Tag Archives: Statutes

Supreme Court Judges Really Use Dictionaries To Determine Legislative Intent?

26 Monday May 2014

Posted by in Appellate Judges, Appellate Law, Judges, Legal Analysis, Legal Dictionaries, Legal Writing, Legislative History, References, United States Supreme Court

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Look It Up! Or Not…, by Tiffany Johnson, Good Legal Writing

http://goodlegalwriting.com/2014/04/14/look-it-up-or-not/

I always encourage my students to look up any words that confuse them as they read opinions.  But this 2011 New York Times article  cites a few scholars who don’t think it’s the most judicious practice to undertake from the bench.  Check out this excerpt:

In May alone, the justices cited dictionaries in eight cases to determine what legislators had meant when they used words like ‘prevent,’ ‘delay’ and ‘report.’ Over the years, justices have looked up both perfectly ordinary words (‘now,’ ‘also,’ ‘any,’ ‘if’) and ones you might think they would know better than the next guy (‘attorney,’ ‘common law’).

All of this is, lexicographers say, sort of strange. . . .

Law Guru – Free Internet Legal Research.

25 Sunday May 2014

Posted by in Case Law, Federal Law, Internet, Law Libraries, Legal Dictionaries, Legal Directories, Legal Directory, Mandatory Law, Primary Law, References, Research, State Law, Statutes

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Law Guru

http://www.lawguru.com/research.html

Another free Internet legal research tool. Law Guru have over 535 search engines. You can search state and federal case law, statutes and codes, and more.

It has some other nice features, too. It has a database of over 500,000 legal questions and answers. I know that sounds tempting and it may point you in the right direction. But if you are not an experienced legal researcher, please do not rely on these answers as you sole source of legal information. These questions and answers are generic – the facts of your situation may mean that the answer you get here is not the right one for your problem.

Law Guru also has a legal dictionary, links to legal articles, the Internet Law Library, and legal forms (there is a charge for these forms). -CCE

The Public Library of Law.

25 Sunday May 2014

Posted by in Case Law, Constitutions, Court Rules, FastCase, Internet, Law Libraries, Mandatory Law, Primary Law, References, Regulations, Research, State Law, Statutes

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The Public Library of Law

http://www.plol.org/Pages/Search.aspx

The Public Library of Law is free. Actually, it’s one of the largest free law libraries on the Internet. It gives you access to case law from the U.S. Supreme Court, all U.S. Circuit Courts, case law for all states (from 1997 to date), the United States Federal Code (federal statutes), states for all 50 states, regulations, court rules, state and federal constitution, and more.

One of the more interesting things about PLoL is that it provides free links to paid content on Fastcase®. If you are not familiar with Fastcase®, check it out at http://www.fastcase.com. If you need help learning how to use it, you will find free tutorials at http://www.fastcase.com/support/. -CCE

Canada’s Justice Laws Website.

03 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by in Canada

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Justice Laws Website

http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/

If you are looking for Canadian law, this is a good place to start. This online source of Canada’s consolidated Acts and regulations is updated weekly. The site’s search engine provides basic and advanced search features. -CCE

Some of the Best, Free Legal Research Guides on the Internet – no, Wikipedia does not count.

23 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by in Case Law, Federal Law, Law Journals, Law Libraries, Law Reviews, Legal Directories, Research, State Law, Statutes

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Even when you or your firm have access to Westlaw or Lexis, you may still want or need access to free resources to do your legal research. 

Most, if not all, states provide a free website for state law (e.g., statutes, case law, state constitution, attorney general opinions, etc.). Perhaps the easiest route is to go to that state’s official government website. The state court’s websites use their own search engines – do not expect each to work the same as the others.

Here is another resource that will also lead you to state law: 50 States (http://www.50states.com/). (Click on the state, and scroll down to “Courts” and click on “Judicial System.” 

Below is a selection of websites that provide comprehensive links to state, federal and, in some instances, international law. 

Competitive Intelligence – A Selective Resource Guide – Completely Updated – September 2013, by Sabrina I. Pacifici, LLRX.com  http://www.llrx.com/features/ciguide.htm

How to Use Google Scholar for Legal Research, LawyerTechReview.com 
http://lawyertechreview.com/2011/how-to-use-google-scholar-for-legal-research/

Google Scholar – Guide Review of Google Scholar as a Legal Research Tool, by William Pfeiffer, About.com Law Practice Management
http://abt.cm/aZHa4s

HG.org – Legal Resources – http://www.hg.org/

Cornell University Law School – Legal Information Institute (LII) 
http://www.law.cornell.edu/

Duke Law – Legal Databases & Links –  http://law.duke.edu/lib/lresources

The Public Library of Law – http://www.plol.org/Pages/Search.aspx

George Mason University School of Law – Free Legal Research Sites 
http://www.law.gmu.edu/library/research

Washburn University School of Law
Washlaw – Legal Links and Directories  
http://www.washlaw.edu/directories/index.html

Georgetown Law Library – Free and Low Cost Legal Research Guide –
http://www.law.georgetown.edu/library/research/guides/freelowcost.cfm