LIBR 430

Week 1

Topics to Cover

Course Requirements Information Literacy General Information Literacy in Law Overview of American Legal System Jurisdiction Primary v Secondary Legal Citation

Information Literacy

Determine the extent of information needed Access the needed information effectively and efficiently Evaluate information and its sources critically Incorporate selected information into one's knowledge

base Use information effectively to accomplish a specific

purpose Understand the economic, legal and social issues

surrounding the use of information, and access and use information ethically and legally.

Legal Information Literacy

More than knowing where to look (legal research)

Knowing what you are looking at Understanding information’s relevance to a legal

issue Determining which kinds of legal information is

appropriate Deciding confidently/competently when you have

enough Citing ‘legally’ as opposed to ethically

Evaluating Legal Information

Primary or Secondary Official or unofficial Current Impact of subsequent documents or actions Jurisdictionally applies Synthesize body of information on a legal issue Reconcile inconsistencies Apply facts appropriately Use reasoning tools (hypotheticals, deductions,

analogies) to draw conclusions

Law in the United States

Where does it come from? What forms does it take? Who drafts/crafts/writes it? Special role of the courts Types of law What outcomes does the law create?

Sources of the law

U.S. common law Stare decisis Precedent US and state

Constitution US and state

Statutes US and state

Administrative Rulings and Regulations

What forms does it take?

Common law Judicial opinions Cases

Constitution Statutes

Codes Administrative rulings and regulations

Administrative codes, regulations

Who creates them?

Judges State Federal

Legislative bodies State Federal

Executives (governor, president) Administrative agencies

The Courts

Federal courts 94 district courts across the country

Federal trial courts Report in to 13 courts of appeals

Right to review Hear district court appeals Also hear appeals from administrative judges (bankruptcy,

tax, trade, etc.) US Supreme Court

No right of review Discretionary (writ of certiorari)

What kinds of outcomes can the law create?

Civil liability: Compensatory damages Punitive damages Injunctive relief Specific performance Recission/Reformation

Criminal guilt Fines Incarceration Execution

Jurisdiction

Extremely important when evaluating legal information

Applies to virtually all forms of law and legal information including cases, statutes and regulations

Jurisdictional issues are mostly associated with courts due to the number of them and the subjects, levels they cover

Statutes and regulations are typically geographical or preemptive

Primary v Secondary

Primary: The law Cases, statutes, regulations

Secondary: About the law Law review articles, restatements, legal encyclopedias,

practice guides, treatises, study guides Help lawyers and judges understand the law but cannot be

cited as law

Citation

The Bluebook Governs citation in law but also a style guide Purpose: So those reading law review articles,

memos, appellate briefs and judicial opinions can find the law being referenced

Not primarily a plagiarism preventive Rule and practice usually merge in subsequent

editions Created by students at Harvard, Columbia, Penn

and Yale and distributed by HLR

Jurisdiction (courts)

Defined as the power or authority to hear a case Venue: The appropriate location for an action; Often

confused with but different from jurisdiction; once jurisdiction is determined venue is the decision regarding where the case will be held; typically a plaintiff choice but part of tactical approach to legal actions

Personal jurisdiction (in personam jurisdiction): does the court have power over the parties (residency and/or sufficient contacts)

In rem jurisdiction: Events took place or property involved is located within a specific geographic area

Types of Law

Important when reading cases or statutes Criminal or civil

Criminal: Higher burdens of proof, guilt is established Civil: Lower burden of proof, liability is established Different outcomes (jail, execution v money) 6th Amendment guarantees right to jury trial in criminal

cases Criminal has a right to an attorney Right to appeal in civil in criminal on defendant can appeal

Substantive or procedural Substantive regulates rights and duties Procedural law relates to methods (FRCP, FRAppP,

FRCrimP etc.)

Precedent and Stare Decisis

Stare decisis: Doctrine that binds courts to previous decisions

Precedent: The actual decisions of the court Persuasive (a lower court’s precedent) Binding (a higher or appeals court)

Courts can distinguish fact as ways of diminishing precedent

When does precedent get ‘abandoned?’ Legislative action Policy/Politics?

State Courts

Vary Typically:

Trial court Appellate court Supreme court

State questions are settled in state courts If there is a federal question and the SCOTUS

grants cert. it can be appealed to the US Supreme Court