California LawLegal Research

January 28,2011

APPELLATE PROCESS

• FACTUAL DISPUTE IS RESOLVED AT TRIAL COURT(NO CASE LAW RESULTS)• LOSING PARTY FILES APPEAL IN INTERMEDIATE APPELLATE COURT

(EXCEPTION--PROSECUTOR IN CRIMINAL CASE CANNOT APPEAL NOT GUILTY VERDICT

• APPELLATE COURT REVIEWS CASE AND RENDERS A WRITTEN OPINION (OPINION BECOMES CASE LAW IF PUBLISHED AND IF NO FURTHER APPEAL)

• LOSING PARTY CAN SEEK FURTHER REVIEW IN HIGHEST COURT (OFTEN BY FILING PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI)

• IF HIGH COURT GRANTS A HEARING IT REVIEWS ACTIONS IN LOWER COURTS AND RENDERS A WRITTEN OPINION (THIS OPINION BECOMES CASE LAW IF FINAL)

• IF CASE LAW CONTAINS CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUE, LOSING PARTY CAN REQUEST HEARING IN U.S. SUPREME COURT

• IF COURT GRANTS A HEARING IT REVIEWS LOWER COURT ACTIONS AND RENDERS A WRITTEN OPINION WHICH BECOMES CASE LAW

Legal Research Materials

• Primary Sources of Law—books or electronic sources that contain the law itself

• Secondary Sources of Law—books or sources that describe or explain the law; these help us find primary law

Primary Sources

• Constitutions• Statutes• Case Law• Ordinances• Administrative Regs• Rules of court

Publication of Case Law

• Case Reporters (print)– Multi volume sets of books, – Report cases chronologically– Report cases according to jurisdiction

• Federal v. state• Court of appeals v. Supreme Courts

– Official v. unofficial• Same cases may be published in multiple court reporters• Meaning of parallel cites

• Electronic publications

Locating Cases

• To locate a case in print requires a citation– (name of court reporter, volume, page and

series)

• To locate a case online:– Citation– Name– Subject matter

CALIFORNIA CASE REPORTERS

• Official Reporters– CALIFORNIA REPORTS = Cal. (California Supreme Court)– CALIFORNIA APPELLATE REPORTS = Cal. App. (California

Appellate Courts)

• Unofficial Reporters– CALIFORNIA REPORTER = Cal. Rptr. Unofficial reporter for

both courts– PACIFIC REPORTER = P. Unofficial reporter for Cal. Supreme

Ct. cases

Chapter 4: Finding and Using the Law

Federal Case Law(In Print)

• U.S. Supreme Court– United States

Reports (U.S.)– Supreme Court

Reporter (S.Ct.)– Lawyer’s Edition

(L.Ed.)

• Lower Fed. Courts– Federal Reports (F.)

(Courts of Appeal– Federal Supplement

(F.Supp.) (District Courts)

– Specialty Reporters

Chapter 4: Finding and Using the Law

How to Read a Case Citation

Miranda v. Arizona,case name

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

official citation parallel citations year

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

• 1. Find correct reporter

• 2. Find correct series

• 3. Find correct volume

• 4. Find correct page

Reading a Case

• Identify editorial enhancements• summary• headnotes• attorneys

• Identify Court Opinion

• Identify Concurring Opinions

• Identify Dissenting Opinions

How to Read a Case Opinion

• Identify the parties• at trial• on appeal

• Identify the legal issue on appeal• Identify facts that are relevant to issue• Identify “holding” or decision• Identify reason for decision

CALIFORNIA CODES

• ANNOTATED--contain short summaries of cases that interpret the code section

• UNANNOTATED--contain just the codes

• POCKET PART SUPPLEMENT--found in back of code books; contains latest code revisions and latest case interpretations

Finding a Code Section

• U.S. codes are organized numerically by title and number, I.e. 11 U.S.C. §245

• Cal Codes are organized alphabetically by code name and then numerically by section. Cal. Civ. Code §1714

Reading a Code Section

• Always go to pocket part supplement first.• Check date on supp.• If code section not found then go to main book, but

remember, there may be new interpretive cases in supp.

• If code section is found in supp, then ignore main book

Reading a Code Section

• Break code section into elements

• Always read interpretive cases

Chapter 4: Finding and Using the Law

Secondary Sources

• Dictionaries

• Encyclopedias

• Form Books

• Periodicals

• Treatises

• Digests

POPULAR CALIFORNIA SECONDARY SOURCES

• Witkin, Series

• California Jurisprudence (Cal. Jur.)

• C.E.B. Books

• Bender Forms

• Rutter Group Books

• Law Reviews