Presented by: Kelly Browne Assistant Director for Public Services

1. Legal Research onthe InternetCalifornia Conference on Self-Represented Litigants April 28-30, 2010San Francisco Presented by: Kelly Browne Assistant Director for Public Services Sacramento County Public Law Library

2. California County Law Libraries • Open to the Public • All California counties have a law library: Business & Professions Code 6300 et seq. • Funded by Superior Court civil filing fees • To find your local county law library, visit www.publiclawlibrary.org

3. About the class: • Hands on: explanation, demonstration, exercises* • Legal Research Links document • Free resources for California primary law and secondary sources • Boolean operators and other advanced search techniques *If you need help, raise your hand and Coral Henning, SCPLL Director, will come and help you.

4. Types of Legal Information Covering Today • Primary Sources contain the law • Codes, Cases, Regulations,Court Rules • Generally available online • Secondary Sources explain the law • Often the best starting point for research • Limited availability online • Forms • Most common research question • Mandatory and optional templates

5. Boolean Operators & Warm-Up Exercises

6. Legal Dictionaries Nolo Press http://www.nolo.com/nolopedia/dictionary.do Findlaw http://dictionary.lp.findlaw.com/

7. Legal Dictionary Exercise What’s the definition of QUANTUM MERUIT ? Use one of the following: • http://www.nolo.com/nolopedia/dictionary.do • http://dictionary.lp.findlaw.com/

8. Building a Search Using Terms and Connectors (akaBoolean searching) Many sites use variations on these – check the site’s “Help” or “Search Tips” for specifics • AND– narrows search • OR – broadens search • NOT– use to exclude unrelated results (cardinals BUT NOT baseball) • Quotations– used to search for a phrase - “breach of warranty” • Truncation– to find variations of a word –encroach* will retrieve encroach, encroached, encroaching, encroachment…

9. Boolean Searching: Use of AND Using AND narrows a search. Each term will occur in each retrieved document.

10. Boolean Searching: Use of OR Using OR broadens a search. One or both of the terms will occur in each retrieved document.

11. Boolean Searching: Use of NOT Using NOT limits a search.

12. Other search techniques • Quotation marks • Putting quotation marks around a group of words will search for those words as an exact phrase • Truncation • Using the truncation symbol (often *, but varies by database) will search for alternate endings of words. • Driv* = driver, driving, driven, drivel, etc.

13. Use of parenthesis Parenthesis are used to group words or ideas together. For example, a search for: (canine OR dog) AND bite Is the same as running these two separate searches: canine AND bite dog AND bite

14. Steps in Constructing a Search:ITAC Method (Issue, Terms, Alternatives, Connectors) Select key TERMS from your issue. Using three to five key terms works well for most issues host injury intoxicated guest or host intoxicated guest

15. Steps in Constructing a Search:ITAC Method (Issue, Terms, Alternatives, Connectors) Enter reasonable ALTERNATIVE terms for your key terms. Be creative - terms that may seem to have limited relationships to key terms or that mean the opposite of a key term, may be reasonable alternatives: Party or Corporation may be alternatives for host. Sober may be an alternative for intoxicated.

16. Steps in Constructing a Search:ITAC Method (Issue, Terms, Alternatives, Connectors) Add appropriate CONNECTORS to specify the relationship you want each term and its alternatives to have to the other terms and their alternatives. (Host* OR party) AND (intoxicat* OR drunk OR alcohol) AND guest

17. Exercise What keywords would you try for this scenario? Tom signed a one-year lease to rent an apartment from Laurie. Shortly after moving in, Tom discovered that the apartment was overrun by cockroaches, making living there intolerable. Tom wants to move out, but Laurie is threatening to sue if he breaks the lease.

18. Primary Sources • Cases • California Codes • California Code of Regulations • California Court Rules

19. Cases

20. Where can you find published cases?www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/ California Courts – Powered by LexisNexis • Provides access to all published California cases from 1850 – current to within 90 days of filing • Retrieve by Citation or • Search using natural language search or • Search by keyword using advanced search

21. California Courts www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/

23. Natural Language Search AdvancedSearch Plug in known cite

24. Cases • Official published opinion of the court • Only cases of significant legal value are published • Have the weight of law because of precedent

25. http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/ Select search type More Search Terms

26. Search Connectors

27. http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/ Segment: part or section of a case opinion.

28. http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/ Advanced Searching

29. http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/ Search results

30. 30 http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/ Search results

31. Focus

32. Focus

33. Case Law EXERCISE!

34. Find the name of the case at this citation: 149 Cal.App.3d 409 (1983) Use California Courts site: www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/

35. Case Law Exercise #2 How many reported cases can you find where Neoma Kenwood was the attorney of record?

36. Case Law Exercise #3 Find a case in which one of the parties was named Wilson Hint: Search party names using the Name segment. The case we’re interested in deals with a “spite fence.” Focus your search to find this case.

37. Extras

38. Statutes

39. California Codes Onlinehttp://www.leginfo.ca.gov/ • Available online for free. • Current code only • Not annotated • Keyword searchable, but not user-friendly • “Table of Contents” view available • Helpful if you know a specific code section

40. California Codes Online Search or Browse • Select the code(s) you want to search--by clicking the check box(es). • 2. Type in search terms. • Or, click the box, then just hit enter to go directly to the Table of Contents for one Code. fence and neighbor www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.html

41. http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.htm Searching the California Codes • Supports Boolean Searching – AND, OR, ADJ, NOT (note: MUST be in ALL CAPs) • Default (no operators) is a natural language search • Truncate with an asterisk - driv* retrieves drive, driver, driving, etc. • Use parentheses to group terms – (driv* OR operat*) AND (alcohol* OR drink* OR influence) • Remember to use the Help!

42. Searching the California Codes Sample search! Can my neighbor build a 12-foot high fence next to my property just to annoy me? fence

43. http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.htm Search results for “Fence” in All Results don’t always match expectations – we must read several to find the one we want

44. http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.html Specific Codes Choose a code, then… Enter your keyword(s) OR leave it blank

45. http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.htm Browsing the Table of Contents Choose a code, then… Leave it blank and Hit Search

46. http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.htm The plain statement of the law

47. Statutes EXERCISE!

48. http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.htm What crime is described in Penal Code § 417.25?

49. Statutes Exercise #2 Locate a code section for a crime involving ducklings

50. Regulations