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LEGALRESEARCHTHOMSONREUTERSLEGALWESTWANGCHANG,ESQ.OCTOBER23,20082Agenda•ThomsonReuters-Legal•AmericanCourts•Whatislegalresearch?•Formsoflegalinformation•West’sNationalReporterSystem•West’sKeyNumberSystem•AmericanDigestSystem•ALRandannotations3ThomsonReutersLegal汤姆森路透法律信息集团TheNorthAmericanLegalmarketistheworld'slargestandcomprisesprimarilyprofessionallawfirms,corporations,governmentandjudicialagencies,andacademicinstitutions.Thismarketreliesheavilyononlinetechnologyforinformationsourcing.汤姆森路透法律信息集团-世界上最大的法律市场和法律信息服务市场,包括专业律师事务所,公司法务,政府部门,司法部门,以及学术机构。法律及法律信息市场在很大程度上依赖高科技的在线信息资源和产品。4ThomsonReutersLegal-NorthAmerican汤姆森路透法律信息集团北美总部•CurrentEagancampussizeisapproximately271acres北美集团伊根总部占地271英母•Datacenterscomprise75,000squarefeet全球领先的数据中心，7万5千平方英尺–Holdsmorethanthreepetabyteofinstalleddiskspaceandover3.5petabytesofdatabackedupontape.三万多兆字节数据存储在硬盘空间上；三万五千余兆数据备份在磁带上–OnepetabyteofdatawouldfillastackofCDs1.75mileshigh.一万兆字节的数据装满的CD盘，叠起来将长达1。74英里•7000employees(Morethan1000attorneys).共有7000名员工(其中1000多位律师)5InsideWest6ThomsonReutersLegal汤姆森路透的主要法律业务部门•West集团：法律图书，软件，多媒体产品，法律培训•Westlaw:世界最大最权威的在线法律法规数据库集成•FoundationPress:法律研究和高校法律教材专业出版社•Findlaw:专业法律人士门户网站•Bar/Bri:律师资格考试服务集团•Sweet&Maxwell:历史悠久、倍受尊敬的英国法律出版集团•WestlawChina（万律）：中国法律数据库和咨讯平台7Agenda•ThomsonReuters-Legal•AmericanCourts•Whatislegalresearch?•Formsoflegalinformation•West’sNationalReporterSystem•West’sKeyNumberSystem•AmericanDigestSystem•ALRandannotations8SeparationofPowers9ComparativePerspective•StareDecisis/Precedent:StareDecisis/Precedent:fairnessandstability.thebasicassumptionisthatifthereisacasefromthepasthavingfactsandlegalissuessimilartothoseinthecasecurrentlybeforethecourt,theoutcomeofthepastcaseshouldcontroltheoutcomeofthepresentcase.Thisconceptisoftenreferredtoasprecedent.(Commonlaw)•SeparationofPowers:Checkongovernmentpowers:“unconstitutional”•DueProcess-Juries-Adversarysystem:twopartiespresenttotheCourtalltheevidenceandtestimonytheycanfind,inthemostpersuasivemannerallowable,inordertoachieveadecisionfavorabletotheirinterests.-Proceduralrulesaremadebythecourts:FederalRulesofCivilProcedure;FederalRulesofCriminalProcedure;FederalRulesofEvidence;CourtRules10ComparativePerspective-Continued•Lawyer,anofficerofthecourt.-Toourclients,weareadvocatesandadvisors.-Tothecourts,weareofficerswhosedutyitistospeakforthejusticesystem.-Tothepublic,werepresenttheruleoflaw,andwehaveanobligationtorepresentithonorably.•Standardofreview:istheamountofdeferencegivenbyonecourt(orsomeotherappellatetribunal)inreviewingadecisionofalowercourtortribunal.-Wherealowercourthasmadeadiscretionaryruling(suchaswhethertoallowapartyclaimingahardshiptofileabriefafterthedeadline),thatdecisionwillbereviewedforabuseofdiscretion.-Wherealowercourtmakesafindingoffact,itwillbereviewedforclearerror.-Afindingoflawisrevieweddenovo-asifthereviewingcourtwereconsideringthequestionforthefirsttime.11Judge:FederalandState•TheUSSupremeCourtjustices,courtofappealsjudges,anddistrictcourtjudgesarenominatedbythePresidentandconfirmedbytheUnitedStatesSenate,asstatedintheConstitution.FederaljudgesintheUnitedStates(exceptthosewhohaverecessappointments)servelifetermsfortheirperiodofgoodbehavior.•Onceappointed,statejudgesintheUnitedStatesusuallyservetermsforafixedperiodofyears,althoughinsomestates(e.g.,Massachusetts)theappointmentisforlife,oftensubjecttomandatoryretirementatsomefixedage.Inthosestateswheretheappointmentisnotforlife,judgesmust,aftertheirinitialterm,bere-elected,facearetentionelection,orfacereappointmentbyanappropriateauthority.ThelawgoverningjudicialelectionsintheUnitedStatesisinfluxwiththegeneraltendencybeingtodiscardhistoricallimitationsontheabilityofajudgetocampaignbaseduponjudicialphilosophy.12DualSystemFederal1.CasesinwhichtheUnitedStatesisaparty2.Casesinvolvingforeignofficials3.Casesinvolvingpartiesfromdifferentstates4.CasesinvolvingtheUnitedStatesConstitution5.Casesinvolvingpatents,copyrightsandbankruptciesStateAllexceptFederal1,2,and513DualSystem–Continued•TheUnitedStatesSupremeCourt•13judicialcircuits,eachwithacourtofappeals(6-28judgeseachcircuit)•89districtsinthe50states.+PuertoRico,theVirginIslands,theDistrictofColumbia,Guam,andtheNorthernMarianaIslands.Intotalthereare94U.S.districtcourts.•MinnesotaSupremeCourt–MinnesotaCourtofAppeals•MinnesotaDistrictCourts–MinnesotaTaxCourt–MinnesotaWorkers'CompensationCourtofAppeals14AmericanCourts–TrialCourts-bygeographyorbysubject-Issuesoffactandlaw-Factfinder:judgeorjury-Factfindingsarebindingonthepartiesandcannotbeappealed-Issuesoflawaredecidedbythejudgeandcanbeappealed15AmericanCourts–AppellateCourts•Panelofjudges•Onlyquestionsoflaw•Musthaveraisedobjectionincourt•Precedentforlowercourtsinsamejurisdiction•Onlyhearsmallpercentageofcasesfromtrialcourts16USFederalCircuits17TheCourtsofLastResort•Sitenbanc(oddnumber)usuallyhowmanyforstatecourt?(5–9)HowmanyintheUSSupremeCourt?(9)•Decidewhatcasestohear•Extremelysmallpercentageoflowercourtcasesheard•Precedentforalllowercourts18SupremeCourtofTheUnitedStates•Thehighestcourtintheland•Hasthefinalwordonfederalissuesraise