Useful (FREE) legal websites

If there is one thing that people ask me all the time it’s, “Can’t I find this online for free?!”  Most times you can’t.  Sometimes you can and even when you can odds are by the time you find what you need online (for free), the powers that be have determined that what you need is actually valuable and useful and have removed it and neither you (or anyone else) can’t find it anymore.The thing to keep in mind when using FREE legal websites is that even though it may be FREE (in that you don’t have to pay anything up front), everything is associated with a cost and the cost of a FREE legal website is the hair you might be pulling out of your head because you can’t find exactly what you’re looking for because as we all know (or have heard at some point in our lives), there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch. So, with that in mind, let us go forth into the wiley world of FREE legal websites.

California Codes (www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.html. No less than 8 times a day people will call into our law library asking if they can find the California Codes online. As it turns out, you can at . Listed on this website are all 31 California Codes. The kicker is that 1) they come without annotations (meaning nothing to help you understand what the codes mean) and 2) it comes in raw text (meaning, you have to sift through a bunch of codes that are similar to your searches but are not exactly what you were looking for).

United States Supreme Court decision from 1893 (www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.htm).  Have you ever had the situation where you found a website with great links and then one day the link you liked the best just disappeared?  Actually that happens all the time but one great website that that happened to is United States Supreme Court decisions from 1893. 

GPO Access  (www.gpo.gov/fdsys).  What I suspect happened is that a group of people in federal land got together and said, “hey, why don’t we gather everything together that is federal related and put it on one website.  Then, when people get comfortable and know how to use it, we’ll yank it out from under them, remove it entirely from the web, and really mess with their heads.  Well, they’ve got the first part right – I’m just waiting for them to turn it off.  Until “they” do, go forth and search all things Federal.

Cornell Legal Information Institute (www.law.cornell.edu). Actually, this last website is probably the most valuable because it includes resources relating to both state and Federal rules and laws.  In fact, it is so valuable that any library worth their salt knows this website by heart (it’s that good).

So, next time you’re out and about the World Wide Web, know that while most things aren’t free – some are and if you want/need to know where to find what’s what and where, the person you need to talk to is your friendly neighborhood law librarian (’cause if we can’t find it, odds are it can’t be found).

I’m FREE!

Do you know what the odds are of being hit with lightning twice in one day?  Do you!?  Well, it has happened to me on Monday, last.  I had two people come into the law library asking the same question with virtually the same fact pattern.  What are the chances of that?!?!  As turns out, pretty good.

First set of facts.  Let’s say Person “A” gets arrested and charged with a crime, is arraigned, and gets up to the point of going to trial and the District Attorney (DA) decides not to prosecute (i.e. go to trial).  So, there’s no judgement, no probation, no nothing else and Person A is left hanging in legal limbo with a goofy look on their face hoping the DA will just forget about them but getting stuck with that sickly feeling in the back of their head that someone is going to lower the boom on them sometime in the future.  It’s enough to give anyone an ulcer!

Second set of facts.  Let’s say Person “B” is never arrested, never arraigned, never anything – and then one day they finds out they were added as a defendant in a criminal case but then, again, Person B was never prosecuted (i.e. no trial, no probation, no anything).

What a bummer!  What a pain in the neck!  What the heck can Person A and/or Person B do to clear their rap (report of arrest and prosecution) sheet. See, the problem is that there is always that one application that says, “Have you ever been arrested or charged with a crime?” If you say “YES,” you can say good-bye to that job.  If you say “NO,” a quick background check and you’re fired.  So, what can you do to clear your record forever?

Well, after talking with a number of criminal attorneys (that’s attorneys that work with alleged criminals – not attorneys who are criminals), a couple of DA’s, and a score of librarians, I finally sent an email to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the state of California and this is what the DOJ had to say: What you need to do is:

1. Go to the superior court/arresting authority where the matter occured, and;
2. File a Penal Code (PC) 851.8 motion to Seal and Destroy the Record.

