ON- SITE ORIENTATION RESEARCH SESSION

Cleveland Marshall College of Law Library, Fall 2009

 

As a Law Student and as a practicing attorney, a significant part of what you do involves finding "the law." 

"The Law" = constitutions, statutes passed by legislatures, regulations promulgated by government agencies, cases and decisions of adjudicative bodies.  See: Primary Sources Diagram. 

We will conduct research on a hypothetical fact situation and discuss:

** How to Find and Use Secondary Sources
** How to Find Primary Sources when given a citation
** How to Search for Primary Sources
** Current Awareness Services
** Study Aids
** Where to Go for Help

 

 

FACT SITUATION: 

Trisha Travis, a wheelchair bound individual, moved into a second floor of a four story apartment building in Lakewood, Ohio.  Trisha was able to take the elevator to the second floor.

Three months later, the elevator broke down.  Trisha immediately asked her landlord, Larry to fix the elevator.  Trisha needed the help of another person to get up and down the stairs, and sometimes no one was available to help.  Two weeks passed and the elevator was not fixed.  One of Larry's employees told Trisha that Larry had not even called the elevator repair company yet. 

Trisha is tired of the situation and wants to move out, but Larry tells her she can not break the lease and will still owe rent if she moves.  The lease is silent on whether the Landlord would provide or maintain an elevator.

Can you find any law to help Trisha?

 

 

 

 

1.  SECONDARY SOURCES

Secondary sources explain, analyze, and comment on what "the law" is as well as cite primary materials.

A. Finding Secondary Sources

1.  Method one:  Law Library Research Guides: Law Library Homepage > Research Guide page

Note the link at the top of the Research Guide page to Research Guide Search Engine

2.  Method Two:  Scholar/ OhioLINK – Keyword search

3.  Method Three:  Westlaw/LexisNexis

- What are LexisNexis and Westlaw?

 

LEXISNEXIS/WESTLAW ACCEPTABLE USE

  • Only for school-related research purposes. Violation of the Student Honor Code to use for nonacademic work.  Violators may be subject to loss of LexisNexis/Westlaw privileges and expulsion from school.

 

 

B. Use LexisNexis/Westlaw to Find a Secondary Source re. Landlord/Tenant Law in Ohio:

  • Use directory - LexisNexis Legal>States Legal-U.S.>Ohio>Search Analysis & CLE Materials>Real Estate>Ohio Real Property Law and Practice, CH. 21 Residential Landlord/Tenant Act

  • Use search for a database box on Westlaw - type in: ohio landlord tenant

 

 

Once You Find a Good Secondary Source, use it to find explanatory text & primary law to answer the question at hand.

We will find helpful material by drilling down the table of contents. (Could also try a search such as "landlord /s duty & repair disrepair")

Relevant Secondary Source Materials for this exercise

 

 

C. Law Review Articles

A law review article is an in depth article on a legal topic, written by attorneys, law professors or students.

Law review articles are on LexisNexis and Westlaw from around the late 1970s forward. Older articles can be found in print, by searching for the journal (not article) title, in Scholar or on HeinOnline.

Example: Barbara Hall Nahra, Covenant of Habitability and the Ohio Landlord-Tenant Legislation, 23 Clev. St. L. Rev. 539 (1974).

 

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2.  PRIMARY SOURCES

 

A. Citation Format

How to Read a Legal Citation Guide

The citation typically indicates which court system (state or federal) and the court level.

Nye v. Schuler, 110 Ohio App. 443 (1959). What does "Ohio Appellate" mean?  See Court Structure Chart

 

B.  Retrieve (Get) a Case

Get this case in LexisNexis: Nye v. Schuler, 110 Ohio App. 443 (1959)

In LexisNexis, note:

  • Shepards

  • Headnotes

  • Related Content

Cases in Westlaw have similar features :

  • KeyCite

  • Headnotes

  • Results Plus

 

 

C.  Retrieve (Find) Statutes/Code Sections

Find this code section in Westlaw:  Ohio Revised Code 5321.04

Note the annotations, particularly case annotations.  Also note Results Plus.

Relevant Statutes / Code Sections for this exercise


Printing from Westlaw and LexisNexis:

Send print jobs to the LexisNexis and Westlaw printers located in the computer lab. This does not count against your annual allotment of 1,000 Computer Lab printer pages, but you are restricted to 200 pages on each of the LexisNexis and Westlaw printers per day.


