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No-Cost and Low-Cost Ways to Monitor U.S. Legal Information

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 March 2016

Alison Shea
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Abstract

Keeping up-to-date with available resources in the legal information field is often a daunting task; patrons in all sectors continue to demand the most accurate and cost-effective information. Beyond the ever-increasing number of resources that librarians must keep track of in their own jurisdiction, there are an equal number of developments in other jurisdictions which add additional challenges. These new resources, in addition to the unique quirks encountered when researching the law in a different jurisdiction, can make for a challenging task, as Alison Shea explains.

Keywords

legal researchUnited States
Type
International Perspectives
Information
Legal Information Management , Volume 16 , Issue 1 , March 2016 , pp. 25 - 30
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2016. Published by British and Irish Association of Law Librarians 

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References

Footnotes

1 Shea, Alison, No-Cost and Low-Cost U.S. Legal Research, 11 Legal Info. Mgmt. 241 (2011)Google Scholar.

2 http://www.pacer.gov.

3 Coverage dates for the various courts using PACER can be found by clicking on the “i” icon next to the court's name: https:// www.pacer.gov/psco/cgi-bin/links.pl.

4 A slightly dated but still excellent overview of how to use PACER – including screenshots of relevant material – is Madeline Cohen's Pacing Yourself with PACER: Federal court filings at your fingertips (Mar. 31, 2012), http://www.aallnet.org/chapter/swall/meeting2012/H2Handout.pdf (PowerPoint presentation).

5 The complete fee schedule for PACER is available at https:// www.pacer.gov/documents/epa_feesched.pdf.

6 http://www.pacerpro.com.

7 Judicial Conference of the United States, Report of the Proceedings of the Judicial Conference of the United States 11–12 (September 2007), http://www.uscourts.gov/file/2148/download.

8 http://www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docket.aspx.

9 http://www.americanbar.org/publications/preview_home.html (look for “Briefs from Past Terms” in the right-hand column).

10 http://www.scotusblog.com.

11 An amicus curiae brief is a “brief that brings to the attention of the Court relevant matter not already brought to its attention by the parties may be of considerable help to the Court.” Sup. Ct. R. 37(1).

12 http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/petitions-were-watching.

13 http://law.indiana.libguides.com/StateCourts.

14 Congress.gov offers nine short informative videos on the various stages of the U.S. federal legislative process (https:// www.congress.gov/legislative-process), and there is also a very useful glossary available to help decode some of the more esoteric terms used in the legislative process (https:// www.congress.gov/help/legislative-glossary).

15 http://www.congress.gov.

16 https:// www.congress.gov/help/faq#thomasretirement.

17 https:// www.congress.gov/about/coverage-dates.

18 Bill numbers usually begin with either “H.R” for a House bill or “S.” for a Senate bill.

19 More advanced search instructions are offered by the developers: https:// www.congress.gov/help/search-tips-overview.

20 Like their guide to state courts, Indiana University –Bloomington's Law Library also has a good guide which compiles links to various state legislative history research guides: http://law.indiana.libguides.com/state-legislative-history-guides.

21 To locate pending legislation, select “Bills” under Content Area: http://www.ncsl.org/aboutus/ncslservice/state-legislative-websites-directory.aspx.

22 For a far more detailed, yet accessible, overview of the federal rulemaking process, see the Congressional Research Service's Maeve P. Carey, The Federal Rulemaking Process: An Overview, available at https:// www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL32240.pdf (June 17, 2013).

23 List of participating and non-participating agencies can be found here: http://www.regulations.gov/;#!aboutPartners.

24 The list of proposed rules, information on how to submit comments on them, and, in some cases, links to the comments themselves, can be found under “Regulation – Proposed Rules” section of the SEC's website: http://www.sec.gov/rules/proposed.shtml.  The SEC is one of the more complex rulemaking agencies in the US, and it would behoove anyone looking to do extensive research on the SEC's activities to at least consult their short but concise research guide: http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/securitieslaws.htm.  Another interesting tip regarding SEC rulemaking is that they often will post a copy of a proposed rule to their website a few days before it shows up in the Federal Register, so it would be worth keeping an eye on the SEC's Rulemaking Index (http://www.sec.gov/rules/rulemaking-index.shtml) for the most up-to-date information on its rulemaking activities.

25 http://www.lawsitesblog.com.

26 http://www.casemaker.us.

27 The list of state bar associations offering Casemaker is available at http://www.casemaker.us/ProductsStateBarConsortium.aspx.

28 https:// www.ravellaw.com/.

29 https:// www.ravellaw.com/product/search.

30 http://www.casetext.com.

31 Shea, supra note 1, at 245.

32 A directory of academic open access repositories can be found here: http://www.opendoar.org; however, most law libraries are using bepress’ Digital Commons to host their repositories: http://digitalcommons.bepress.com/institutional-repository-law.

33 http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu.