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Whether for self-representation, to be an informed consumer of legal services, or to learn the U.S. legal system, more people than ever are using the library to obtain legal information and legal research advice. The new edition of Finding the Answers to Legal Questions is a comprehensive guide to help librarians confidently assist users in finding the legal information they need. Newly revised and updated, this timely, clearly organized, and easy-to-use resource is packed with guidance to help librarians answer questions that span the gamut of the law. An ideal book for practicing librarians looking to better serve users' legal needs, as well as for students preparing for careers as librarians, it provides

an overview of fundamental legal information, including the basic structure of the U.S. legal system and primary law; how-to instructions for finding primary law in print sources, free websites, and pay-for-view databases; information on how to evaluate the trustworthiness of online and print resources; tips for conducting a legal reference interview; guidance for handling common legal questions, such as lawsuits, family law, landlord-tenant disputes, wills and estate planning, debt, bankruptcy, employment, and criminal law; and advice on how to build a basic legal reference collection.

This book will help librarians connect users to the most accurate, up-to-date legal information.

Tabla de contenidos provista por Syndetics

• List of Figures(p. xv)
• Foreword(p. xvii)
• Preface(p. xix)
• Acknowledgments(p. xxiii)
• Part I Foundation: Legal Information Overview
• 1 The Structure of the Legal System In the United States(p. 3)
• Getting Started Finding Legal Information(p. 3)
• Fifty-One Legal Systems(p. 3)
• The Rule of Threes(p. 4)
• Three Types of Primary Law(p. 4)
• Three Branches of Government(p. 4)
• Legislatures Enact Statutes(p. 4)
• Administrative Agencies Promulgate Regulations(p. 6)
• Courts Make Case Law(p. 6)
• Three Levels of Courts(p. 7)
• Trial Courts(p. 7)
• Intermediate Appellate Courts(p. 9)
• Final Appellate Courts(p. 11)
• Conclusion(p. 12)
• 2 Secondary Sources and Practice Materials(p. 13)
• Secondary Sources Generally(p. 13)
• Secondary Sources: In Print(p. 14)
• Legal Encyclopedias(p. 14)
• Treatises(p. 16)
• Practice Materials and Forms(p. 16)
• Loose-Leaf Services(p. 17)
• American Law Reports(p. 18)
• Legal Periodicals(p. 18)
• Restatements(p. 20)
• Secondary Sources: Pay-for-View Databases(p. 20)
• Secondary Sources: Free Online Access(p. 21)
• Conclusion(p. 21)
• 3 Federal Primary Sources(p. 23)
• General Secondary Sources for Federal Law(p. 23)
• American Law Reports-Federal(p. 23)
• Practice and Procedure and Form Books(p. 24)
• Treatises(p. 25)
• Free Web Sources for Federal Law(p. 25)
• Government Sites(p. 26)
• Educational Institutions' Sites(p. 26)
• Primary Law: U.S. Constitution(p. 27)
• Secondary Sources on Constitutional Law(p. 27)
• General Sources(p. 27)
• Primary Law: Federal Statutes(p. 29)
• Pending Legislation(p. 29)
• Current Statutes(p. 29)
• Primary Law: Federal Cases(p. 31)
• United States Supreme Court(p. 33)
• United States Courts of Appeal (aka "Circuit Courts")(p. 35)
• United States District Courts(p. 37)
• Other Federal Courts(p. 38)
• Primary Law: Regulations (Administrative Law)(p. 40)
• Print(p. 40)
• Websites(p. 41)
• Primary Law: Federal Court Rules(p. 42)
• Print(p. 43)
• Websites(p. 43)
• Conclusion(p. 44)
• 4 State and Local Primary Sources(p. 45)
• All-in-One Websites(p. 45)
• State Constitutions(p. 47)
• State Statutes(p. 48)
• Statutory Codes(p. 48)
• State Session Laws(p. 49)
• Court Decisions Interpreting Statutes(p. 49)
• State Administrative Law(p. 50)
• State Regulatory Codes(p. 50)
• State Regulatory Registers(p. 51)
• Court Decisions Interpreting Administrative Law(p. 51)
• State Court Decisions(p. 52)
• Opinions from Trial Courts or Courts of Limited Jurisdiction(p. 52)
• Finding State Appellate Court Decisions in Hard Copy(p. 53)
