LEGAL RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET

1. Keeping Current

a. Legal NewsNational and local developments in the law, the latest news about legislation and court decisions can be found in online legal newspapers or at criminal defense organization web sites. Many of these sites contain archives of old news stories.i. Criminal Justice News/Issues (NACDL)

http://www.criminaljustice.org/PUBLIC/news.htmii. Criminal Law (Law Journal Extra)

http://www.ljx.com/practice/criminal/index.htmliii. National Law Journal

http://www.nlj.com/iv. New York Law Journal

http://www.nylj.com/v. Press Releases

Most government agencies with web sites publish their press releases, which describe recent and future changes in the law.1. New York Court System (OCA)http://www.courts.state.ny.us/newsevent2.html2. New York State Governor’s Officehttp://www.state.ny.us/governor/press/year99/press99.html3. New York State Senatehttp://www.senate.state.ny.us/press.html4. New York State Assemblyhttp://assembly.state.ny.us/Press/5. Department of Correctional Serviceshttp://www.docs.state.ny.us/PressRel/index.html6. New York City Mayor’s Officehttp://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/om/html/releases.html7. New York City Councilhttp://www.council.nyc.ny.us/newswire.htm

vi. E-BulletinsReceive summaries of the latest Supreme Court and New York court decisions by email. The summaries are linked to the full text documents.1. United States Supreme Court E-Bulletin (Legal Information

Institute)http://www.law.cornell.edu/focus/bulletins.html

2. New York Court of Appeals E-Bulletin (Legal Information Institute)http://www.law.cornell.edu/bulletin/index.htm

3. New York Quick Decision Service (New York Law Journal)http://www.nyqds.com/

4. Legal Newswire (American Lawyer Media)http://www.lawnewsnetwork.com/newswire/

Copyright 1999 New York State Defenders Association

LEGAL RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET

b. Local and State News Find your local newspaper online. Most television, radio and print news services have web sites with full text copies of their latest stories.i. Associated Press

http://www.ap.org/ii. NewsDirectory.com

http://www.newsdirectory.com/news/press/na/us/ny/iii. AJR Newslink

http://ajr.newslink.org/iv. Electric Library

http://www.elibrary.com/id/238/100/search.cgi?id=c. Slip Opinions

Read the latest opinions from the Supreme Court and New York courts. Most services are free, some charge a subscription or document delivery fee. i. Decisions of Interest (New York Law Journal)

http://www.nylj.com/decisions.htmlii. New York Slip Opinion Service (Westlaw)

http://nyslip.westgroup.com/iii. New York Quick Decision Service (New York Law Journal)

http://www.nyqds.com/iv. Legal Information Institute (Cornell University)

http://www.law.cornell.edu/d. New Legislation

Locate a proposed law, a legislative report or an existing statute by visiting New York Government web sites.i. New York State Assembly Legislative System

http://assembly.state.ny.us/ALIS/ii. New York State Chapter Laws (Assembly)

http://assembly.state.ny.us/ALIS/laws.htmliii. New York State Assembly

http://assembly.state.ny.us/iv. New York State Senate

http://www.senate.state.ny.us/v. Governor

http://www.state.ny.us/governor/vi. Federal, State and Local Agencies

http://www.state.ny.us/govagency.htm

2. Legal Research

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LEGAL RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET

a. Federal LawFind federal cases from anywhere in the country. Read about new federal laws and regulations. Learn about the activities of federal agencies. i. Federal Legislation (Thomas)

http://thomas.loc.gov/ii. Federal Regulations (Government Printing Office)

http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/index.htmliii. United States Supreme Court (Legal Information Institute)

http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/index.htmliv. Federal Law (American Law Sources Online)

http://www.lawsource.com/also/usa.cgi?us1v. Amicus Curiae Briefs in the United States Supreme Court

