SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF LAW LIBRARIES Locating the Law A Handbook for Non-Law Librarians Sixth Edition 2018 P U B L I C A C C E S S T O L E G A L I N F O R M A T I O N C O M M I T T E E ©2018 Southern California Association of Law Libraries Locating the Law A Handbook for Non-Law Librarians Sixth edition Edited by Elizabeth Caulfield Southern California Association of Law Libraries 2018 Public Access to Legal Information (PALI) Committee, Southern California Association of Law Libraries Elizabeth Caulfield, Chair 2017-2018 COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Laura Cadra, Esther Eastman, Janine Liebert, David McFadden, Kara Noel, and Robert Rodriguez Foreword Lawyers are the only persons in whom ignorance of the law is not punished. --Jeremy Bentham The Southern California Association of Law Libraries (SCALL) Public Access to Legal Information (PALI) Committee is charged with providing consulting services and related educational programs to public and other non-law libraries offering open access to legal information. Public access to legal information is extremely important in today’s rapidly changing legal environment. In recognition of the public’s need to know their legal rights and how statutes, administrative regulations, and judicial cases affect their lives, SCALL is pleased to present the sixth edition of Locating the Law: A Handbook for Non-Law Librarians, 2018. This publication is not a substitute for a detailed legal research guide or for the advice of a licensed attorney. Instead, Locating the Law is intended to provide basic information about California and federal legal materials: what they are, how they are organized, and how to find and use them. The sixth edition of Locating the Law is available free-of-charge on the SCALL Web site. For economic and environmental reasons, the publication is no longer produced in print format. Links are included throughout the publication, and Web site addresses are provided for most of the materials in a sources-cited section at the end of each chapter. Thus, an online version of the guide facilitates accessing the materials referenced because they are linked. As used in this handbook, Internet access generally means publicly, electronically available. When commercially available Internet services are described, they are identified as fee-based services. As a law librarian for over ten years, I have trained attorneys in the use of legal databases such as Westlaw and Lexis. In addition, I have taught legal research and writing to paralegal students for approximately fifteen years. I know the importance that basic information plays in enabling researchers to find the law. Locating the Law will continue to serve paralegals, law students, legal administrators, law firm support staff, attorneys and others as that foundational first stepping stone into what can be a confusing maze of materials. The editor and authors hope the sixth edition will continue to be an important resource for locating legal information. Readers with questions, comments, or suggestions for revisions may contact the PALI i Committee Chair, Elizabeth Caulfield. April 2018 Robert Rodriguez Research Librarian Los Angeles, CA ii Preface The Southern California Association of Law Libraries (SCALL) Committee on Public Access to Legal Information (PALI) presents the sixth edition of Locating of Law: A Handbook for Non-Law Librarians. Several substantive changes characterize the latest edition, which the Committee completed in August 2018. The Committee removed most of the subject-specific secondary source suggestions from Chapter 6: Bibliography of California Resources under the premise that most public libraries are unlikely to carry them. In place of those suggestions, the Committee substituted basic information about commonly used California secondary sources and ways to access them. Similarly, the guide no longer has a section on maintaining a print legal collection (formerly in Chapter 11: Legal Collections) under the theory that the average public library is more likely to rely on online legal resources rather than provide a print collection of legal titles. Chapter 8: Bibliography of Federal Law Resources has been replaced with a chapter called Citators, with the goal of informing readers about an essential legal research tool that should be part of every serious legal research plan. The Appendix on California county law libraries has been streamlined and now primarily consists of a list of the libraries and links to their Web sites. The Appendix on California law schools, which formerly listed each school’s contact information, now links to the identical information provided online by The State Bar of California. I would like to thank the PALI members and former members who contributed