Online Citators2005

Basic Legal Skills

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Agenda

What is a citator? How to use a citator? Citators for cases

Demonstrations of Shepard’s and KeyCite In-class exercise

Citators for statutes, regulations, secondary sources

Currentness of citators Conclusion

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What Is a Citator?

A citator is a tool that shows when and how a particular legal resource has been cited.

It gives you quantitative information (the number of citing references) and qualitative information (the kind of treatment a particular legal resource has received).

1. For validation: to determine that a case, statute, regulation, or administrative decision is still good law and therefore can be used as the basis of your legal argument.

2. For research: to get citations to other relevant cases, administrative decisions, or secondary sources to support your legal argument.

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History of Legal Citators

Shepard’s Citations in print by jurisdiction (e.g., Shepard's Federal Citations,

Shepard's Texas Citations) by reporter (e.g., Pacific Reporter Citations) by type of authority (e.g., Shepard's Rules

Citations, Shepard's Law Review Citations) by topical areas (e.g., Shepard's Bankruptcy

Citations)

Online citators Shepard’s (Lexis) KeyCite (Westlaw)

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How to Use a Citator

DIRECT HISTORY(prior and subsequent history of your legal authority)

Was your case appealed? Was it affirmed, reversed, remanded?

Is your statute reversed, amended, affected by a pending legislation?

INDIRECT HISTORY or CITING REFERENCES(listing of other cases and secondary sources that cite to your legal authority)

Did a later case overrule, criticize, or distinguish your case? Are there cases and secondary sources that cite your case?

PARALLEL CITATIONS

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Example

Kelo v. City of New London, 843 A.2d 500 (Conn. 2004), petition for cert. granted (U.S. Sept. 28, 2004) (No. 04-108).

What protection does the Fifth Amendment's public use requirement provide for individuals whose property is being condemned, not to eliminate slums or blight, but for the sole purpose of "economic development" that will perhaps increase tax revenues and improve the local economy?

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Two Leading Precedents

Berman v. Parker, 348 U.S. 26 (1954).Upheld the taking of private property for transfer to a private development corporation as part of an urban renewal plan.

Hawaii Housing Auth. v. Midkiff, 467 U.S. 229 (1984).

Upheld a taking of private property for redistribution in order to reduce the concentration of land ownership in Hawaii.

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In-class Practice with Shepard’s

In the Shepard’s report for Berman, 348 U.S. 26, restrict or filter the citing references by the following:

Jurisdiction (U.S. Supreme Court, 9th Circuit, and Washington State cases)

Containing words redevelop! /p blight in the citing documents

Documents that cite Berman for the point of law addressed in Lexis headnote 9 of Berman

Documents from year 2000 to present

Q: How many citing references did you see with each restriction?

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In-class ExerciseYou represent a client in New Jersey who wants to develop and sell a new line of vitamins. Your client wants to sell them, not through retail stores, but through a multi-level pyramid distribution plan. Is this legal in New Jersey? (Ignore any applicable federal laws).

Shepardize or KeyCite this case:

Kugler v. Koscot Interplanetary, Inc., 293 A.2d 682 (N.J. Super. Ct. Ch. 1972).

Is Kugler still good law? Select 3-4 cases you would read first. Explain your choices. You are interested in finding cases from any jurisdiction that

mentions pyramid distribution/sales systems, or says fraud can take place even though the victim has not in fact been misled or deceived by the unlawful practice. Explain how you restricted your results.

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Statutes, Regulations, and Secondary Sources

Citators for statutes typically include: Updating documents (e.g., recently passed public

laws) Pending legislation (that may affect the statute) Historical and statutory notes that describe the

legislative changes that affected the statute

Graphic symbols for statutes: Red symbol – recently amended, repealed, ruled

unconstitutional, or otherwise preempted Yellow symbol – pending legislation, renumbered or

transferred, or validity is otherwise called into doubt

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How Current Are Online Citators?

KeyCite Direct History is added within 1-4 hours of receipt

of a case. Overrulings are identified by the editors within 24

hours of receipt. Citing cases are added as soon as they are added

to Westlaw.

Shepard’s Updated everyday, including weekends and

holidays. All editorial analysis codes are added within 24-48

hours of receipt of the case.

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Concluding Remarks

Use citators as a finding tool early in the research process.

Always verify the validity of legal authorities that you rely on.

Do not rely on the flags, signals, or graphical symbols.

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Additional Resources

Citator Comparison Table http://lib.law.washington.edu/ref/oncite.html#Table

Shepard’s Tutorial http://web.lexis.com/help/multimedia/shepards.htm

KeyCite Tutorialhttp://lawschool.westlaw.comClick on Discover Westlaw > Understand Westlaw > KeyCite

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