Law 510 Legal Research

Professor Metheny

Cases I
Blackboard Attendance
Sign on to Westlaw and Lexis

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TODAY
Review Citation Format
Publication of Cases
Case-finding Method: Secondary Source Citation
Case Opinion Structure

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Research Methodology
STEP 1: PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS

STEP 2: SECONDARY SOURCE(S) RESEARCH

STEP 3: LOCATE & ANALYZE PRIMARY LAW

STEP 4: UPDATE YOUR RESEARCH

STEP 5: CONCLUDE YOUR RESEARCH

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Citation Format

• case name
• volume number
• standard reporter abbreviation (with the series designation)
• page number identifying where the case begins in that volume
• deciding court abbreviation
• year of the decision

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Citation Format

Whitlock v. Mac-Gray, Inc., 345 F.3d 44 (1st Cir. 2003)

Reporter abbr.
Page Court Year
Case name Volume

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 Parallel Citations

Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S. Ct. 1602, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694 (1966)

• United States Reports

• Supreme Court Reporter
• United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers’ Edition

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Published or Reported Cases

• Selected for publication by the court

• Generally you should cite to published cases
• All opinion at the court of last resort are published
• Some opinions at the intermediate court level are published
• Most trial court opinions are not published

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Unpublished or Unreported Cases

• Cases not deemed significant enough by the court for

publication
• Not selected for publication in a reporter, but can still be found
on databases like Lexis/Westlaw
• Generally you CANNOT cite to unpublished cases
• See California Court Rules

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Official Sources of Primary Law

• Published by government or sanctioned by government

• Most authoritative versions of primary law
• Usually must be used for citation purposes

Examples:
United States Reports
California Reports

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Unofficial Sources of Primary Law

• Privately published
• Not sanctioned by government
• Extra features to help the researcher
• Case summaries
• Headnotes

Examples:
Supreme Court Reporter (published by Thomson Reuters, i.e., “West”)
California Reporter (published by Thomson Reuters, i.e., “West”)

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Research Methodology: Step 3 - Cases

Cases Statutes Regulations

Citations in Secondary Finding Tools in Statutory Finding Tools in Regulatory
Sources Codes Codes

Citations in Cases Citations in Secondary

Statutory Annotations
Sources
Topic Search
Citations in Secondary
Citations in Cases
Sources
Full-Text Search

Full-Text Search Citations in Cases

Citator Search

Statutory/Regulatory Citations in Regulatory

Full-Text Search
Annotations Codes

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Hypothetical

• Can an employee sue for wrongful discharge if their

employment is terminated while on leave to care for a
sick family member?

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Secondary Source Citations

• Case law finding method

• Secondary sources cite to primary law

Example:
• Witkin’s Summary of California Law Agency §466

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(1) From the Westlaw Home page, select State materials
& California
(3) Then select Witkin Summary of
California Law, Eleventh Edition

(2) Then select Witkin’s California Materials

(4) Type “Agency and employment” 466 unpaid leave in search box

(5) Select (b) [§466] Definitions – Agency and Employment

Case Citations in 2nd and 3rd Paragraphs

Click on Lonicki link

 Parallel citations

PDF version

Caption
• Case citation
• Court
• Name of parties
• Docket number
• dates

Summary
HEADNOTES:

• Extra feature in unofficial case reporters

• Short summaries of legal issues and points of law from the
case opinion
• Not official part of opinion
• Headnotes can NEVER be cited
• Headnotes should only be used to assist you in
understanding the case
Majority Opinion,
written by Justice
Kennard

Concurring and
Dissenting
Opinion written
by Justice Chin

Concurring and
Dissenting
Opinion written by
Justice Moreno
 Highlight text and click
“Copy with Reference”

In Word document, “paste” copy

Case citation is automatically included

(1) Select Jurisdiction pull down menu and check California box

(2) Type Lonicki v. Sutter Health Center in Search box and select the link to 43 Cal. 4th 201
Caption

Parallel citations
Concurring &
Dissenting opinions
Pagination
PDF version
Headnote: Assigned Topics appear above the Headnote
SEE Video: “Viewing a Case Online