INTERNET LEGAL RESEARCH WEEKLY
October 14, 2001
Tom MighellWelcome to Issue #44 of the Internet Legal Research Weekly, a newsletter that delivers relevant and timely legal research information, and other fun stuff, to your inbox every Sunday. If you like what you read, please forward this newsletter to anyone you think might be interested, and encourage him or her to do the same! To subscribe, all you have to do is send an e-mail to ilrw-subscribe@topica.com. It’s free!
And away we go…..
News Update
Free Internet Training Service
The Online Netskills Interactive Course can help new computer users learn about the Internet, and more experienced users refine their research skills. It’s free to use, but you do have to register.It’s a Book AND a Website
If you’re interested in a great book on the Invisible Web, check out “The Invisible Web,” by Chris Sherman and Gary Price. Certainly buy the book, but also check out the companion website.The Lawsuits are Piling Up
Interested in seeing the different criminal cases ALREADY filed against Osama Bin Laden? Legal Dockets Online has them.
Legal Research in the Golden State
I approach the topic of Internet Legal Research in California with no small amount of trepidation. After all, the state is like a small country unto itself, with literally thousands of interesting and helpful websites for lawyers and legal researchers. With that said, while I present a large number of links here today, it is but a small sampling of the sites available. California, here we come…..
As always, we start with the home page, Welcome to California. You can create your own My California page, with only those links you need. The menu offers links to Education and Training, Health and Safety, Business, Consumers, Labor & Employment, Transportation, Government, Environment, and others. Although the home page is pretty busy, it offers a lot of great information – and if you need help, you can try the “How Do I…?” service at which allows you to type in a question and receive information from the California Knowledgebase.
From the California home page you can also access the website of California governor Gray Davis. California Departments and state agencies also have solid web presences. Check out the California Secretary of State; if you go to the Business Portal, you can search for California businesses. Another interesting business research site is Rich’s Insider’s Guide to Northern California Companies. There you can locate information on over 30,000 Northern California businesses; advanced services can be accessed with a subscription fee.
Another interesting website is the California State Department of Industrial Relations, which offers information on workers compensation, occupational safety and health, and labor law. From the California Attorney General’s website, you can find an interesting report on California criminal justice statistics.
Let’s head on over to the judicial branch. California’s Judicial Branch web page is quite comprehensive. Nearly every link you need, from the Supreme Court down to state superior courts, is contained on this site. The Supreme Court and links to all the Courts of Appeal are also available there. You can also access superior court websites on the site. The Supreme and Appellate Court opinions page allows you to search for opinions released as early at 100 hours ago (I guess that’s not so quick, is it?). The California Appellate Courts also have a Case Information System; there you can get calendar listings, case information, and e-mail notification from the courts. Information on California’s Rules of Court can also be found on the Judiciary site. If you’re looking for California Jury Instructions, you can find them at the NetLaw Libraries site. Many of the resources there require a paid subscription, but the jury instructions are free.
Heading over to the California Legislative Branch, we start first with the California State Senate. Get information here on the senators, legislation, committees, and the like. The California State Assembly’s site is surprisingly unsophisticated in its design, but it does contain some pretty good information. The “official” place to find California legislation and statutes is, not surprisingly, Official California Legislative Information. There you can access information on current bills, all of California’s codes, legislative publications, and the daily goings-on of the California Legislature. If you’re searching for California municipal codes and charters, Berkeley’s Institute of Government Studies has a page full of links..
California lawyers can find resources for their profession at the California State Bar. Among the many things you can find there are the California Rules of Professional Conduct, Ethics Opinions, and information on admissions to the State Bar of California.
That’s it for the general governmental sites of California – you can find most of what you need from those links. However, I want to throw out some random California legal resources; some of them might be useful to you. First is a page from FindLaw -- there are so many associations in California, the best way to access them is on one page, so this FindLaw resource is a keeper. A good general resource site is California Civil Discovery Law. There you can find links to codes, rules, caselaw outlines on various issues, and links to tentative rulings made by the superior courts. Also interesting is Counting California, a site that provides quick statistical facts about California and its counties.
