more detail and more extensive coverage, please consult:
Bieber’s: legal abbreviations - various editions and titles Law Dictionaries: various titles, e.g. Black’s, Ballentine, Bouvier The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, Harvard Law School, et al.
WASHINGTON COUNTY LAW LIBRARY INTRODUCTION TO LEGAL RESEARCH FOR NEW PARALEGALS
*NINE TIPS TO THE TOP*
1. Familiarize yourself with your employer’s legal research print and database
collections – and learn how to use them. 2. Understand basic legal document and research concepts and terms: e.g.
sources of law, mandatory vs. persuasive authority, primary vs. secondary sources, case files, docket sheets, complaints, pleadings, motions, treatises, databases, citators, digests, indexes, legal encyclopedias, forms books, pin cites, case brief vs. legal brief, memorandum, court rules, regulations, directives, foreign vs. international, practice books, CLEs, pocket parts, etc.
3. Ask your employer which style manual to use and know what to do with it.
a) Oregon Appellate Courts Style Manual (current one at OJD website) b) The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (current edition)
4. Know how and where to find case law: digests, slip laws, published,
unpublished, trial court opinions, orders, administrative decisions, etc. 5. Know how and where to find statutes: session laws, codes, slip laws,
legislative history, legislative intent, etc. 6. Know what regulations and administrative rules are and where to find
them. 7. Learn how to use your law firm’s document management system. 8. Use these handy reference tools
a) Legal encyclopedias, practice guides, and forms books b) The Bluebook (white and blue pages) c) Biebers, various editions (abbreviations and style) d) Words and Phrases: national and Oregon Digest e) Tables of Cases and Popular Names indexes f) Legal dictionaries and writing and usage manuals
9. Citators: Shepard’s (Lexis) and KeyCite (Westlaw)
When all else fails, or even before, and you still need research help, ask your coworkers, your boss, your librarian, your paralegal professor,
or contact your local law library.
COST EFFECTIVE RESEARCH
TIME IS MONEY Outline your research strategy to avoid duplication, wasted time, and
overlooking important research documents. Use the best legal research tools for the job: print, online, people Use the power of legal research leverage: ask the experts
Be the BEST EVER Legal Researcher and Paralegal Use every opportunity to learn about legal research tools available to you. Attend any training, CLE, or course available to you. Work well with others: paralegals, lawyers, legal secretaries, library staff,
and office managers. You need them more than they need you (at least for now).
Ask for constructive feedback on your research and writing – and work to
improve your skills. Find at least one area of law that interests you or your employer and learn
everything you can about it – do this often.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST Ask questions – and have a system for recording answers. Enjoy your work. Relax after a hard week at work. Updated: Orr, 3/7/11