Shepardizing is an essential part of legal research. It is a process of verifying the accuracy of legal citations and ensuring the currency of legal authorities. It ensures that the authorities cited in the research are valid and up-to-date.
Shepardizing helps the researcher determine whether or not their legal citations are still good law.
It is important to Shepardize because citing outdated authority can discredit the researcher and invalidate the legal research. By Shepardizing, the researcher ensures that their legal citation is legally valid, as well as ensuring that the authority cited is current and accurate.
In addition, Shepardizing helps the researcher determine whether or not there has been any change in the law, allowing them to properly update legal citations if needed.
Ultimately, Shepardizing is an invaluable tool for legal research and an essential part of the legal research process. It allows the researcher to ensure that their legal citations are valid, current and accurate, and helps ensure that the legal research is reliable and trustworthy.
Why is it important to shepardize legal research what are the different types of authorities that can be shepardized?
Shepardizing legal research is an important part of the legal research process, as it helps practitioners identify the most relevant and up-to-date authority for the research topic. Shepardizing is the process of checking a legal authority for later decisions, statutes, and other secondary sources that may impact the original legal authority.
After locating a case or other legal authority relevant to the research, practitioners can identify subsequent decisions, legislation, or other sources that might affect its authority.
The main types of authorities that can be shepardized are cases, statutes, regulations, and other secondary authorities such as law reviews and treatises. Further, it is important to shepardize cases, as there may be later cases which overrule or modify the original case, or even distinguish it on a given point.
The later case may be cited specifically in other court opinions, legal commentaries, or treatises and can affect the original case’s authority. Additionally, statutes or regulation can have later versions that supersede the original.
Shepardizing helps practitioners find these later versions and be confident that the original authority is still valid and relevant to the issue at hand.
What is the purpose of Shepard’s citations?
The purpose of Shepard’s Citations is to provide legal research support by allowing a user to quickly trace the complete history of a legal document (such as a case or statute). Shepard’s Citations are used by legal professionals to properly cite legal documents, track the current status of a legal authority, and to determine if any subsequent court decisions have impacted an original legal document.
With Shepard’s Citations, a user can trace the origin of authority for a particular legal document and perform research efficiently by limiting the amount of time needed to research a particular legal issue.
The citations provide a snapshot of the history of any given legal document and are user-friendly, making them a valuable tool for lawyers and other legal professionals who must quickly and accurately check the validity of legal authority.
What does the word Shepardize mean?
The term “Shepardize” is a verb referring to the process of researching legal materials. This process is most often done by legal professionals, and it usually involved referencing Shepard’s Citations, a legal citation system outlined by Lawyers Cooperative Publishing.
When someone Shepardizes a case, they are looking at the history of that particular case, including any previous rulings and decisions that may have been made. This research helps lawyers and legal professionals develop more comprehensive cases.
The process of Shepardizing involves studying the records of each case, searching for relevant citations and analyzing the importance of certain decisions in relation to the current case. This research helps legal professionals understand the precedent set by previous cases and what that means for their own case.
Additionally, it can help determine whether or not a motion or action made in another case will stand up in court if called into question.
The Shepardizing process can be done both manually, by poring over relevant material, or online, by typing in relevant details into a Shepard’s Citations database.
How do you Shepardize something?
Shepardizing something is a process of researching a legal authority (case, law, or regulation) to determine if it has been cited, criticized, or overruled by other precedent since its initial publication.
This process is generally used to determine the viability of a legal argument.
This process begins by accessing Shepard’s Citation Service on Lexis Advance. The Shepard’s Citation Service enables legal researchers to search both forward and backward in time to discover whether a case, statute, or other legal authority has been cited, criticized, or overruled in subsequent publications.
The search results will produce a listing of relevant citations, as well as a brief synopsis for each, including which publication it was located in and whether it cited, criticized, overruled, explained, or distinguished the legal authority.
To Shepardize an item, one first needs to enter the name of the specific legal authority, along with any identifying information, such as the court name, the year of publication, or the volume/page number.
The search engine then searches through published materials from relevant sources and yields a list of citations and relevant information that comes from other legal sources, such as law reviews, reported opinions, statutory compilations, and commentary by legal scholars.
