Internet research is useful for retrieving primary source materials, such as recent court decisions and current legislation. However, secondary resources, such as treatises or practice aids, are not readily available on the Internet.
Important items to keep in mind when performing legal research on the Internet:
Internet sources, e.g. decisions, generally are not retrospective. Most jurisdictions have been putting decisions online since 1996. The date range of available materials varies from court to court.
Internet research does not provide the validating and updating benefits of fee based services, such as Keycite online, or Shepards, to track subsequent history or treatment of cases in the courts.
The Internet is an uncontrolled environment for research purposes, such as many providers and different search engines. Web sites vary in quality, accuracy and currentness.
Principles to follow while performing legal research on the Internet:
Analyze your research issue as if you were doing book research.
Clearly define what the issue is and what type of information you are seeking.
Build a list of favorite sites with which you have become familiar. A good place start is a comprehensive site such as Findlaw(http://www.findlaw.com), which provides links to state and federal resources. University law schools, such as Cornell (http://www.law.cornell.edu), also maintain comprehensive sites, which pull together a broad range of legal resources.
Be aware that sites change their look frequently. Look for a site map -- sometimes it is easier to locate the area of the site you are interested in by looking at an index, rather than at the home page graphics.
Learn how the site works. Does it have search templates that permit keyword searching? What is the date range of the material? How often is it updated? Who maintains the site?
