This
guide provides
an overview of legal resources
available in the VVC
library, primarily focusing
on Californialegal
research. Depending
on the type of information
needed - locating a case,
identifying a
code, answering a
legal question - the guide
lists
relevant sources, both
print and
electronic, for each section.
Remember that currency
is a key
component
in legal research. Be sure
to check the "pocket part" supplements
for the most current revisions,
cases
and
laws.
Supplements
can be separate, or inserted
in the back of each volume.
California
Court System
The
vast majority of cases
in the California courts begins
in one of the 58
Superior or Trial courts — located
in each of the state's 58 counties.
With more than 450
locations, these courts hear both
civil and criminal cases, as well
as family, probate, and juvenile
cases. These courts are often the
sites of the "media circus" cases
(O.J. Simpson, Casey Anthony,
Dr. Conrad Murray, etc.).
It is important to note
that the decisions of these
courts are not published in the legal
case reporters.
The
next level of judicial authority
within the state's judicial
branch resides with the Courts
of Appeal. Most
of the cases that come before
the Courts
of Appeal involve the review
of a superior court decision
that is being contested by
a party to the case. The
state
is divided geographically
into six appellate districts,
each containing a Courts
of
Appeal.
The
CaliforniaSupreme Court serves
as the highest court in the state,
and has discretion to review
decisions of the Court of Appeal
in order to settle important
questions of law and to resolve
conflicts among the Courts
of Appeal. The court also must
review the appeal in any case
in which a trial court has
imposed a judgment of death.
For
further information on the California
State Court System, see the California
Courts website.
Basic
Legal Research
It
is often helpful to start with
a secondary source such
as a legal encyclopedia or "treatise" before
researching primary authority
sources (statutes and cases.)
Secondary sources summarize
and interpret
the law
in a narrative
format and contain footnotes
with case and statute citations
on specific
points of law. The following
are
recommended secondary
sources
found
in the
VVC library:
California
Jurisprudence 3d (Cal
Jur 3d) Ref. KFC
80 .C25 Cal Jur 3d is
a legal encyclopedia
published by
the West Group. There
are over 70 volumes
in the set,
arranged
alphabetically by legal
topic. Each topic contains
relevant references
to California
codes, regulations,
case reporters, the
West
California Digest key
number, and Witkin.
Separate volumes at
the end
of the set include
a
subject index, a table
of cases, and a table
of statutes.
Tip:
Refer to the outline
at the beginning of
each chapter
listing the structure
of legal topics,
subsections,
and classification
of the material covered.
Summary
of California Law (Witkin,
10th ed.) Ref. KFC
80 .W5
A multivolume set that presents expert analysis and an extensive, integrated
treatment of all major California substantive law topics: Workers' Compensation,
Parent and Child, Husband and Wife, Personal Property, Torts, etc. Relevant
references to California codes, regulations, case reporters, and the
West's California Digest key number system are provided
for each topic. A
separate index volume is also available.
Tip:
Refer to the outline at the beginning of each chapter showing the structure
of legal topic and subsections identifying and classifying
aspects of the material covered.
West's
California Digest 2d (West) Ref.KFC
57 W53 A "digest" contains citations
and headnotes taken from cases
and categorized by a legal topic.
West's California Digest 2d
includes cases from West's
California Reporter
published since 1950. The research
value
of West's digest lies
in the combination of headnotes--a
sentence-long
summary of
a legal issue discussed
in a case--and the West's
key number system. The key number
system classifies the
law into
topics and subtopics that are
arranged alphabetically in the
digest.
Example:
In the example above, Key number
204 refers to "Child's
preference" within the topic
of Child Custody. Cases on this
point are located in the digest
under "Child Custody" followed
by the key number. Digests are
often useful for locating
on-point cases based on key
numbers referenced in secondary
sources.
Tip: Refer
to the outline at the beginning
of each chapter showing the structure
of legal topics and
the key number classification.
LexisNexis
Academic (Library
Database, On-Campus Only)
See separate heading below.
Finding
Case Law
When
judges and courts decide cases,
written opinions are published
explaining the reasoning
in
reaching their decisions. These
judicial opinions are an important
source of legal authority and
are used by other courts to decide
cases on the basis of principles
and rules established in earlier
decisions (called precedents).
When court opinions are referenced
in treatise and
other secondary sources, the
citations are usually in the form
of a "parallel
citation," citing
both the state "official" reporter
and subsequent "unofficial" reporters.
The text of the opinion is the same in all sources, whether "official" or "unofficial."
Example:
Finding
Cases by Citation or Party Name
1.
Print Sources
West's
California Reporter(Ref.
KFC 47 C32) The library
contains volume 1-1st
series (1
Cal. Rptr. 1) through
volume 116-3rd series
(116
Cal.