No legal opinion or statement should be relied upon without first Shepardizing it. A proper Shepardization process abides by the precautionary principle that a legal opinion is not absolute and can be affected by different interpretations of the law or later opinions.
Shepardizing is not a foolproof tool however, as a complete understanding of the law and its changes over time can only be obtained through a thorough understanding of developments in case law, regulation and other legal sources.
What does a yellow triangle mean when you are Shepardizing a case?
When you are Shepardizing a case, a yellow triangle indicates an internal negative treatment. This means that a prior court has held the point in your case to be the opposite of what you are attempting to prove.
This is an important symbol to be aware of during your legal research, as it shows that the issue in question has been held in a different way in a prior court and should alert you to pay special attention as you continue to research and review your case.
What are the different types of legitimizing authority in organization?
There are four different types of legitimizing authority in organizations: traditional authority, legal-rational authority, charismatic authority, and bureaucratic authority.
Traditional authority is the most traditional form of authority. It is based on values, customs, and beliefs that have their own history, structure, and stability. This form of authority divides roles within the organization and assigns each individual specific responsibilities.
It also largely depends on unquestioned loyalty and conformity with the accepted values and norms of the organization.
Legal-rational authority is based on the rules, regulations, and hierarchical structure of the organization’s management system. It focuses on the responsibilities given to each individual role and defines the personnel decisions made in the organization.
This authority is very impartial and the decisions must be legitimate and based on the laws and organizational agreement and regulations.
Charismatic authority is based on charisma, leadership, and trust. It involves the ability of a leader or manager to inspire and lead people to a common goal and create an atmosphere of enthusiasm among them.
This type of authority depends on an individual’s personality and the trust that the followers place in them.
Bureaucratic authority is the institutional authority which is based on the rationality and efficiency of the organization. This type of authority is based on the efficient use of resources and the purpose of organizational goal accomplishment.
It is best embodied in bureaucracies with hierarchical structures, rules and regulations, clear job descriptions, and specialized technical knowledge.
Why is it important to identify the type of authority an agent has?
It is important to identify the type of authority an agent has because it determines the amount of power, responsibility and legal obligation the agent has when acting on behalf of another party. Knowing the type of authority an agent has allows you to understand the limits of their power, as well as when the agent is legally liable for their actions.
Understanding the rights and responsibilities of the agent is key to developing a successful relationship between you and the agent.
The type of authority an agent holds can be either express or implied. Express authority is authority explicitly given to the agent by an agreement or contract, while implied authority is authority that is given to the agent by the nature of their responsibilities.
Identifying what authority an agent holds is important when dealing with financial transactions, signing contracts, and dealing with other obligations.
Furthermore, if an agent exceeds the authority given to them, this can be detrimental to both the agent and the principal. It is important to identify and understand the type of authority an agent has in order to avoid any miscommunications or legal issues down the line.
Knowing the type of authority an agent has can make the difference between a successful relationship and a disastrous one.
What are the major differences between Shepard’s and KeyCite?
Shepard’s and KeyCite are both legal research tools used to help lawyers and legal research professionals find and analyze legal citation information. However, there are some major differences between the two.
Shepard’s Strictly Citations is the oldest legal research tool of its type and is the industry leader for the production of accurate, comprehensive and up-to-date legal citation information. Shepard’s enables legal professionals to quickly and accurately analyze claims of legal authority and determine the status of specific legal citations.
It also tracks, reports and flags citator information to verify the currentness of case law.
KeyCite, on the other hand, was built to provide legal professionals with an easy-to-use, cost-efficient and comprehensive alternative to Shepard’s. KeyCite is designed to quickly help users answer questions of legal authority by providing a thorough view of the legal landscape by delivering timely, reliable and powerful citation results.
KeyCite also utilizes a powerful search engine to identify and confirm potential legal citations.
The major differences between Shepard’s and KeyCite are their timelines and their modes of operation. While Shepard’s is widely recognized and widely used in the legal industry, its long-standing operation has produced a large but slow-moving citator that may not as quickly update new cases.
KeyCite, on the other hand, has been built to quickly and efficiently update legal citations, allowing for a more thorough, recent view of the legal landscape. Additionally, KeyCite offers legal professionals an intuitive user interface and powerful search capabilities.
What is the purpose in citing an authority in a legal brief?
