Quick Legal Research Tips

This book provides the information you need to systematically research the vast written and electronic resources that together make up "the law." But instead of learning legal research techniques, you may just want to find specific items such as statutes, cases, regulations or plain-English overviews of legal topics.

Here are some quick tips on using the Internet to find and read these and other law-related materials. Each quick tip section contains a cross-reference to the part of this book that handles the particular task in more detail.

I want to use Google and other online search engines to perform keyword searches.

See Chapter 4 for more information on using Google as a legal search engine. For more information on using free Westlaw or LexisNexis services in your law library to find legal references, see Chapter 9.

If you want a solid answer to a legal question, you will need to undertake a more systematic search of available legal resources. See Chapter 2 for an overview of the legal research process online and in the law library.

I want to find a federal statute (law enacted by Congress and signed by the president).

The most direct route is to use the FindLaw website (www.findlaw.com/casecode/uscodes/), which permits you to search federal laws (organized in the U.S. Codes) by title, section, or keyword. You can also use the Google search engine. When using Google, provide the literal name or number of the law in quotation marks. If the new law has a lot of words, it usually works to just use the distinctive elements of the phrase. For example, when looking for the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Reform Act of 2005, the phrase "bankruptcy abuse" would be sufficient for the statute's name. Similarly, if the law has a nickname, you can use that phrase. If you can think of key words that identify the law, provide those as well. For instance, if a new law creates an additional procedure for collecting child support, you could likely find it by typing in the terms: "child support" and "collection." If you know the year that the law was passed, add that as well (so that you don't get an out-of-date law by the same name). See Chapter 6 for more detail on searching for federal statutes online and in the law library.

I want to find a state statute (law passed by state legislature).

Our first choice is to use the Cornell Law School site (www.law.cornell.edu/states/listing.html) where you will see a state-by-state index for state laws. If you search instead with Google, type your state's name (so that the search engine won't give you an Illinois law while you are in Texas) and then provide the literal name or number of the law, in quotation marks. If the new law has a lot of words, it usually works to just use the distinctive elements of the phrase. Similarly, if the law has a nickname, you can use that phrase. For example, you can locate California's sex offender registration law (AB 488) by typing: "Megan's Law" California. If you can think of key words that identify the law, provide those as well. For instance, if a new law creates an additional procedure for granting pregnancy leave to employees, you could likely find it by typing in the terms: "pregnancy leave" and "employee." If you know the year that the law was passed, add that as well (so that you don't get an out-of-date law by the same name). See Chapter 6 for more detail on searching for state statutes online and in the law library.

I want to find a state statute (law passed by state legislature) organized by topics.

Again, we recommend the Cornell Law School website (www.law.cornell.edu/topics/state_statutes.html), which has organized state statutes by topic. See Chapter 6 for more detail on searching for state statutes online and in the law library.

I want to find a U.S. Supreme Court case (a published Supreme Court opinion).

Try the Cornell Law School website, which provides a thorough index of Supreme Court decisions (www.law.cornell.edu/supct/index.html). If you are searching for a Supreme Court case using Google, type "Supreme Court" in quotation marks and then add any combination of the following elements:

• Type one or both names of the parties to the case. You can also search with the "v." abbreviation, as well -- for example we typed in P lanned Parenthood v. Casey and retrieved a copy of the 1992 Supreme Court Case.
• Include one or more terms that describe the subject matter of the case. For example, we typed 'Betamax' and 'Supreme Court' and retrieved the 1984 Supreme Court case, Sony v. Universal.
• Type the year of the case.

See Chapter 9 for more detail on finding U.S. Supreme Court cases online and in the law library.

I want to find a federal court case (a published judicial opinion).

Start at the Cornell Law School website, which provides a thorough index of federal court decisions (www.law.cornell.edu/federal/opinions.html). If you are searching for a federal case law using Google, type any combination of the following elements:

• Type one or both names of the parties to the case. You can also search with the "v." abbreviation, as well -- for example Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
• Include one or more terms that describe the subject matter of the case.
• Type the year of the case.
• Type the name of the court that heard and decided the case.

Note that cases decided previous to 1995 -- that is, before the Internet was used to catalog court cases -- usually are only available in private databases that require a subscription for a fee. See Chapter 9 for more detail on finding a federal court case online and in the law library.

I want to find a state court case (published opinions by state courts).

Begin with the Cornell Law School website, which provides a thorough index of state court decisions (www.law.cornell.edu/opinions.html#state). If you are searching for a state case using Google, type the name of the state and any combination of the following elements:

• Type one or both names of the parties to the case. You can also search with the "v." abbreviation, as well -- for example Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
• Include one or more terms that describe the subject matter of the case.
• Type the year of the case.
• Type the name of the court that heard and decided the case.

Note that cases decided previous to 1995 -- that is, before the Internet was used to catalog court cases -- usually are only available in private databases that require a subscription for a fee. See Chapter 9 for more detail on finding state courts cases online and in the law library.

I want to find a federal regulation (rules issued by federal agencies).

The FindLaw website is a good place to start. FindLaw provides a searching system for the federal code of regulations (www.findlaw.com/casecode/cfr.html). See Chapter 6 for more detail on finding federal regulations online and in the law library.

I want to find a state regulation (rules issued by state agencies).

You'll find many state regs by using FindLaw (www.findlaw.com/casecode/state.html). See Chapter 6 for more detail on finding state regulations online and in the law library.

I want to find an ordinance passed by a particular city or county (local laws).

Your best bet for finding city and county ordinances is FindLaw. Go to the FindLaw link for state laws (www.findlaw.com/casecode/). Scroll down to the list of U.S. State Laws and click the relevant state. The next web page should provide available city and county ordinances for that state. See Chapter 6 for more detail on finding ordinances online and in the law library.

I want to find a plain-English discussion of a particular legal topic.

Two sites provide plain-English legal information. Nolo, the publisher of this book (www.nolo.com), offers a great deal of helpful legal resources. On the homepage, enter the keywords in the search box and choose "Search Entire Site" from the drop-down menu below the search box. FindLaw (www.findlaw.com) also provides helpful legal resources for consumers and for lawyers. As you're also aware, the Google search engine will also help you find legal information. Type relevant key words into the search box. For instance, if you are looking for articles on the status of medical marijuana law in Colorado, enter these terms in this format: [medical marijuana law Colorado]. See Chapter 5 for more detail on finding plain-English discussions online and in the law library.

I want to find a particular state or federal court form.

The Google search engine (www.google.com) is the easiest method for locating state or federal forms. Try typing any combination of the following elements into the search box:

• the state that issued the form or, if it's a local form, the court where you will use it;
• the title of the form or a few unique terms that would likely be in the title -- for example, "Petition Administer Estate" for a "Notice of Petition to Administer Estate;"
• The subject matter of the form in the absence of a specific name -- for example "Summons Eviction;"
• It may also help to use the term "form."

See Chapter 5 for more detail on finding federal and state court forms.

I want to find discussions of legal issues in the news.

Using the Google search engine (www.google.com), you can search for news results in two ways. First, you can run a search on Google's main page and then click the "News" link on the top of the search results page. Or, you can direct a search to find only news articles. To perform the latter, go to the Google home page and click "more" and then click "News Search."

Stay on top of breaking legal news stories. If you want to stay abreast of a specific news subject, try "Google News Alerts." You will receive daily (or "as it happens") emails based on your choice of query or topic. Go to www.google.com/alerts and type in the search terms.