Secondary Sources

Advanced Legal Research

February 2, 2009

Secondary Sources: Introduction

Using secondary sources is a great way to start your research because they …

• Provide references to primary sources

• Offer explanations and analysis of governing legal doctrines

Secondary Sources: Intro. (cont’d)

More benefits to using secondary sources … they

• Aid you in practice with practical breakdowns of the law and helpful forms (e.g. motions, etc.)

• Help law students understand complex legal doctrine: Hornbooks, Nutshells, Examples & Explanations, etc.

Secondary Sources: Citation?

• As a general rule, you should not cite to secondary sources.

Secondary Sources – Citation?

• There are rare exceptions to this general rule: If the legal question is one of first impression or controversial, you may cite influential treatises, law review articles, the restatements, & hornbooks.

Secondary Sources

This lecture will cover the following secondary sources:

Online Research Guides Directories

American Law Reports (ALR)

Looseleafs

Periodicals Treatises

Encyclopedias Restatements

Form Books

Secondary Sources – Online Research Guides

Online research Guides, pathfinders, bibliographies are good places to start research because they show you the various sources you can explore to execute your research

Secondary Sources – Online Research Guides (cont’d)

• Available from many library web sites– Rutgers – Newark Law Library– Georgetown– Univ. of Minnesota

• Online Searches:– Cornell Law Library: Legal Research Engine– Google!: European Union Law

Secondary Sources – ALR

ALR contains articles called ‘annotations.’ These annotations are essays that collect summaries of cases from a variety of jurisdictions.

If you find an ALR annotation on your subject, your in luck because most of your research is already done.

Secondary Sources – ALR

• Availability:– Print:  KF132 .A533 (1st floor, Foosaner Reading Gallery)

– Online: Westlaw

• Access Points – Print: Digest, Quick Index (on reserve), Multi-Volume Index

• Access Points – Electronic: Keyword searching

Secondary Sources – ALR

Click on ALR link on the main Westlaw Page

Secondary Sources -- ALR

Choose your terms …

Secondary Sources -- ALR

Yay! A result that looks relevant

Now, let’s look at all the helpful information that this annotation has …

Secondary Sources – Periodicals

Law review articles are a useful research tool not only in research papers, but also in practice, too.

Secondary Sources – Periodicals

Law review articles can be useful in obtaining an overview of an area of the law, finding references to primary & secondary authority, and developing ideas for analyzing a question of first impression or resolving a conflict in the law.

Secondary Sources – Periodicals

Accessing law review articles:• Keyword searching in Lexis & Westlaw• Citators: Key Cite & Shepard’s• HeinOnline• Index to Legal Periodicals• Current Index of Legal Periodicals• Google Scholar

Secondary Sources – Periodicals

Find print indexes in our library …

• FYI: Don’t forget about the online catalog

• Location: law library lobby

• Call numbers:– Index of Legal Periodicals: KF 8 .I5– Current Index to Legal Periodicals: KF 8 .C8

• Using print indexes: pointers

Secondary Sources – Encyclopedias

Legal encyclopedias provide a general overview of the law on a variety of topics. They are a good introductory source if you know little to nothing about an area of the law.

Secondary Sources – Encyclopedias

Encyclopedias can be general or cover a specific jurisdiction:

•General: AmJur, CJS, Words & Phrases

•Jurisdiction specific: – NYJur– Encyclopedia of New Jersey Causes of Action

• Only in print; Reserve KFN 2335 .A59 B3 2004

Secondary Sources -- Formbooks

• Formbooks exist to assist practitioners with completing basic transactions & court filings.

• The best formbooks also contain analysis & citations to primary authority.

Secondary Sources -- Formbooks

• General: West’s Legal Forms, American Jurisprudence Legal Forms 2d, American Jurisprudence Pleading & Practice Forms

• Jurisdiction/Topic Specific:– West’s Federal Forms– New Jersey Practice– New Jersey Transactions– Current Legal Forms with Tax Analysis

Secondary Sources – Looseleafs

• Traditionally, a looseleaf service is published in a binder and limited to a specific topic.

• Looseleafs contain a goldmine of information including cases, administrative decisions, analysis, and legal news.

• They are favorites of practitioners because they are so specialized.

Secondary Sources -- Looseleafs

• Often looseleafs are difficult to use, but once you get used to them, they are great ways to monitor a specific area of the law.

• Available in print & electronic form: Westlaw, Lexis, Stand-alone platforms (BNA & CCH) – Source: Labor Relations Reporter, KF

3319 .L32; BNA platform & Lexis

Secondary Sources – Directories

Most people think that the internet has made legal directories obsolete. I was one of those people, until I realized that sometimes it is easier to find information in a directory. Honestly.

Secondary Sources -- Directories

• There are directories of courts, state governments, administrative agencies, etc. – NJ Diary, NY Diary (on reserve at the

circulation desk)

• Some offer professional biographies.– Martindale-Hubbell

Secondary Sources -- Treatises

• Treatises provide in-depth treatment of a single subject such as contracts or constitutional law

• Often written by influential legal scholars; therefore, they are well respected

Secondary Sources – Treatises

• Access points: keyword searching or an index

• There are usually treatises in every major area of the law. Many are on Westlaw & Lexis

Secondary Sources – Treatises

• Examples:

– Williston on Contracts– Nimmer on Copyright– Collier on Bankruptcy– The list could go on & on and I’m sure you’re

sad that it doesn’t

Secondary Sources -- Restatements

• Restatements of the law summarize, in a concise manner, the common law rules on a subject (what the majority of JRDs say)

• Published by the American Law Institute (i.e., experts)

Secondary Sources -- Restatements

• They are available in print and on Westlaw & Lexis.

• Restatements have been published in the following fields:

Agency Conflict of Laws Contracts

Foreign Relations Judgments Law Governing Lawyers

Property Restitution Security

Suretyship & Guaranty Torts Trusts

Unfair Competition

Secondary Sources -- Restatements

• Access electronically: keyword searching

• Access in print:– Index or Table of Contents to find rule;

commentary is located after the rule– Can find cases by going to the appendix

volumes at the end of the set. The appendices are organized numerically by the Restatement numbers.