This is not an expungement (PC 1203.4). An expungement seals (no, not Navy Seals) the record and deals with those situations where the person was tried, convicted, and was incarcerated or granted probation. Merely sealing a record does not make it go away and, in fact, the DOJ still has a record of everyting which they can pull up at will (meaning, when it is most embarrassing or damaging to you).  A PC 851.8 motion, on the other hand, seals AND destroys the record so that it literally ceases to exist.  No existance means you can answer “NO” on any application with reckless abandon. It means that the Sword of Damocles is no longer hanging over your head for years and years.  Is that cool or what?!? Well, I think it’s pretty cool. To see how Penal Code 851.8 reads, point your attention to the Unannotated California Codes.

Anyway, I just thought this was cool seven ways from Sunday and wanted you all to know that even if you don’t think you’ll ever need to use a law library (or a law librarian), we’re here when you do.

Why?

Have you ever wondered why things are the way they are?  For instance, at a movie theater which arm rest is yours?  Why do people think that swaying their arm back and forth would change the direction of a bowling ball? Why is it that everyone driving faster than you is considered a raving lunatic and everyone driving slower than you is a moron?  Why is the Lone Ranger called ‘Lone’ if he always has his Indian friend Tonto with him? Why is it that when we “skate on thin ice”, we can “get in hot water”?  Why does caregiver and caretaker mean the same thing?  Is there ever a day that mattresses are not on sale?  And finally, why doesn’t Winnie the Pooh ever get stung by the bees he messes with?

Yep, sure are a lot of questions out there.  One question that someone asked me the other day is, “Why bother learning how to do legal research?”  I can answer this in three steps. 

• First, we the people agreed (at one point) to be governed by a set of laws. 

• Second, if “we” agreed to be governed by a set of laws, don’t you think it might be important to know what those laws are?

• Third, if it’s important to know what those laws are, then might it be important to know how/where to find those laws to know what they are and how they are to be applied?   

The answer to all three statements, is, of course, yes, yes and yes.

To see how this all works, this guy came into our law library the other day.  Seems he had been arrested and charged with violating the local graffiti law (i.e. he got caught tagging the wall off a freeway).  Now, he knew (or suspected) that there was a law that applied to tagging and graffiti – but he figured it didn’t apply to him.  So, knowing that he did not where to look for these laws, so he came to me – his friendly neighborhood law librarian to help him.  I first went to the local county ordinances, then the city municipal codes and finally handed him the  California Penal code as it related to graffiti.  20 minutes later, fully versed in the law of graffiti, he discovered that 1) there were a bunch of laws prohibiting graffiti and 2) they ALL applied to him. All of them.  Humbled and educated, he went his way and, I suspect, vowed to never tag (or get caught) again.

I suspect, the moral to all of this is that if you don’t know where to find something, ask – because odds are your local law librarian has been asked the same question 50 zillion (that’s right, a zillion) times and knows what it is you need long before you think you’ll need it.  Yeah, we are that good.

Practice, practice, practice

Whoever thought practice makes perfect never worked in a law library.  I’ve been doing this legal research stuff for over 8 years now and I’m still learning something new everyday.  Everyday I have people coming into our law library asking all sorts of questions.  Everyday I have to be on my toes able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.  Everyday I have to deal with questions from Animal Rights to Corporations to Eminent Domain to Forclosures to Personal Injury to Zoning and at all times I have to look like I know what I’m doing all the time.  Well,…uh…actually that’s not all that hard given that I’m an information god and all…but sometimes it’s like walking on broken glass.

Anyway, back to the practice thing.  So, I’ve been on vacation for the last week and when I get back today I find that our law library purchased rights to use WestlawNext.  The problem is that for the last 8 years, I’ve been using Westlaw.  Now, Westlaw is awesome in its own right and is head and shoulders above the competition.  But as Will Rogers noted, “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”  So, here I am learning the intricacies of WestlawNext – the next generation of legal databases.  Thing is, WestlawNext is a significant step up from Westlaw and is infinitely easier and better than LexisNexis or…what do they call it…uh…Lexis Advanced?  Yeah, for the record, Lexis Advanced is not all that advanced or even that much better than Westlaw (which is simple web 1.0).  It’s only advanced because Lexis had to come out with something and the best it could do was add the word “advanced” at the end of its old product (it’s still the same old boring lexis with a different package job).