The purpose of citing authority in a legal brief is to provide legal support for the arguments and content being presented. Citing authority is a powerful tool as it helps establish credibility and encourages the court to understand the legal arguments being made.
A brief without any legal authorities would be much less persuasive. Authorities can include legal cases (common law), legislation, regulations and other legal documents.
These cases, regulations, and other legal documents can provide objective and authoritative legal opinions on the arguments and content being presented. Furthermore, they provide relevant precedent for the court to consider.
By citing these authorities, the law firm or legal representative is demonstrating that their arguments are well-researched and supported by the applicable laws. This can help bolster the credibility of their arguments and strengthens their legal brief.
Where can I Shepardize a case?
Shepardizing a case is a process used for finding relevant legal authority when conducting legal research. It involves searching for later cases that have cited an original case, allowing a researcher to trace the development of an idea over time.
The best place to Shepardize a case is to use one of the legal research tools available online. If you have access to a legal research database, such as Westlaw, LexisNexis, or Bloomberg Law, you can use their built-in shepardizing tools.
These tools will provide a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of a case, as well as all relevant secondary sources.
In addition, many legal research databases now provide citator services, which enable you to search for more recent cases that cite the case you are researching. This will enable you to identify where the case has been cited and what subsequent history the case has generated.
If you do not have access to a legal research database, you can use Google Scholar’s cite feature to Shepardize a case. It is a good way to quickly search for cases that have discussed the case you are researching.
Finally, you can also use secondary legal texts to Shepardize a case. By reading through casebooks and treatises, you can identify other cases that have discussed the topic of interest. This is a good way to gain a more in-depth understanding of a case and its implications.
What types of authorities can be Shepardize?
Shepardizing involves researching in secondary legal sources, such as law reviews, restatements, legal reference books, and other legal material, to ensure the accuracy of primary sources, like cases and statutes.
Generally, the types of authorities that can be Sheperdized include courts and statutes, scholars, legislative committees and sources, treatises, periodicals, and other legal authorities. When Sheperdizing a primary source, research would typically involve looking for further developments of the primary source, such as new cases that build on or contradict it; or later statutes or regulations that alter its application.
For example, if a case involves a certain legal doctrine, one would want to Shepardize it by looking for cases that either support or reject the application of the doctrine, as well as later statutes or regulations that may have modified or abolished the doctrine altogether.
Additionally, an authority can also be Sheperdized for formulating points of law and for noting exceptions, qualifications, and alternatives to the primary source being researched.
Is it possible to Shepardize online?
Yes, it is possible to Shepardize online. Shepardizing is the process of researching the history of a case to determine if it is still valid for legal purposes. This process typically involves locating the original case, and researching any subsequent cases that have been passed down related to the original case.
Thanks to a variety of online resources such as legal research databases, this process can be done in a much more streamlined and efficient fashion. In addition to Shepardizing cases, these databases often provide access to relevant articles and other materials to help in the research process.
By using an online database, legal professionals can quickly access the most up-to-date information and cite cases that are still valid in the eyes of the court.
What is KeyCite?
KeyCite is an online tool offered by LexisNexis that enables users to quickly determine the status of a cited authority in their legal research. It provides users with a detailed analysis of the history and treatment of a cited source, including citations to later treatments, citing references, and Shepard’s signals – which indicate a cited source’s history and treatment in other legal materials.
KeyCite also includes features such as Related Resources, which contains a list of other materials related to the provided citation; Negative Treatment Alerts, which notifies users when a cited source has been negatively treated in later authority; and Related Legal Citator, which links to similar references when a cited source has been cited in a similar manner in other materials.
KeyCite thus provides an invaluable means for lawyers to quickly and accurately determine the status of their cited authority to ensure the validity of their legal research.
What is the Shepard’s signal for a case?
The Shepard’s signal is a legal term that typically refers to a court case that was particularly influential in shaping other legal decisions. Named after the English scholar, Edward Shepard, it is recognized as a significant opinion that other courts must consider when making their own rulings on similar legal issues.
This signal is typically used to illustrate how the judge or court reached their conclusion and how it could be used in similar future cases. Additionally, this signal is also used to help provide clarity and certainty to legal rulings, highlighting the importance of a prior court opinion in the same or similar legal question.
The Shepard’s signal is used to identify legal opinions that have been cited by other courts and are more likely to be “on point” when making a decision.