(American Law Sources Online)http://www.lawsource.com/also/usa.cgi?usb#USSCt

vi. Oyez Project—Oral Arguments Supreme Court (Northwestern University)http://oyez.nwu.edu/

vii. FedCrimLaw (Punch & Jurists)http://www.fedcrimlaw.com/

b. New York LawResearch New York Court of Appeals Cases, statutes, locals laws and even jury instructions from your desktop.i. New York Court of Appeals (Legal Information Institute)

http://www.law.cornell.edu:80/ny/ctap/overview.htmlii. New York State Constitution (Assembly)

http://assembly.state.ny.us/cgi-bin/constiii. New York Consolidated Laws (Assembly)

http://assembly.state.ny.us/cgi-bin/clawsiv. New York Unconsolidated Laws (Assembly)

http://assembly.state.ny.us/cgi-bin/ulawsv. Municipal Codes Online (Seattle Public Library)

http://www.spl.org/govpubs/municode.htmlvi. New York City Local Laws (City Council)

http://leah.council.nyc.ny.us/laws.htmvii. Pattern Jury Instructions (2nd ed. OCA)

http://www.courts.state.ny.us/juryinst.htmviii. Opinions of the Attorney General

http://www.oag.state.ny.us/lawyers/opinions/opinion.htmlix. Commission on Judicial Conduct

http://www.scjc.state.ny.us/c. Out of State

Need to find the statute concerning a client’s predicate offense committed in another state. Statutes and case law from other jurisdictions, including the federal government can be found through this one source.i. American Law Sources Online

http://www.lawsource.com/also/

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LEGAL RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET 3. Ethics Opinions

Conflicts of interest, confidentiality and other ethical questions can be answered by examining bar association ethics opinions online.a. New York State Bar Association Ethics Opinions

http://www.nysba.org/opinions/opinions.htmlb. Association of the Bar of the City of New York

http://www.abcny.org/eth1999.htmc. New York County Lawyers Association

http://www.nycla.org/library/ethics.htmd. Nassau County Bar Association

http://www.nassaubar.org/ethics/ethics.html

4. Court Directories and BiographiesContact information for judges and government offices across the country can be found in these directories. Background on judges and legislators is available.a. Federal-State Court Directory (Want Publishing)

http://www.courts.com/directory.htmlb. Judge’s Profiles (NYLJ)

http://www.nylj.com/judges/c. Judge Donnino

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/w_c_d/

5. Attorney Directoriesa. New York State Chief Defenders List

http://www.nysda.org/chiefs.htmb. Martindale-Hubbell

http://lawyers.martindale.com/marhubc. West Legal Directory

http://www.wld.com/

6. Finding PeopleLearn about clients, co-defendants or witnesses who have been or are now in the state prison system. Save time by looking up the name of the county official or state official who can answer your question.a. Inmate Locator (DOCS)

http://207.198.24.23:84/kinqw00b. Directory of New York State Criminal Justice Agencies (DCJS)

http://criminaljustice.state.ny.us/crimnet/ojsa/agdir/htframe.htmc. New York State Association of Counties Directory of

County Officialshttp://www.state.ny.us/nysac/countyoff.html

d. New York State Government Directorieshttp://www.ogs.state.ny.us/telecom/default.asp

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LEGAL RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET 7. Find Expert Witnesses and Transcripts

a. Expert Witness Networkhttp://www.witness.net/

b. Technical Advisory Service for Attorneys (TASA)http://www.tasanet.com/

c. Expert Witnesses (Washlaw Web)http://www.washlaw.edu/expert/expert.html

8. Defense OrganizationsCriminal defense associations publish newsletters and articles, reports on current issues, motions and briefs, training calendars and standards of practice. They also post links to web sites on criminal law research, such as forensics or the death penalty.a. National

i. National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyerswww.nacdl.org

ii. National Legal Aid & Defender Association http://www.nlada.org/

b. New Yorki. Legal Aid Society of New York

http://www.legal-aid.org/ii. Neighborhood Defender Service

http://www.vera.org/nds/iii. New York State Defenders Association

http://www.nysda.org/iv. New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

http://www.NYSACDL.org/

9. Assigned CounselPracticing attorneys can find information about joining 18-b panels, training and eligibility requirements and local events related to assigned counsel work. a. Association of Assigned Counsel (NYC)

http://www.internet-esq.com/ny18-b.htmb. Monroe County Assigned Counsel Program

http://home.eznet.net/~moncoacp/index.htmlc. Erie County Bar Association Aid To Indigent Prisoners Society Inc.

