Presented at GaCOMO15 by Sarah Mauldin and Margaret Butler.

1. Thursday, October 8, 2015
Sarah Mauldin
Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP
Margaret (Meg) Butler
Georgia State University
College of Law Library

2.  Civics Review
 How Courts Work
 How Statutory Law Is Made
 How to Find:
◦ Free General Legal Information Online
◦ Free Federal and Georgia Materials Online
◦ Forms: A Georgia Case Study
◦ Public Records
 Referrals
 Unauthorized Practice of Law

3.  Forms of law
◦ Cases, statutes, regulations, ordinances,
constitutions
 Branches of government
◦ Judicial, legislative, executive
 Federal and State systems
 Value of secondary sources

4.  Court Websites
 Lower Court Dockets
◦ Major differences in coverage
◦ What can you find?
◦ State versus Federal (PACER)
 Appellate Court Dockets
 Opinions
◦ Published versus Unpublished
◦ What is precedential?

6.  US Code
◦ Created by Congress
◦ Available at fdsys.gov
 Official Code of Georgia
◦ Created by the General Assembly
◦ Available at
https://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/gacode/
 Atlanta Municipal Code
◦ Created by the City Council
◦ Available at Municode.com

8.  Code of Federal Regulations
◦ Created by federal agencies
◦ Available at fdsys.gov
 Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia
◦ Created by state agencies
◦ Available at
http://rules.sos.state.ga.us/home.aspx, from the
Secretary of State

9. ◦ Findlaw.com
◦ Nolo.com
◦ Legal Information Institute
(https://www.law.cornell.edu/)
◦ Public Library of Law
(http://www.plol.org/Pages/Search.aspx)
◦ Fastcase – free via app for mobile devices
◦ Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
◦ Interest groups—Legal Aid, LawHelp.org, agencies

18. ◦ FDSys—statutes, regulations, and so much more
◦ Pacer—docket information
◦ Patent and Trademark Office
◦ Social Security Administration
◦ Find My Senator

24. ◦ Statutes
◦ Bills
◦ Cases
◦ Regulations
◦ Ordinances

30.  Court-provided forms
 Statutory forms
 Hospital forms
 Corporation forms
 Pay sources online

36.  Professional Licenses – Secretary of State
 Corporations – Secretary of State
 Property Records – Individual Counties
◦ Who owns a property?
◦ Property values
 Inmate and Offender searches – State and County
 County Legal Organs
◦ Foreclosures
◦ Tax Sales
◦ Name Changes
◦ Other information required to be published

37.  Law libraries—at law schools, courthouses
 Legal Aid
 Problem-based providers
 State Bar Association Lawyer Referral Services
 Law School Clinics

38.  What is it?
 How can you help patrons?
◦ Direct patrons to forms sites/Law Depot
◦ Show patrons how to find legal materials in the catalog
◦ Direct patrons to free online legal resources
◦ Refer patrons to appropriate legal assistance agencies
 What you can’t do to help?
◦ Tell patrons which form is required
◦ Help patrons fill out forms
◦ Explain what a law, ordinance, etc. means
◦ Give opinions about what patrons should do about their
legal problems

39.  Contact us for an electronic version of the
annotated bibliography
◦ Meg Butler
◦ mbutler@gsu.edu
◦ 404-413-9142
◦ Sarah Mauldin
◦ smauldin@sgrlaw.com
◦ 404-815-3538