• Finding State Appellate Court Decisions for Free Online(p. 53)
• State Court Rules(p. 55)
• State Executive Materials(p. 56)
• Other State-Specific Resources(p. 56)
• Primary Sources: Local Law(p. 57)
• Primary Sources: Tribal Law and Federal Indian Law(p. 58)
• Part II Preparation: Understanding Legal Information Needs
• 5 Legal Research Basics(p. 63)
• Deciding What Legal Information is Needed(p. 63)
• The Reference Interview for Legal Information Needs(p. 63)
• Legal Information versus Legal Advice(p. 66)
• Techniques for Finding What Is Needed(p. 67)
• Jurisdiction(p. 67)
• Secondary Sources(p. 69)
• Citations: Known Item Searching(p. 69)
• Keyword and Subject Searching for Case Law(p. 71)
• Keyword Subject Searching for Statutes and Regulations(p. 74)
• Building on What Is Found(p. 75)
• "Pearl Growing": Finding One Good Case, Then More Like It(p. 75)
• Pay-for-View Services: LexisNexis and Westlaw(p. 75)
• Updating(p. 78)
• How Much Is Enough? Who Can Help Me Further?(p. 80)
• References(p. 81)
• 6 Resources Beyond the Public Library(p. 83)
• Law Libraries(p. 83)
• Free Legal Help(p. 85)
• Alternative Dispute Resolution(p. 86)
• About Mediation(p. 86)
• ADR Organizations and Resources(p. 87)
• Choosing a Lawyer(p. 87)
• Conclusion(p. 89)
• Part III Information: Specific Legal Questions
• 7 Lawsuits(p. 95)
• Framework for Questions in This Area of Law(p. 95)
• Getting Started(p. 96)
• Finding Answers to Frequent Questions(p. 97)
• Process of a Lawsuit(p. 97)
• Legal Procedures and Forms(p. 98)
• Pretrial Stages of a Lawsuit(p. 99)
• Evidence(p. 100)
• Trial Process(p. 100)
• Juries and Jury Instructions(p. 101)
• Appeals(p. 101)
• Resources Recap(p. 102)
• 8 Family Law(p. 105)
• Framework for Questions in This Area of Law(p. 106)
• Getting Started: A Checklist(p. 106)
• Finding Answers to Frequent Questions about Relationships(p. 107)
• Questions about Marriage(p. 107)
• Questions When Unmarried and Living Together(p. 109)
• Questions about Divorce(p. 110)
• Finding Answers to Frequent Questions about Children(p. 113)
• Questions about Parenting Plans(p. 113)
• Questions about Child Support(p. 114)
• Finding Answers to Frequent Questions about Domestic Violence(p. 115)
• Finding Answers to Frequent Questions about Adoption(p. 116)
• References(p. 119)
• Resources Recap(p. 120)
• 9 Landlord-Tenant(p. 123)
• Framework for Questions in This Area of Law(p. 123)
• Getting Started(p. 124)
• Finding Answers to Frequent Questions From Tenants(p. 125)
• Finding Answers to Frequent Questions from Landlords(p. 128)
• Epilogue(p. 129)
• Resources Recap(p. 130)
• 10 Wills, Estate Planning, and Probate(p. 133)
• Framework for Questions in This Area of Law(p. 134)
• Getting Started(p. 134)
• Understanding Key Terms(p. 135)
• Finding Answers to Frequent Questions(p. 137)
• Resources Recap(p. 140)
• 11 Debts, Collections, and Credit(p. 143)
• Framework for Questions in This Area of Law(p. 143)
• Multistate Matters(p. 144)
• Matters Involving Contracts(p. 144)
• Getting Started(p. 144)
• Debtor: Basic Starting information(p. 145)
• Creditor: Basic Starting Information(p. 145)
• Facing Foreclosure(p. 145)
• Finding Answers: Frequent Questions about Debt Collection(p. 146)
• Resources Recap(p. 149)
• 12 Bankruptcy(p. 151)
• Framework for Questions in This Area of Law(p. 152)
• Federal Law Governs(p. 152)
• Currency: Be Sure You Have the Most Recent Information(p. 153)
• Getting Started(p. 154)
• Finding Answers to Frequent Questions(p. 154)
• References(p. 156)
• Resources Recap(p. 156)
• 13 Employment and Unemployment(p. 159)
• Getting Started(p. 159)
• Resources Recap(p. 160)
• Framework for Questions: Employment Discrimination(p. 160)
• Finding Answers to Frequent Questions about Employment Discrimination(p. 161)
• Resources in Employment Discrimination(p. 161)
• Primary Sources: Federal Law of Employment Discrimination(p. 162)
• Primary Sources: State Statutes in Employment Discrimination(p. 163)
• Do-It-Yourself Publications in Employment Discrimination(p. 163)
• Resources Recap(p. 164)