So, you want a quick demonstration on WestlawNext without being on WestlawNext?  Imagine sitting down to Google.com.  Now, type whatever it is you’re looking for in the search field at the top of the screen.  Dog bite cases?  Foreclosure?  Breach of Contract?  Fraud?  Landlord Tenant?  Roe v. Wade?  Whatever your heart desires – type away and hit enter.  In mere seconds, the WestlawNext algorithm cranks out all possible results to your search and posts them to the left of the next screen.  You can then limit your searches based on whether you’re looking for cases or codes or regulations or primary authorities or secondary authorities or whatever.  I mean, this thing is slicker than sliced bread!


Does your university or public law library have WestlawNext?  If your university or public law library doesn’t have WestlawNext yet (and is merely hoping you won’t notice that it is locked into a long term contract with Lexis – which by all things legal is a sorry excuse for a legal database), stand up and demand that they get WestlawNext post haste.  Faster than a speeding bullet, WestlawNext will do what you’ve always hoped a legal database could do but was unable to do because, well,…all you had was a second string legal database that wished it had the power of WestlawNext.  Yeah, baby – it is that good!

The Devil’s in the Details

A few days back, I had a lawyer friend of mine come into our library.  Seems he had a case he was working on that he was rather giddy about because he was about to give opposing counsel no small degree of grief based on a rule of court he had just discovered.  Seems opposing counsel’s brief had failed to comply with a little known rule of court and my friend the attorney was going to lower the boom and get the opposition’s complaint thrown out of court.  What is ironic about this is that no less than 3 months previous, friend attorney was in the library complaining that his complaint had been tossed on a similar technicality.  The point I’m making here is that sometimes, legal documents get bounced out of court not because the legal theory upon which it is based is incorrect (i.e. breach of contract, negligence, fraud, etc) or how something was written.  Rather, they get rejected merely because someone failed to follow a particular rule of court.  Let me elucidate.

In California, the state rules of court can be found at www.courts.ca.gov/rules.htm.  In these rules is a little know rule (specifically rule 2.101(a)(1)) which says:  

(a) Recycled paper must be used for the following:

(1) All original papers filed with the court and all copies of papers, documents, and exhibits, whether filed with the court or served on other parties;

The point is that if you’re writing an original pleading (like a complaint), it must be on recycled paper or it can be rejected.  What does that mean?  What are the implications?  Well, let’s say that the limitations period is going to run out at 4:30PM on the day you need to file your complaint for a person injury action and you’ve gone and NOT used recycled paper for your complaint.  If the clerk catches it, s/he can reject the filing of said complaint resulting in your missing the deadline to file your complaint and you’re out of luck (meaning, you are precluded from filing your complaint on recycled paper the very next day).  OOPS!!!

 Let’s try another one.  Under the Indiana Rule of Court (located at www.in.gov/judiciary/2695.htm), Rule 3.1(A) states that:

(A)  Initiating party. At the time an action is commenced, the attorney representing the party initiating the proceeding or the party, if not represented by an attorney, shall file with the clerk of the court an appearance form setting forth the following information:
(1) Name, address and telephone number of the initiating party or parties filing the appearance form;
(2) Name, address, attorney number, telephone number, FAX number, and e-mail address of any attorney representing the party, as applicable;
(3) A statement that the party will or will not accept service by FAX;

So, if, when you file an action in Indiana, you fail to include any of the above in your pleading, the court could reject any or all of your documents based on a mere technicality.  What are the odds of that?!  Well, as it turns out, there is a whole court system dedicated to deciding cases on their technical merits.  Decisions from that court can be found in the Federal Rules Decisions.  

If you’re wanting to see other Rules of Court for courts all over the United States, you can point your attention to www.washlaw.edu (a free and awesome service from the Washburn University School of Law).  If you happen to live around a county law library and you want to see a paper copy of the rules of court, waste no time and go see your local county law librarian who will be happy (happy, I say) to help you help yourself to their plethora of print (or online) legal resources…and you have a great rest of the day!