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Internet Legal Research for Professor Mika’s Legal Drafting Class Dec. 2, 2009

Internet Legal Research for Professor Mika’s Legal Drafting Class Dec. 2, 2009. Outline. Internet v. Lexis, Westlaw Forms Evaluating Web Sites Legal Portals and Search Engines Free Case Law/Primary Sources Current Awareness Internet Documents in Court. Internet v. Lexis/Westlaw.

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Internet Legal Research for Professor Mika’s Legal Drafting Class Dec. 2, 2009

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  1. Internet Legal Research for Professor Mika’s Legal Drafting Class Dec. 2, 2009

  2. Outline • Internet v. Lexis, Westlaw • Forms • Evaluating Web Sites • Legal Portals and Search Engines • Free Case Law/Primary Sources • Current Awareness • Internet Documents in Court

  3. Internet v. Lexis/Westlaw • Internet is Free. No charges to clients • Some info exclusive to Internet • Municipal Ordinances • Some Court Filings • New case/regulation (within one day) • New topics/issues

  4. Internet v. Lexis/WL Benefits of Lexis, WL, others (Casemaker): • Coverage. Internet, Ohio cases back to 1950, mid 90s for unreporteds • Better Search Mechanisms • Editorial features – headnotes, annotations • Secondary sources – treatises, practice books • Aggregate Info for one stop searching • Trustworthiness

  5. Forms • Forms and Practice Materials Resource Guide

  6. Forms and Sample Contracts • Who publishes the site? A legal publisher? bar association? • Does the site sell forms? • Who wrote the form? • Use with caution, tailor to your facts

  7. Attorney Work Product Sites • JDSupra - Documents are tied to attorney profiles • Scribd • DocStoc • LawLink • Legal On-Ramp

  8. TRY IT • Look for a lease form on JD Supra • Find information about the attorney who submitted the form

  9. Transactional Documents via SEC EDGAR • sample SEC filings • documents attached: management contracts, executive compensation plans, articles of incorporation, by-laws, material contracts, voting trust agreements See Item 601, Regulation S-K.

  10. SEC Edgar Full Text Search Features • Fields for company name, SIC code, date, form type (but not exhibit type) • Natural language or Boolean • Phrase (“”), AND, OR, NOT, truncation (*, communicat* ), proximity operator (general NEAR1 motors ) • Past 4 years

  11. Try it • Find an executive compensation plan which provides for a parking space

  12. More sophisticated SEC Filing databases • Lexis and Westlaw • Mergentonline – Available via University Library, Cleveland Public • SECInfo.com

  13. Transactional Forms – Other Ideas • Search engines – general or legal • Court dockets • Cleveland Law Library FAQs – ex. Living Wills Durable Power of Attorney

  14. Legal Drafting Advice • Cleveland Marshall Law Library’s Research Guide: Forms and Practice Materials • AdamsDrafting Blog

  15. Evaluating Web Sites • Credibility: author; possible bias, accuracy.  • Currency / Updating, Coverage • Writing Quality • Ease of use – Design, navigation, searchability, help • Stability

  16. What’s on the Free Web • All US Supreme Court Cases • Reported Federal Appellate 1882-, Fed District 1932- • Some Unreported Fed App, Fed District • State cases: Reported cases from 1950-, unreported varies (1990s on) • Statutes & Regulations- federal and states • LOTS more!

  17. Internet Portals • Library Home Page – Legal Research on the Web • Public Records & People Finders • Cornell Legal Information Institute (LII) • FindLaw • Other Portals

  18. Use LEGAL Search Engines • Cornell University Legal Research Engine • LexisWeb • FindLaw LawCrawler • Justia • List of Search Legal Engines

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