http://assigned.org / d. Cayuga County Assigned Counsel Program

http://co.cayuga.ny.us/counsel/index.html

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LEGAL RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET 10. Continuing Legal Education

Calendars of upcoming trainers, registration information and requirements for mandatory CLE credits are available from criminal defense association web sites.a. New York State Defenders Association

http://www.nysda.org/sems.htmb. National Legal Aid & Defender Association

http://www.nlada.org/d-natrain.htmc. New York State Bar Association

http://www.nysba.org/cle/cleschedule.htmld. Mandatory Continuing Legal Education in New York (OCA)

http://www.courts.state.ny.us/mcle.htm

11. New York GovernmentGovernment reports, studies, procedures and rules that may be difficult to find or inaccessible through conventional research can be located on the web. a. Department of Correctional Services

http://www.docs.state.ny.us/b. Division of Criminal Justice Services

http://criminaljustice.state.ny.us/c. Unified Court System (Office of Court Administration)

http://www.courts.state.ny.us/d. New York Government (New York State)

http://www.state.ny.us/e. State Agencies List (New York State)

http://www.state.ny.us/state_acc.htmlf. County Government List (New York State)

http://www.state.ny.us/mcounty.htmlg. City Government List (New York State)

http://www.state.ny.us/city.htmlh. New York City Criminal Justice Agency

http://www.nycja.org/

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LEGAL RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET 12. Legal Search Engines and Databases

Find cases, statutes, law review articles, reports and other documents by using search engines. These search engines look specifically for law related information. a. American Law Sources Online

http://www.lawsource.com/also/b. Findlaw

http://www.findlaw.com/c. LawCrawler

http://lawcrawler.findlaw.com/d. General Legal Web Directories (NYLJ)

http://www.nylj.com/sites/weblawgeneral.htmlDatabases, unlike search engines, do not seek out other web sites. They contain the full text documents. Web based databases are not as current or comprehensive as Westlaw or Lexis.e. Versus Law

http://www.versuslaw.com/f. Law Office Information Systems (LOIS) (NYSBA Discount)

http://www.nysba.org/media/newsreleases/1998/lois.html

13. General Search EnginesSearch engines assist researchers in finding documents and web sites. Each engine has different methods for finding information. There’s some overlap, but if one doesn’t work try another until you find the answer.a. Northern Lights

http://www.northernlight.com/b. Excite

http://www.excite.com/c. Lycos

http://www.lycos.com/d. AltaVista

http://www.altavista.com/e. Yahoo

http://www.yahoo.com/f. Dogpile

http://www.dogpile.com/g. Metafind

http://www.metafind.com/

Copyright 1999 New York State Defenders Association 7

LEGAL RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET 14. Comprehensive Criminal Law and Related Links

When you need a study on racial profiling or a report on work release programs, you can search sites that specialize in criminal justice and social science information.a. Hieros Gamos Guide to Criminal Law

http://www.hg.org/crime.htmlb. Criminal Justice Links (Cecil Greek, Florida State University)

http://www.criminology.fsu.edu/cj.htmlc. Subject-based Internet Resources Criminal Justice and Law

http://wally2.rit.edu/internet/subject/law.htmld. Criminal Justice Mega-Links

http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/e. Sentencing Links (National Association of Sentencing Advocates)

http://www.sentencingproject.org/nasa/links.htm

15. Statistics and Reports on Criminal Justice Issuesa. Criminal Justice Data for New York State

http://criminaljustice.state.ny.us/crimnet/data.htmb. Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics

http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/c. Criminal Justice Information Center (National Criminal Justice