Rptr.3rd 192). Other
than
the opinion, cases
reported include the
West's Key numbers
and
headnotes. Later cases
can be accessed through
the
online sources below.
Tip: If
only the name of the case is
known, the West's California
Digest contains "Table
of Cases" volumes that list
cases alphabetically by name
and provides the citations.
2.
Online Sources
LexisNexis(Library
Database, On-Campus Only) See separate heading
below.
California
Courts: Opinions
The
link opens to the opinions
section of the Judicial
Branch of California's
websites. Published
opinions from the "Official
Reports" of the
California Supreme Court
and
Courts of
Appeals
are available from 1850
to
present
(current
within
90 days of filing) and
searchable by citation
number, party name,
and keyword. "Slip
opinions" (unedited
prior to being published)
from
the last 120 days are
searchable from the main
page. "Unpublished
opinions" of the
California Courts of
Appeal are also posted
for 60 days solely as
public information about
actions
taken by the courts.
Note:
LexisNexis is the official
publisher of the California
Official
Reports and provides free limited
access to California court
opinions.
FindLaw
for Legal Professionals:
California Cases Provides access to
California Supreme and Appellate
Court Cases
from 1934 to the present. "Advanced
Search" opinions include
citation number, docket number,
party name or full-text keyword.
Opinions are displayed in MS
Word or PDF
formats.
Note:
FindLaw requires free registration
to
view full-text opinions.
Finding
Codes & Regulations
Codes
The California
Codes are the compilation of all the
statutes
that have been enacted by the California
legislature and signed into law by the
Governor.
There are 29 titles subdivided
by
sections. Each title of the code covers
one or more major subject areas (e.g.,
the
Family
Code covers family law topics, the Penal
Code covers criminal law, etc.). Codes
are cited using both the title and section
number:
Examples:
Pen. Code, § 2450 =
Penal Code, section
2450. C.C.P. sec. 1856 =
Code of Civil
Procedures, section 1856 Family C. 7897(c) =
Family Code, section 7879, subsection (c).
Tip:
An abbreviation key to
the code
titles is available in
the front of all of the
volumes in the set.
Two
annotated versions of the California
statutory
codes are published
commercially. The code is also
available from
the California
Office of Administrative Law
website.
West's
Annotated California Codes (Ref.
KFC 30.5 W4) In
addition to the actual text of
the codes, West's annotated codes
provide
references and summaries to judicial
decisions,
regulations,
and attorney general opinions
relating to that statute. Citations
to secondary sources related
to the statute can also be found
along with
law review articles and practice
guides.
Deering's
California Codes
Annotated (LexisNexis) See separate heading
for LexisNexis below.
California
Law This
California Office of Administrative
Law website contains the full-text
of the 29 codes and the State Constitution
(text only, no annotations). Search
by code section
or keyword.
Regulations TheCalifornia
Code of Regulations is
comprised of 28 Titles and
are governed by state
agencies who are empowered
to make rules and procedures,
called regulations,
to implement state statutes
(example, the California Building
Code). The
California Code of Regulations
is abbreviated as "CCR.” A
citation is read "25 CCR 60".
The first number is the title
number and the second number
is the section
of the code.
The
Library does not contain a
print copy of the CCR, but
it is available
online through the
California Office of Administrative
Law website (CCR)
and LexisNexis Academic.
Note: The
terms "code of regulations" and "administrative
code" are often used interchangeably;
however, as of 1988, the “administrative
code” no longer exists.
Using
LexisNexis Academic
LexisNexis
Academic is
a Library database and only
available on-campus.
The database contains Federal
and State Cases, Codes, and
Regulations. Also
included are Legal
References (legal
dictionary, encyclopedia, etc.), Shepard's
Citations,
and full-text
Law Review articles.
When using LexisNexis, it is
often
more efficient
to incorporate
the search options found under US
Legal
on the left side of the search
screen (Fig. 1-1.) These options
will help you refine your search
to retrieve
more relevant results.
Cases
Finding
Cases by Party Name or Citation When
the names of the parties (Plaintiff
and Defendants) are
known, select the “Party
Name” option
(Fig.1-2) and enter the names.
In a case with multiple
plaintiffs or defendants, the
name of any party involved can
be searched, but the results
list will only show the name
of the
official citation.
It is also possible to limit
the search to a specific date
period
or
jurisdiction
(Fig.1-3.)
If
the citation is known, select
the "Citation" option
(Fig.1-2) and enter a valid
case citation.
Example: 153 Cal. App. 4th
1546.
Tip:
Capitalization is not necessary,
but punctuation
and spacing are required.
Finding
Cases by
Topic
When searching for cases by keyword
or subject, the "Legal Topic"
search option (Fig.1-3)--along
with limiting the date period
and jurisdiction--will often
retrieve more relevant cases.
The "Legal Topic" search applies
to only the "Headnotes" and "Core
Terms" used in summarizing
the key points of law in each case.