• Framework for Questions: Unemployment Compensation(p. 165)
• Finding Answers to Frequent Questions about Unemployment Compensation(p. 165)
• Resources in Unemployment Compensation(p. 166)
• Primary Sources: Federal Statutes about Unemployment Compensation(p. 166)
• Primary Sources: State Statutes about Unemployment Compensation(p. 166)
• Do-It-Yourself Publications in Unemployment Compensation(p. 167)
• Resources Recap(p. 167)
• Framework for Questions: Workers' Compensation(p. 168)
• Finding Answers to Frequent Questions about Workers' Compensation(p. 168)
• Resources in Workers' Compensation(p. 169)
• Primary Sources: Federal Statutes in Workers' Compensation(p. 169)
• Primary Sources: State Statutes in Workers' Compensation(p. 170)
• Do-It-Yourself Publications in Workers' Compensation(p. 170)
• Resources Recap(p. 170)
• Framework for Other Questions: Employment Law(p. 171)
• Wages and Hours(p. 171)
• Wrongful Discharge(p. 171)
• Workplace Privacy(p. 172)
• Resources Recap(p. 173)
• Conclusion(p. 174)
• 14 Criminal Law(p. 175)
• Framework for Questions in This Area of Law(p. 175)
• Getting Started(p. 176)
• Finding Answers to Frequent Questions(p. 177)
• Rights of the Accused(p. 177)
• Crimes and Criminal Codes(p. 178)
• Criminal Procedure(p. 179)
• Criminal Defenses(p. 180)
• Resources Recap(p. 181)
• Part IV Collection: Building a Basic Collection or Website
• 15 What's Online, What's Not, and When to Use What(p. 185)
• Primary Law(p. 185)
• Secondary Source(p. 186)
• When to Use Print Sources(p. 186)
• When to Choose Free or Pay-for-View Online Databases(p. 187)
• Comparing and Combining Print, Free Online, and Pay-for-View Repositories(p. 188)
• Conclusion(p. 188)
• 16 Evaluating the Trustworthiness of Websites and Self-Help Law Books(p. 191)
• Jurisdiction(p. 192)
• Statutes(p. 192)
• Regulations(p. 192)
• Case Law(p. 192)
• Obsolescence(p. 193)
• Domain(p. 193)
• .gov(p. 194)
• .edu(p. 194)
• .org(p. 194)
• .com(p. 195)
• Scope of Coverage(p. 195)
• Authorship(p. 195)
• Authority(p. 196)
• Self Help Law Books(p. 196)
• Conclusion(p. 197)
• 17 Creating a Library Webpage and Basic Legal Collection(p. 199)
• Deciding What Your Library Needs(p. 199)
• Building a Basic Website of Local Legal Links(p. 200)
• Topical "Clusters" for Your Site(p. 200)
• Shortcuts: Mega portals and Piggybacking(p. 205)
• Linking to (and from) Your OPAC(p. 208)
• Easy Tools for Website Creation(p. 209)
• Building a Basic Print Collection-On a Shoestring, or No String, Budget(p. 210)
• Second hand Book Sources(p. 210)
• Hand-Me-Down Book Sources(p. 211)
• Do-It-Yourself Book Publishers(p. 211)
• Final Words(p. 211)
• Reference(p. 212)
• Resources Recap(p. 212)
• Appendixes
• A Glossary(p. 213)
• B Recommended Legal Sources Online(p. 217)
• Web Go to www.GetLaw.net for Appendix C, State Law Resources.
• About the Authors(p. 223)
• Index(p. 225)

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Booklist Review

*Starred Review* Tucker and Lampson have updated their impressive 2010 guide, which introduced the structure of the legal system in the U.S., provided the basics of legal research, offered specific guidance for commonly asked legal questions (such as landlord-tenant disputes, wills, and employment issues), and concluded with a guide for building a reference collection and producing a website of resources. Federal and state laws change often, so new editions of standard legal reference works appear regularly. While there are some minor updates to the text, the majority of changes in this second edition consist of updated bibliographic citations to recommended sources along with citations to new works published since the first edition. Particular attention has been paid to updating the web addresses of Internet-based tools. While this is already an essential reference work, perhaps future editions will include sections that specifically address the legal needs of the elderly, the LGBTQ community, and immigrants. Highly recommended for public, academic, and law libraries.--McConnell, Christopher Copyright 2018 Booklist