How do I find case law on the internet?

[roky]

How do I find case law regarding a statute or rule on the internet? I am aware that in the law books at the bottom of the page are footnotes which direct you to the applicable case citations which you can then look up in the case law books. It also appears that the cases cited in my previous post are on the internet.

For example: I can find the rules for service of summons for NY,Federal,or Ca. but I cant find the cases to support such rules.
Simply googling it does not seem to be an effective way to find the most relevant cases.

Is there an INDEX to finding the case law?
Do you have to pay for it?

Second question.Why was my previous thread closed when no one had yet cited the relevant case law?
thanks

 

[BOR]

I belive in the other thread you were discussing Federal law, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

Pay a visit to a law library, I use the one of the law school of the College near me.

Find the USCA, the United States Code Annotated, annotation means case law.

In the USCA find the Volumes for the Rules of Civil Procedure, After each rule with be case law annotations. Bear in mind now, each may not be good law, just a decision of past, you have to sort that out if you can.

Oh, are you personally in NY or CA?

 

[tranquility]

The law library and the resources mentioned by BOR are all good. The internet is pretty good in general for most statutes. Free case law is more spotty, but a good place is scholar.google.com .

There is not an "index" really. Searching for case law is a skill and reading cases is a skill as well. You can't just look for snippets and take that as the law.

The thread was closed as you got your answer and the discussion was garnering more heat than light.

Relevant case law was cited. You have to follow FCRP rule 4. One part of that rule allows you to use the service rules of the forum state. Neither rule 4 nor New York's service rules allow for service by publication unless you ask and get permission from the court. YAG gave you the general hurdles. The rules are statutory. They don't need case law as the legislature determined them.

You can't do service by standing outside and jump on one leg while shouting the complaint out loud (Unless you got permission from the court to have that be proper service.) There is no case telling me this, it's just that that is not a permitted service by the rules.

 

[You Are Guilty]

I know my law school's library was closed to the public, and I imagine most others are as well. However, the Supreme Courthouse libraries are not, and tend to have very, very patient librarians. There is one in every county, so I would suggest you start your research there.

 

[BOR]

I know my law school's library was closed to the public, and I imagine most others are as well.

That's odd.

However, the Supreme Courthouse libraries are not, and tend to have very, very patient librarians. There is one in every county, so I would suggest you start your research there.

Are the state level courts in NY in the County Seats?


To the Poster; the other thread was closed because there was a heated debate, I apologize to you.

 

[You Are Guilty]

My law library wouldn't even let the undergrads in. But I don't know of any private law school in NYC that lets people wander in off the streets.

And NYC has boroughs, not county seats (Manhattan/NYC is considered the seat for the entire city). Upstate, a Supreme Court should be in each county seat, but there are something like five dozen counties, so I can not say for certain that they all are.

I also imagine there is a publicly accessible law library in Albany near the Capital. At least, I would hope there would be.

 

[tranquility]

From:
Public Access Law Libraries

State Law provides that each county have a court law library with access to the general public. The majority of these libraries have case law, statutes and secondary source materials with regard to New York State law. Several have additional information. Materials are provided in print as well as online formats. Symphony, the court system's Library and Information Network, contains the online catalogs of the libraries' various collections.

Then, has a listing of them.

 

[BOR]

And NYC has boroughs, not county seats (Manhattan/NYC is considered the seat for the entire city).

So if a person in Richmond County Staten Island wanted to sue for a high $$ amount, they would have to file in Manhattan? It would cost more to take the ferry over on what you'd win?? Haa!!

 

[You Are Guilty]

No, each borough is a county, but not a county seat.

And if you saw any of the Staten Island courts, you'd know why most attorneys prefer to file in Brooklyn or Manhattan instead. Google up the street view of the Homeport courthouse (an abandoned Naval facility) and see for yourself how posh it is out there

 

[BOR]

No, each borough is a county, but not a county seat.

And if you saw any of the Staten Island courts, you'd know why most attorneys prefer to file in Brooklyn or Manhattan instead. Google up the street view of the Homeport courthouse (an abandoned Naval facility) and see for yourself how posh it is out there

Thanks for the info.

Most of my NY experience was the Baseball hall of fame and a tour through FDR's home in Hyde Park and M. Van Buren's home in Kinderhook.

I did drive through upper Manhattan but am not familiar with thier court systems, thanks again.

 

[roky]

The law library and the resources mentioned by BOR are all good. The internet is pretty good in general for most statutes. Free case law is more spotty, but a good place is scholar.google.com .

Thank you for providing that useful information (scholar.google.com ) as opposed to opinions.
I did find a NEW YORK case ,not federal, where service of publication was allowed. This means by motion the federal judge has no reason not to allow it if appropriate attempts have been made to serve the individual.
this lawsuit is filed in federal court in Ca. by my friend.


publication of service of summons new york publication - Google Scholar

 

[appearance]

I have also included some notes that I discovered in various texts that you may find interesting and relevant. If you download the link, I'm sure you will not be disappointed, as the Bibliography gives you some reference texts, that I'm sure you will be able to access, that will give you the relevant cases.

 

[Mass_Shyster]

Is there an INDEX to finding the case law?
Do you have to pay for it?

westlaw.com and lexis.com are both paid services that do a great job at indexing cases. Since they cater to lawyers, they charge very high fees.

I believe the law libraries associated with Massachusetts courts are open to the public, and allow access to westlaw and lexis. The closest one to NYC appears to be in Springfield. It may be worth the trip.

http://www.lawlib.state.ma.us/libraries/locations/hampden.html

 

[You Are Guilty]

Interesting. It appears someone deleted my post on what you need to prove to get publication authorized by the court.

Sometimes, I wonder why I bother.

 

[BOR]

westlaw.com and lexis.com are both paid services that do a great job at indexing cases. Since they cater to lawyers, they charge very high fees.

I believe the law libraries associated with Massachusetts courts are open to the public, and allow access to westlaw and lexis. The closest one to NYC appears to be in Springfield. It may be worth the trip.

Steve, Springfield MA is a LONG way from NYC. I stayed in Chicopee right outside SF on I-91.

Yale is right in the corner of CT up 95, closer to NYC.