Where can I read New York laws and cases? What is legal research?
Why do I have to go to the Public Access Law Library? Isn't everything on the Internet? What trustworthy legal materials are on the Internet?
Answer
The purpose of legal research is to help you prepare a written statement that will provide the court with the facts and legal issues necessary to make its decision. The facts are what happened. Legal issues are principles of law as defined in cases and laws that support your request for the judge to rule in your favor. Court rules and laws state the requirements for filing papers and following procedures.
The legal research services, Westlaw, LexisAdvance, and E-books, help you find laws and cases that define legal issues. Since legal research requires coordinating common legal principles and the facts that happened to you, organizing your research is essential.
You must come to the Public Access Law Libraries to use Westlaw, LexisAdvance and E-books. Books that explain the laws and services that update cases are laws are only available in the Public Access Law Libraries.
Access to New York cases and laws are available on trusted websites.
CourtHelp explains court procedures for the issues most often faced by people and provides DIY forms that will help you prepare papers to file in court. CourtHelp and local court websites should always be the starting point for legal research.
AskaLawLibrarian FAQS explain many legal procedures and research topics. Type your question on this page’s query box. For example, type “child custody” in the query box. Eleven FAQS covering Family Law (9), Criminal Law (3), Guardianship (2), and Wills, Trusts and Estates (1) are listed. These FAQS will summarize law and court procedures and refer you to CourtHelp and library resources that you can request through the Law Library Document Delivery Service.
The New York Law Reporting Bureau is an important website for self-represented litigants. The Bureau supports a searchable database of New York cases. The database permits word and phrase searching. For instance, on August 19, 2020, searching the phrase “child custody” found 3,728 cases with that phrase. If we search by that phrase “child custody” and limit to Court of Appeals, the service finds 71 cases. Looking at these cases, you can see that the Law Reporter provides research references to sections of books that you can request through the Law Library Document Delivery Service.
The Guide to New York Evidence explains what you must prove in a case. Cited cases can be found in the New York Law Reporting Bureau service
Court rules must be followed in litigation. Local court rules are under local court web sites.
New York Laws can be found on the New York State Legislature website. From its navigator bar, click on Laws to get the list of New York laws and court acts.