Reference Service)http://www.ncjrs.org/

16. Death Penaltya. Death Penalty Information Center

http://www.essential.org/dpic/dpic.htmlb. Death Penalty Links (Kentucky Department of Advocacy)

http://dpa.state.ky.us:80/~rwheeler/deathpen.htmc. National Conference on Wrongful Convictions and the Death Penalty

http://www.ncwcdp.com/

17. Forensicsa. Forensic Science Resources (Tennessee Criminal Law Defense

Resources)http://www.tncrimlaw.com/forensic/

b. Reference Manual on Scientific Evidencehttp://www.fjc.gov/EVIDENCE/science/sc_ev_sec.html

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LEGAL RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET 18. Client Manuals

Complete books on the criminal justice system are available online. Educating your client about the process can be as simple as clicking on a link to one of these web sites.a. Criminal Defendant Handbook (OCA)

http://www.courts.state.ny.us/Handcrimdef.htmlb. What You Should Know If You Accused of a Crime (Joyce B. David)

http://www.getty.net/texts/law-1.txtc. Criminal Court of the City of New York

http://ucs.ljx.com/crim0498.htm

19. Publishers and VendorsNeed a recent book on search and seizure law, trying to build up your collection of DWI handbooks, then visit the publishers who sell New York and Criminal Law related books.a. American Lawyer Media

http://www.lawcatalog.com/b. Blumberg

http://www.blumberg.com/index.htmlc. BNA

http://www.bna.com/d. Gould Publishing

http://www.gouldlaw.com/e. Hein Publishing

http://www.washlaw.edu/hein/heinhome.htmlf. James Publishing

http://www.jamespublishing.com/g. Matthew Bender

http://www.bender.comh. New York Legal Publishing

http://www.nylp.com/i. NYSBA Pamphlets

http://www.nysba.org/public/public.htmlj. West Group

http://www.westgroup.com

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LEGAL RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET 20. Law Libraries

a. New York State Libraryhttp://www.nysl.nysed.gov/index.html

b. Library of Congresshttp://www.loc.gov/z3950/

c. Law Library Catalogs (Washlaw Web)http://www.washlaw.edu/lawcat/lawcat.html

d. National Equal Justice Libraryhttp://library.wcl.american.edu/nejl/

e. Legal Aid Society of New Yorkhttp://www.legal-aid.org/lib.htm

21. Directories, Guides and Other Ready Reference Sourcesa. Vital Records Information

http://vitalrec.com/index.htmlb. Washlaw Web

http://www.washlaw.edu/reflaw/reflaw.htmlc. Legal and Law Reference Site

http://www.clark.net/pub/lschank/web/mu-law.html

22. Law Reviewsa. Buffalo Criminal Law Review (Buffalo Criminal Law Center)

http://wings.buffalo.edu/law/bclc/bclr.htmb. Buffalo Law Review

http://wings.buffalo.edu/academic/department/law/blr/c. Cornell Law Review

http://WWW.LAW.CORNELL.EDU/clr/d. Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture

http://www.albany.edu/scj/jcjpc/index.htmle. New York State Bar Journal

http://www.nysba.org/media/barjournal/journalindex.htmlf. Touro Law Review

http://www.tourolaw.edu/Publications/Lawreview/g. Full Text Search of Journals on Internet (Findlaw)

http://www.findlaw.com/lawreviews/h. 1999 On-Line Directory of Law Reviews and Scholarly Legal

Periodicals (text only, no links)http://www.andersonpublishing.com/lawschool/directory/

Copyright 1999 New York State Defenders Association 10

LEGAL RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET 23. Criminal Law Software