Printing in excess of this amount may result in cancellation of the print request and/or suspension of your ability to print to these printers.  Students found to be printing excessively will receive warning email notices before suspension of their printing abilities.
 

 

 

D.  CASE SEARCH

QUESTION --- IN THIS CASE, DID THE LANDLORD FAIL TO REPAIR THE ELEVATOR IN A REASONABLE TIME?

1.  Terms and Connectors (Boolean) search –

  • Westlaw, Ohio State Cases

  • Terms and Connectors = time or day or week or period or opportunity /s remedy or fix! or repair! and 5321.07 (50 hits)  [ /s = in same sentence;  ! = truncation ]

  • Hit numbers 7,  23 especially good

2. Natural Language Search on Westlaw = What is a reasonable time for a landlord to repair an elevator so as to avoid the tenant's constructive eviction?

Yields Stiffler case as the first hit, but does not retrieve the Shannon Way case.  Does locate another pretty good case, Johnson v. Brown, 2003 -Ohio- 1257 it is number 60 on the list! 

 

Natural Language v. Terms and Connectors (Boolean)

In general, when precision is needed or when one wants to get every case on point, Terms and Connectors is better.  If one needs only a few cases on point, and/or one is unsure of search terms or how to construct a search, may want to use natural language.  Terms and Connectors usually better if you are searching fairly common terms, such as when searching procedural issues.

 

LEXISNEXIS AND WESTLAW DIFFERENCES

See Research Guide:  LexisNexis & Westlaw Features Compared

Both contain the same statutes, regulations and for the most part, the same cases.

Annotations to these primary sources may differ

Secondary Sources differ

Differences in search language (see Guide above, which points out the main ones)

Search functionality basically the same, but some differences in “whistles and bells”


LexisNexis Tutorials

After signing on to LexisNexis, click on Teaching Tools under the Prepare For Class tab.  At the Teaching Tools page, note links to Reference Literature, Videos and Tutorials in left column.

Westlaw Tutorials

From http://lawschool.westlaw.com, in the top navigation bar click on User Guides for pdf guides to various research tasks, and click on Westlaw Training for interactive tutorials.  Some of these training materials may require you to sign on to TWEN.



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3.  Study Aids & CALI

A.  Study Aids - 3 ways to find

1.  Scholar keyword search -- landlord near tenant, and sort by date

2.  At Law Library > Student Services page, note link to Study Aids page. 

3.  At Law Library > Property Law Research Guide page, note section on study aids.

Many study aids are in Room A066!



B.  CALI

The CALI Library of Lessons covers topics from basic lawyering skills, such as legal research and writing and trial advocacy, to how to prepare for classes and take law school exams. Faculty sometimes use CALI Lessons to cover material not discussed in class, as well as incorporate CALI Lessons into their courses as assignments or in-class exercises.  

If you have not registered for CALI, you can do so here.

 

 

4.  Current Awareness Resources


The law is constantly changing.  There are always new cases, statutes and regulations.  Attorneys need current awareness services to keep up. 

Two publishers that provide topical current awareness services are BNA (Bureau of National Affairs) and CCH (Commerce ClearingHouse).

US Law Week (from BNA) tracks and reports on important cases, laws, and regulations. US Law Week is generally considered one of the most important weekly publications in the area of law. US Law Week may be accessed through the internet or through a current awareness email, which you may subscribe to.

You can find US Law Week by:

  1. Going to the Law Library home page > Electronic Resources page

  2. Then scrolling down to US Law Week/Supreme Court Today

The US Law Week home page has the same news stories you will find in the weekly email alert.

 

 

 

5.  Where To Go For Help -- The Law Library!

Start at Law Library home page

Electronic Resources page -- check here to see if the Law Library subscribes to an electronic service.

Student Services page -- your portal to all of the resources and services of the Law Library -- on this page, note in particular: Technology page – lab printing, tech help, etc. 

Also note Tech Help link in black bar at bottom of each page of the Law School web site.

Contact a Librarian – in person, email, chat, phone

 

 

 

6.  TWEN Quiz To Win Prize 

Signing up for a TWEN course:

  • Sign on to Westlaw

  • Click on TWEN in the top blue navigation bar.

  • At the TWEN My Classes page, click on Add a Course in the top navigation bar.

  • Under the "Cleveland State University" course list, click inside the box next to Orientation Research Quiz, then click Submit at the bottom of the page.

  • You will be returned to the MY COURSES page, with the Orientation Research Quiz course listed -- click on the course name to enter it.