1. Research Refresher: Summer Dos and Donts Suzanne B. Corriell March 24, 2014

2. Do Your Homework Before you arrive Review state court and legislative structure for your jurisdiction State Legislative Sourcebook Know what your jurisdiction has available online 3. Do Pack Your Bags Take materials with you Take your laptop (VPN) Take your Bluebook Style manuals Blacks Law Dictionary A thesaurus for search terms List of nearby law schools and libraries 4. Do Ask Questions Of the librarian Online research availability Library information Of the assigning attorney Suggested starting points Brief bank 5. Do Develop a Plan Review facts Identify issues Determine jurisdiction Identify search terms 6. Do Stay Organized Identify resources consulted Keep some sort of record of the searches you do so you dont re-do a search Keep track of time Keep print-outs in order and maintain a filing system for research Use online organizers Research trail; history; WL/LX folders Google Web History; IEs send to OneNote netfilesuserssscorrieloutboxBridge the Gap 2014 7. Dont Start with Case Law! Begin by looking at Dictionaries Legal encyclopedias Secondary resources Treatises Practice materials & CLEs Periodicals 8. Do Use Citators Very important! Shepards/KeyCite/BCite Check for good law Help locate other cases Help locate other resources Read! Don't rely solely on the signals 9. Lexis and Westlaw Educational and Pro Bono Use Only Westlaw Anything Lexis (Lexis Advance) Bloomberg Law 10. Do Use Lexis and Westlaw Effectively Plan ahead Know your pricing plan http://guides.law.csuohio.edu/wexis_pricing Use smallest database (in classic versions) Start broadly and narrow your search based on the results If you have access to both, know the preference of the partner with whom youre working Call/chat for help 11. Do Use Law Library Resources For corporate/paid jobs LexisNexis Academic (VPN) HeinOnline (VPN) Bloomberg BNA (VPN) CCH Intelliconnect (VPN) Bloomberg Law Law360 Checkpoint (VPN) http://law.richmond.edu/library/databases.html Use the law schools public terminal 12. Use What You Have If its available in print in your firm library, use the print its FREE! If you are taking over a project someone else started, get their research notes Get examples from other associates Find templates (motions and briefs) 13. Do Know Your Current Events Yahoo Finance: http://finance.yahoo.com/ Law.com: http://www.law.com Above the Law: http://www.abovethelaw.com/ Jurist: http://jurist.org/ Virginia Lawyers Weekly: http://valawyersweekly.com and http://valawyersweekly.com/vlwblog Law360: http://www.law360.com/ 14. Do Every Project 50 State Surveys ALRs, Uniform Laws Annotated, Shepards Acts and Cases by Popular Name, Subject Compilations of State Laws, loose-leaf services http://tarltonguides.law.utexas.edu/content.php?pid=242166&sid=2028342 Legislative histories Compiled legislative histories Search: [state] +legislative history http://www.law.indiana.edu/library/services/sta_leg.shtml 15. Do Google It* Many free resources Search: [jurisdiction] +legal research Search: [topic] +legal research Look for search tips, advanced search Topic specific searches File extensions Evaluate site (.gov, .edu, .com) * Dont cite to Wikipedia (but do use it) 16. Do Fix Whats Broken Broken links on Google? Deconstruct bad URL Remove /parts/ of URL starting at right http://law.slu.edu/library/reference/missouri http://law.slu.edu/library/reference http://law.slu.edu/library/ Browse for information Use cached page Use the Wayback Machine: www.archive.org http://www.virginia.edu/history/faculty/ayers.html 17. Do Use Spell Check (and some common sense) 18. Dont Pay! FindLaw (http://findlaw.com/) Federal resources THOMAS (http://thomas.loc.gov/) FDsys (http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/) Justia (http://www.justia.com) http://www.americanbar.org/groups/departments_ 19. Dont Pay (continued)* http://www.brbpub.com/default.asp http://www.municode.com/ http://www.forms.gov http://www.uscourtforms.com/ http://www.lectlaw.com http://library.law.emory.edu/electronic- resources/free-legal-web-resources/ * Remember to authenticate your research! 20. Do Use Flat-Rate Resources Bloomberg BNA Bloomberg Law (http://www.bloomberglaw.com/start) CCH Intelliconnect 21. Do Appreciate Librarians Zimmermans Research Guide http://law.lexisnexis.com/infopro/zimmermans/ Cornell Legal Information Institute http://www.law.cornell.edu/ Georgetown Law Library Research Guides http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/ 22. Do Appreciate Librarians (Again) Legislative Source Book http://www.llsdc.org/sourcebook/ LLRX http://www.LLRX.com The Virtual Chase How-To Guides: http://virtualchase.justia.com/legal-research 23. Do Know When To Say When Stop researching When you stop finding good new resources Re-evaluate if youre finding nothing at all Report back Restate the question Quick answer, then elaborate Describe research process Give verifiable citations Stay on point 24. Dont Be That Guy or That Girl If you arent assigned a mentor, find one for yourself Find someone who you admire and who will give you good advice Get to know the firm librarians and treat them well Be nice to your secretary, if you have one, and to all support staff! 25. Do Keep It Simple 26. Do Ask More Questions! Anyone? Handouts and slides from this presentation will be made available through a libguide on the librarys website (http://law.richmond.libguides.com/) 27. Dont Forget Us! Reference Desk - 289-8685 Paul Birch 289-8222; pbirch@richmond.edu Timothy Coggins 289-8218; tcoggins@richmond.edu Suzanne Corriell 289-8217; scorriel@richmond.edu Alexis Fetzer 289-8727; afetzer@richmond.edu Joyce Manna Janto 289-8223; jjanto@richmond.edu Amy OConnor 289-8221; aoconno2@richmond.edu Andrew Winston 484-1617; awinsto2@richmond.edu Gail Zwirner 287-6555; gzwirner@richmond.edu