Pasadena attorney Calvin House has created the Appellate Counsellor Home Page. There are lots of great resources here – links to appellate decisions, profiles of judges, reference pages and how-to tips for the appellate lawyer, and appellate forms, among others. Another great general California legal resources
is CALawNet’s Free Legal Research Center. This page has many links to California legal topics, environmental law, landlord-tenant, family law, business law, and others. Finally, check out Trials Digest, which offers comprehensive information on California civil trial results.Whew! That’s a lot of sites. I know I missed a few – are there any I should have mentioned? If so, please drop me a line at tom(at)inter-alia(dot)net.
Help Desk
In this space, I want to provide tips and tricks to make your web searching experience easier. A tip for you this week:Running out of room on your Start Menu? Right-click the Taskbar, select Properties, then select Show Small Icons. Click OK. While this reduces the size of those superfluous icons, thankfully, it doesn’t reduce the size of the text.
This area is for you: if you have questions about search engines, websites, or using your computer in general, send me an e-mail and I’ll feature your question in an upcoming issue! (I promise I won’t use your real name…..)
Legally Relevant – Sites on the Internet
TechAgreements ($$)
TechAgreements describes itself as a research tool for those looking for model legal forms and competitive information on publicly disclosed deals in the Internet, Computer, and Telecom industries. I checked out licensing agreements for the Internet industry, and got a listing of database, technology, and trademark agreements to view and purchase. I selected a software distribution and license agreement between InfoSeek and IBM – to download the full document, it’ll cost you $35.00. A great idea at a pretty good price.Google University Search
If you don’t know already, it’s possible at some websites to limit your search to one website by entering some specific language. If you’re looking for university information, this site by Google does the same thing. If you want to find specific information from Illinois Wesleyan University, just click on the university name on the menu and enter your search terms. Google will search only the IWU website for you, and return any relevant results. It’s a good way to narrow your search.The Doe Report ($$)
Sorry, another pay site. But this one is interesting – the Doe Report claims to be the leader in online demonstrative medical evidence. If you need a diagram or chart to describe medical issues to your jury, this is a great place to find it. Find charts in areas from Anesthesiology to Urology, and there are also demonstrative aids for regions and areas of the body. It isn’t cheap -- $75 for downloading the .jpg file, up to $350 for a 30x40 print. But it’s worth a look.Identity Theft
This site is probably more helpful to you personally than in your legal research. But with the explosion of information on the Internet, ID theft is more common than ever. This site, maintained by the Federal Communications Commission, hopes to educate us on how to protect ourselves against identity theft and what to do if something bad happens. This site is a must-read for any Internet user.Pharma-Lexicon
This is a busy page! It’s an example of a website that tries to be too many things to everyone. The “lexicon” part of this website provides you with information on medical abbreviations – you can either search or browse for them. There are also links to bulk medical suppliers, health ministries, hospitals, jobs, journals, and associations, among MANY others. I found that the site hasn’t really gotten fleshed out yet – it’s still pretty sparse. However, the medical abbreviations aspect is a good idea.
And now for some fun stuff. If you’ve ever seen the “looks-rating” site, Am I Hot Or Not?, you might want to check out Terrorist or Not?. Rank each picture from 1 (Not a Terrorist) to 10 (Wanted Dead or Alive). What’s interesting is that Osama Bin Laden only ranks 8.47 on that scale……
Ever wonder why you can’t get a particularly stupid song out of your head? Well, scientists worry about it too.
Well, that’s it for Issue #44 – I hope you liked it! If you did, pass this along to anyone you think might be interested, and encourage him or her to subscribe. Also, feel free to drop me an e-mail any time if you have questions, or if you have websites or other topics you want included in a future issue.
Tom Mighell
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