October 5th Notes

Legal Research & Writing Monday Class
October 5th

Instructor: Judi Maier
Webpage: https://catalysttools.washington.edu/workspace/jam06/7598/

Westlaw: passwords next week
-small modules on the website
--research can be done browser however elearning needs Windows to run

Turned in Diagnostic Test
-she will be getting back about the results with helpful sections to read

Remember your audience, judges.   Extremely narrow audience and well educated.  They have a traditional way of thinking and reading that needs to be catered to. Researching is based on facts...not theory.  We need to convince others that our client should win.

The location of resources is specialized.  The syllabus has the library locations.  The largest is the UW. 
Homework: Find a law library

LAW LIBRARIES
Four law libraries are located in the Seattle-Tacoma area.

Gallagher Law Library – U of W Law School
Main Campus, William H. Gates Hall, Floors L1 & L2
Web Site: http://lib.law.washington.edu/
Mon-Thur: 8am - 11pm
Fri: 8am - 6pm
Sat: 11am - 6pm
Sun: 11am - 11 pm

State Law Library – Temple of Justice, Olympia
415 12th St., Olympia
360.357.2136
Web Site: www.courts.wa.gov/library/

King County Law Library – Seattle
King County Court House, 6th floor, 516 3rd Ave., Seattle
206.296.0940
Web Site: www.kcll.org

Pierce County Law Library – Tacoma
Room IA-105 County City Bldg., 930 Tacoma Ave. S., Tacoma
253.798.7494
Web Site: www.piercecountywa.org/lawlibrary
51 Constitutions: Federal and States
-1960s: state rights can be more extensive than federal 
--state laws began to review and enforce

3 Branches
-layers of federal, state, local

Legislative: makes laws
     --enact statutes and ordinances compiled in codes (municipal, state, federal)

Judicial: interprets the law
      --federal and state courts interpret and can be direct or indirect and are compiled in reporters

Basic Structure:
-Lowest level: Municipal/District court:  handles cases under threshold and minor infractions, minor jail time

-Trial Courts: witnesses, jury, judge, evidence

-Appellate Courts: Loser can appeal decision, panels of judges or justices that hear the case only the verbatim transcript and paper documents, cold records (rarely see litigates)  only attorneys

-Supreme Courts

State:
Supreme
Appellate 1, seattle, 2 tacoma, 3 spokane
Trail courts/Superior court
Municipal/District

Federal:
US Supreme Court
Appellate Courts: Circuit Courts
Trial Courts/District Courts

The Process:
-You have a right to a trial.
-You have a right of first appeal.
-Appeal to Supreme Court is by writ of cert ONLY (take about 20% of cases)
--required to hear death penalty cases

Reporters:
-Books of Judicial Opinions
-Sequenced by date of decision

State:
Trial Courts: Not Published
Appellate Courts: Decided by Judge
Supreme Courts:Published

--You can not rely on an unpublished intermediate Appellate court decision. 
--You will find the unpublished and published in Westlaw.
--If the reasoning in an unpublished decision worked before, you can use the logic again. Just not cite it.

Federal:
Trial Courts: Published
Appellate Courts: Published
Supreme Courts: Published

Executive:
-Administrative Agencies are the biggest branch of government. They publish more law than any other branches.
-Promulgate rules
-Compiled in books  federal: CFRs   state: WACs

Authority:
-Courts bound by primary authority: constitutions, statutes, rules, prior case law
-Most federal laws are binding in federal court
    --Stare decisis: precedent based system
    --1954 desegregation law was overturned and set it all in motion
-Courts are persuaded by secondary authority
    --out of jurisdiction

Primary  (binding w/in jurisdiction)
then secondary (persuasive never binding)

Case Law: broad term,  court opinions interpreting and applying enacted laws
Common Law: is a subset of Case Law
    --narrower and makes law
     --courts make laws on very few specifics: Property Law and Contract Law are the largest examples
    ---easements don't have statutes

Secondary:
-read more about, looking for more authority
-persuasive but not binding
-link to primary law
-smart researching and then get cases

Examples of Seconday:
Legal encyclopaedias
-American jurisprudence
-CJS corpus juris secundum
-Horn books are single volume on one type of law
-Treatises are multi volume on one type of law
-Law reviews periodicals
-ALR American Law Reports
    -arranged topically and have case law imbedded

Loose leaf services
-CCH specific topics in the law that change
-IRS always changes to check up the new policies

Practice Books
-Called Desk Books in WA on all different areas of law
-Volumes of looseleaf
-for expertise with "how to"
-link to primary law

Third Category of Books
-Finding Tools
-Links to statutes, codes, cases

Examples of finding tools:
-annotated statutes/codes  numeric by topic
-revised code of WA  RCW   Just the law nothing else
-RCWA  the annotated version byWestlaw
    --has more than the law very helpful
-Digests: arranged by topic
-Shepards and KeyCite
-Secondary sources links to case and statutes

Primary is #1 and binding
Secondary is educational and persuasive
Policy is why it is important

Hierarchy
-Federal and State Co-exist
but jurisdiction determinative

Jurisdiction
-determines who's law controls
-sets the platform for researching


HOMEWORK
_______________________________
-Mary was found on a street in Tacoma and brought to a western state hospital where she has been involuntarily confined for the past 10 days.  Her sister Lilly believes that the States wants to extend her commitment.  Lilly has come to our law firm to find out if the state can do this.

Your boss asked you to find out after Mary's initial 14 day period confinement where is the process to extend confinement and who bears the burden of proving it?

Who has the burden of proof?  Can the state even do this?

-Use a Plan (logic puzzle)
1. Identify issue/legal question
After Mary's initial 14 day period of confinement,What is the process for extending an involuntary commitment following a 14-day commitment and who bears the burden of proving it?

2. Determine the jurisdiction / governing law that will apply
Mary was found in Tacoma
WA Law
    -Tacoma or Pierce Country municipal code
    -WA statutes RCW
    --case law
    -WAC
Federal law constitutional law
--pursuit of liberty right 
99% of the time go to state statute
State seems to be a good place to start  UNLESS its a contract or real estate law under common law
WA state statute RCW good place to start

3. Determine the sources of that law  What books will help
a. Primary binding
    -federal and wa constitution
    -wa statutes GOOD
    -WAC  Nope
    -Case Law
b. Secondary persuasive
    -read it in a hornbook or practice book
    -Washington Practice
4. Develop search terms
    ---commitment
    ---mental health

Where to begin?
--statutes best place to begin
    -locate the statute/rule of involuntarily commitment
---who has the burden?
--courts interpretation of law
---find a case
---read them

Two kinds of statute books
Official vs Annotated

Pocket Parts are the updates

States have 2 sets of reporters
--Official
Washington Appellate Reports (green)
    was app or wn app
Washington Reports (gold)

--Regional
Regional Reporter combined appellate and supreme
Pacific Reporter

Morris v. Blaker 118, Wn.2d 133, 821 P.2d 482 (1992)
Reads as:
volume Washington 118 and  Pacific 821
beginning page is 133 and 482