The "Summary" search option can also be used to limit
the search to
only the case summaries.
When
searching for multiple terms,
ex. child support,
the w/# connector (w = word
and # = the
number of words that separate
the search terms) can be used
to refine a search. Because
the wording to describe the
same point of law may
vary from one case to another,
the format of the search terms
will have an effect
on the
results. Here are some examples:
child
support = This search
will retrieve cases that
contain
the words "child" and "support"
but not necessarily "child
support." The search
results may contain numerous
irrelevant
cases. For example, one case
retrieved deals with
"support" for a
teacher's union and
the impact on every "child"
in the event of a strike.
"child
support" =
Placing quotation marks around
multiple
words will create an
exact phrase search. However,
if the wording in the case
discription was, "provide
support for the child," the
case would not be included
in the search results.
child
w/5 support =Using
w/5 (the terms appear within
5 words) will retrieve
both "child support" and
any case in which "child"
and "support" appear
within 5 words (The number
can be
adjusted to refine the
search results. Other options
include
w/s = sentence and w/p
= paragraph.)
Shepard's
Citations(Case
Treatment)
When
a case is Shepardized
in LexisNexis, a summary is provided
showing
how a case has been
treated when cited
in subsequent cases. The report
shows every opinion where that
case has been
referenced, indicating both good
and bad law. If
the case has been overruled, it
is considered "bad law" and
may no longer be cited as a legal
precedent. The following symbols are
used to describe a case treatment:
A
convenient way to identify a
case treatment is by the symbol
that appears in the upper-left
corner
when viewing an opinion (Fig. 2.)
Clicking on the symbol will automatically
Shepardize the case. Another method
is to select Shepardize under
"Next Steps" which will
also open directly to the Shepard's
report.
When
viewing a case in Shepard's,
a useful feature is to limit the
summary by treatment. Under "Restricted
By" (Fig. 3), the treatment can
be narrowed to a specific analysis
(ex. negative treatment only).
This is particularly helpful when
a case includes hundreds of cited
references.
Codes & Regulations
Located
under US Legal (Fig.1-1)
is a link to "State Statutes,
Codes & Regulations." Click
on the link and
select
California under "State," and
either Statutory Code or Administrative
Code (CCR) under "Select Sources." LexisNexis
contains the online version of Deering's
California Codes Annotatedand Barclays
Official California Code of Regulations. Search
options include browsing by title
and section number or search by
topic or keyword.
Other
Sources: Citing, Dictionaries,
Encyclopedias
1.
Print Sources
The
Bluebook: A Uniform
System of Citation,
15th edition (Ref.
KF 245 U5 1991) The
Bluebook
is a style
guide that prescribes
the
most widely
used legal citation
system in the
United States.
The citation
format
is
taught and used
at a majority
of U.S. law
schools, and
is also used
in a majority
of U.S. federal
courts. Note
that
many state courts,
as well as the
U.S. Supreme
Court, have
their own citation
rules that take
precedence over
The Bluebook.
Gale
Encyclopedia of American
Law (KF154 .W47
2011) The encyclopedia covers information and issues on 5,000 U.S.
legal topics in 14 volumes. Also includes "In Focus" pieces that
provide additional facts
and details on important issues.
Black's
Law Dictionary,
8th Edition (KF156
.B53 2004)
The
dictionary contains
more than 40,000
terms,
alternate spellings
or equivalent expressions
for more than 5,000
terms, and West
key numbers. Also
includes
the date when selected
terms were first
used in English-language
contexts, especially
in judicial opinions
2.
Online Sources
The
following sources
are includedinLexisNexis
Academicunder
US Legal >
Legal Referencein
the database.
American
Jurisprudence, Second
Edition (Am Jur
2d)
Published by
West Publishing
Company, Am Jur 2d is
an encyclopedic text of
both
procedural
and substantive
American
law, state, federal,
criminal, civil
and procedural. Consisting
of over 430 topic
headings
(titles),
articles collect, examine,
and summarize the
broad
principles of American
law and, at the
same time, provide direct
leads to supporting
cases, related annotations,
forms, proofs, and
trial
techniques.
Ballentine's
Law Dictionary,
3rd Edition Contains
over 40,000 definitions
of legal terms based
on the actual construction
of those terms by courts
of last resort. Each
term includes the
case cited to the page
on which the definition
appears.
Introduction
This
guide provides
an overview of legal resources
available in the VVC
library, primarily focusing
on California legal
research. Depending
on the type of information
needed - locating a case,
identifying a
code, answering a
legal question - the guide
lists
relevant sources, both
print and
electronic, for each section.
Remember that currency
is a key
component
in legal research. Be sure
to check the "pocket part" supplements
for the most current revisions,
cases
and
laws.
Supplements
can be separate, or inserted
in the back of each volume.