chapters and sections for the sixth edition: Joan Allen-Hart, Laura Cadra, Esther Eastman, Jennifer Lentz, David McFadden, Kara Noel Gelman, Robert Rodriguez, and Lisa Schultz. In addition, thanks to Suzie Shatarevyan who electronically assembled the publication and made it available online and to Diana Torti who provided instruction and guidance on using Adobe Acrobat. The Committee offers this edition of Locating the Law in the hopes that it will provide guidance to librarians who serve patrons seeking legal information and bring legal researchers closer to the information they need. October 2018 Elizabeth Caulfield Chair, Public Access to Legal Information Committee (2014-2018) Southern California Association of Law Libraries iii Acknowledgments The 2017-2018 Public Access to Legal Information (PALI) Committee is pleased to offer the sixth edition of Locating the Law: A Handbook for Non-Law Librarians. This edition brings the guide up-to-date since its last revision in 2011. It is not a radical change from the previous version; instead, it updates guidance deemed useful from the last publication and offers some new research suggestions and resources that may not have existed in 2011. Examples of new information include coverage of the California Legislative Information Web site in chapters 3, 5, and 6; a new chapter on citators (Chapter 8); and suggestions of free online resources that provide a starting point for learning about legal subjects, although those resources may be of a more general nature than the subscription sources used by legal practitioners. (See Chapter 3, specifically the section on Online Legal Resources.) Authors of the current guide are Joan Allen-Hart, Laura Cadra, Elizabeth Caulfield, Esther Eastman, Jennifer Lentz, David McFadden, Kara Noel Gelman, Robert Rodriguez, and Lisa Schultz. The following table provides specific credits. SECTION/CHAPTER AUTHOR TITLE/AFFILIATION FORWARD Robert Rodriguez Research Librarian PREFACE Elizabeth Caulfield Law Librarian California Court of Appeal ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Elizabeth Caulfield Law Librarian California Court of Appeal iv LOCATING THE LAW, SIXTH EDITION, 2018 CHAPTER 1: Introduction Elizabeth Caulfield Law Librarian California Court of Appeal CHAPTER 2: How to Read a David McFadden Senior Reference Librarian Legal Citation Southwestern Law School CHAPTER 3: Basic Legal Joan Allen-Hart Assistant Director, Retired Research Techniques San Diego County Public Law Library CHAPTER 4: Legal Reference Joan Allen-Hart Assistant Director, Retired vs. Legal Advice San Diego County Public Law Library CHAPTER 5: California Law Laura A. Cadra Head of Reference/Foreign & Int’l Law and Librarian, Loyola Law School Los Elizabeth Caulfield Angeles (Laura) Law Librarian, California Court of Appeal (Elizabeth) CHAPTER 6: Bibliography of Elizabeth Caulfield Law Librarian California Resources California Court of Appeal CHAPTER 7: Federal Law Esther Eastman Reference Librarian LA Law Library CHAPTER 8: Citators Elizabeth Caulfield Law Librarian California Court of Appeal v LOCATING THE LAW, SIXTH EDITION, 2018 CHAPTER 9: Assisting Self- Kara Noel Gelman Research Librarian Represented Litigants Latham & Watkins LLC in California CHAPTER 10: Bibliography of Instructional Services Research Lisa Schultz Self-Help Resources Librarian University of Colorado Law School CHAPTER 11: Availability, Joan Allen-Hart Assistant Director, Retired, San Diego Accessibility and and County Public Law Library (Joan) Maintenance of Legal Elizabeth Caulfield Law Librarian, California Court of Appeal (Elizabeth) Collections CHAPTER 12: Major Law Jennifer Lentz Head of Collection Development & Publishers Reference Librarian UCLA School of Law APPENDIX A: Glossary of June Kim formerly at UCLA School of Law Legal Terms APPENDIX B: List of Common June Kim formerly at UCLA School of Law Abbreviations in the Law APPENDIX C: California’s Esther Eastman Esther Eastman County Law Libraries LA Law Library APPENDIX D: California PALI Committee Law Schools vi LOCATING THE LAW, SIXTH EDITION, 2018 Lastly, the Committee dedicates the sixth edition of Locating the Law to two people who had many friends in the law library community and who ensured the publication of past editions of Locating the Law, June Kim and Ruth Hill. June Kim, formerly at the UCLA School of Law, Hugh & Hazel Darling Law Library, chaired the PALI Committee and served as editor of this publication for the fifth edition (original and revised). After receiving a SCALL scholarship while in library school, June became an active member of SCALL. She served on the Library Liaison Committee starting in 2003, and the 2005 SCALL Institute Committee. June was twice a winner of the William B. Rohan Chapter Service Award, first in 2004 as a member of the American