New York criminal procedure and penal law research can be simplified and expedited through research software. Gunga Web (available for a fee) and Crime Time (free) can be accessed or downloaded from the web.a. Gunga Web

http://members.aol.com/dewoodin/dps.htmb. Crime Time (Tompkins County DA)

http://www.co.tompkins.ny.us/distatto/crimetim.html

24. Comprehensive Sites GenerallyOne stop shopping for legal research saves time. Sites such as American Law Sources Online are gateways that open the doors to hundreds of specific case law, statutory and government agency web sites. a. American Law Sources Online

http://www.lawsource.com/also/b. Findlaw

http://www.findlaw.com/c. WashLaw Web

http://www.washlaw.edu/d. Legal Information Institute

http://www.law.cornell.edu/e. WWW Virtual Law Library

http://www.law.indiana.edu/law/v-lib/lawindex.htmlf. Fed World

http://www.fedworld.gov/g. Federal Web Locator

http://www.law.vill.edu/Fed-Agency/fedwebloc.htmlh. Jeff Flax’s Law Related Resources

http://www.jflax.com/i. Defense Service Organizations (Pine Tree Legal Assistance)

http://www.ptla.org/links.htm

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LEGAL RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET 25. Comprehensive Sites New York

Documents have a dubious life span on the web. Valuable guides, such as the ones listed below, can be saved on your computer for future reference when the original is no longer available.a. New York Law Journal

http://www.nylj.com/b. Find Law New York Resources

http://www.findlaw.com/11stategov/ny/c. New York State Government Information Locator

http://unix2.nysed.gov/ils/d. New York State Home Page

http://www.state.ny.us/e. New York City Home Page

http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/f. New York City Council Home Page

http://www.council.nyc.ny.us/g. New York Courts & Law Guide

http://www.nylj.com/guide/h. Bar Association and Organizations (NYSBA)

http://www.nysba.org/othersites/otherbars.htmli. Bar Association and Organizations (NYLJ)

http://www.nylj.com/sites/bars.html

26. Notable Documents available on the InternetDocuments have a dubious life span on the web. Valuable guides, such as the ones listed below, can be saved on your computer for future reference when the original is no longer available.a. How to Read the New York State Rap Sheet (PDF Document)

http://criminaljustice.state.ny.us/crimnet/cust/rapsheet.pdfb. Directory of New York State Criminal Justice Directories

(PDF Document)http://criminaljustice.state.ny.us/crimnet/ojsa/agdir/agencydr.pdf

c. Performance Guidelines for Criminal Defense Representation (NLADA)http://www.nlada.org/d-perform.htm

d. Resolution on Representation of the Indigent (NYCLA)http://www.nycla.org/publications/report2.htm

e. NYSBA Asks Legislature to Raise Fees for Lawyers who Represent Poor People in Criminal Cases (NYSBA)http://www.nysba.org/media/newsreleases/18b.html

27. Bibliography on Internet for LawyersThe Law Practice Management section of the American Bar Association maintains an annotated list of books about using the Internet in the practice of law. Sample chapters, containing links to web sites, are included.a. List of Law-Related Internet Books and Newsletters (ABA)

http://www.abanet.org/lpm/magazine/booklist.html

Copyright 1999 New York State Defenders Association 12

LEGAL RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET 28. Investigators and Resources

Beyond legal research, the web is an excellent tool for developing factual information to be used in court. Reverse Phone Directories, maps and FOIL data are only a few examples of the resources available.a. National Defender Investigation Association

http://ndia-inv.org/

29. Phone, Address and Email Directoriesa. 555-1212.COM (Comprehensive)

http://www.555-1212.com/b. AnyWho Reverse Phone Directory

http://www.anywho.com/telq.htmlc. BigFoot (People Search)

http://www.bigfoot.com/d. Yahoo People Search

http://people.yahoo.com/e. Telephone Directories on the Web

http://www.teldir.com/

30. Maps and Directionsa. Yahoo Maps and Driving Directions

http://maps.yahoo.com/py/maps.pyb. Lycos Roadmaps

http://www.lycos.com/roadmap.htmlc. Maps On Us

http://www.mapsonus.com/d. Internet Travel Network

http://www.itn.com/

31. Freedom of Information (FOIL or FOIA)a. US Dept of Justice

www.usdoj.gov/foiab. NY Committee on Open Government Advisory Opinions

http://dos.state.ny.us/coog/findex.htmlc. FOIA Resources

http://www.spj.org/foia/index.htmd. Resources on Freedom of Information Issues

http://web.syr.edu/~bcfought/foires.html

Copyright 1999 New York State Defenders Association 13