Using Your Databases

Struggling with navigating the huge amounts of information on your Westlaw, Lexis, or Bloomberg accounts? We just published "Wexisberg: Quick Tips for Westlaw, Lexis, and Bloomberg" - http://libguides.law.loyno.edu/wexisberg! The guide provides a page for each service, then lets you know how to contact the service for help and gives research information for each system.

We hope to highlight things you don't already know about these products. For example, Bloomberg has extensive guidance for navigating court dockets and documents. And did you know that Lexis has a series of YouTube videos on utilizing Shepard's (and everything else)?

Kickstarter Research Guide for Conflict of Laws (a.k.a. choice of law) in Maritime Cases

Here is a small research guide on a narrow point of law. As always, if you have any questions about this or other research that you're conducting, please let us know. 

Choice of law generally means “the question of which jurisdiction’s law should apply in a given case.” (Black's Law Dictionary (10th ed. 2014)). When a court is faced with this issue, it will apply conflict of laws rules – a procedural analysis.

“Specifically, a court seeking to reconcile the varying principles of different legal systems must (1) determine that it has jurisdiction over the matter, (2) apply either its own jurisdiction's rules or those of another legal system involved in the litigation, and (3) decide whether any foreign judgment already issued is to be followed.” (Id.) 

This may include an analysis of foreign law. See the research guides Basics of Foreign and International Law and Where to Find It: Foreign Law. 

The basic resources listed are designed to help you get a handle on the terminology of maritime and conflicts and a general grasp of the issue. The specific secondary sources listed below will guide you through maritime-specific issues. They will have general sections on jurisdiction and chapters covering other areas of maritime law. 

Important: there may be some differences on conflicts of law over criminal and civil matters, plus there may be maritime-specific rules. Because maritime is such a specific field, you may want to consult maritime-specific resources first. 

Specific secondary sources:

• Benedict on Admiralty is a “go-to” maritime treatise. Available in print (KF 1104 .B4) or Lexis Advance. Start typing in “Benedict on admiralty” in the main search box. You can either select the name to search all content from there or select the image next to the name, which will bring you to the table of contents. In addition to the usual treatise materials, it also includes a wealth of historical information and copies of treaties and related materials. The “Desk Reference” provides a guide to legal research and quick summaries of the main ideas.

• Law of Seamen. Available on Westlaw. § 1:29 is on choice of law generally and discusses the leading case Lauritzen v. Larsen, 345 U.S. 571, 1953 A.M.C. 1210 (1953). Other chapters focus on specific substantive areas such as criminal offenses, wages, and piracy.

• International Conflict of Laws: Common, Civil, and Maritime (1994). Available in print (K 7449 .T47). Looks primarily at trade and commerce issues. Focuses on laws from the U.S., U.K., France, Canada, Australia, and the European Union, but does include summaries of conflicts provisions in 41 different countries. 

• William Tetley, The Law of the Flag, “Flag-Shopping,” and Choice of Law, 17 Tul. Mar. L. J. 139 (1993). Available on HeinOnline or in print (K 24 .U416). 

Basic resources:

• For a list of maritime quick references: see Study Aids on the Maritime Law Research Guide written by the Loyola Law Library. Includes: 

• Admiralty in a Nutshell (2010). KF 1105 .M34 2010 (reserve)

• Admiralty and Maritime Law (2012) (hornbook). KF 1104 .S36 2012 (reserve)

• Very basic admiralty information online: Admiralty, Legal Info. Instit., https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/admiralty (last visited Apr. 3, 2016).

• Conflicts in a Nutshell (2005). KF 412 .S5 2005 (reserve)

• Quick practice-oriented introduction to conflicts of laws: International Litigation: Applying Foreign Law in US Litigation. You can find this on Westlaw by searching the title in the main search box. This is a very short guide. A similar resource on Westlaw is Litigation of International Disputes in U.S. Courts. If you type that title into the main bar on Westlaw, I would recommend selecting the Index to search for maritime-specific material.

For further consideration:

• Legal encyclopedias:  

• For criminal matters: 21 Am. Jur. 2d Criminal Law §§ 442-446, Westlaw (database updated Apr. 2016): discuss maritime jurisdiction, offenses on high seas, and offenses on territorial waters. This is available on Westlaw – type in American jurisprudence 2d in the search box. Find criminal on the list (you may also want to browse conflicts of laws). Select Part One General Principles; VII. Personal and Subject matter jurisdiction; B. place offense is committed; 2. Extraterritorial Jurisdiction. 

• For civil matters: Restatement (Second) of Conflicts of Laws § 56, Westlaw (database updated Mar. 2016).

• Maritime Criminal Acts – Draft Guidelines for National Legislation, Int'l Mar. Org. (Aug. 15, 2007), http://comitemaritime.org/Maritime-Criminal-Acts/0,2766,16632,00.html. This publication from the Comite Maritime International (the leading private maritime international organization) proposes draft guidelines for national legislation on maritime criminal acts. 

Electronic Resource of the Month: Immigration Law & Policy in the U.S. on HeinOnline

From January to May, we are focusing this series on some of the collections available via HeinOnline. All HeinOnline resources can be accessed here or through our complete database list. The collections are available to Loyola Law faculty and students, and it can be accessed while connected to the Loyola internet. Check back each month for updates!

The Immigration Law & Policy in the U.S. collection from HeinOnline provides a wealth of information for issues related to immigration. It combines laws, legislative hearings, acts, legislative histories, academic articles, and administrative decisions. From the publisher:

This monumental collection is a compilation of the most important historical documents and legislation related to immigration in the United States as well as current hearings, debates and recent developments in immigration law. This first comprehensive database includes BIA Precedent Decisions, legislative histories, law and policy titles, extradition titles, scholarly articles, an extensive bibliography, and other related works.

Print Resource of the Month: Handbook on Louisiana Evidence Law

From January to May, we are focusing this series on Louisiana-specific materials intended to be helpful for practice (or that are just really interesting). Check back each month for updates!

This month we're utilizing Handbook on Louisiana Evidence Law. Although there is a lot of great guidance for evidence law, even specific to Louisiana, that is available electronically, this is a great resource because it is an all-in-one handbook - so much so that it may be even more convenient than other online sources (gasp!). 

Here are some reasons why you might want to take a look:

• Extensive overview of legislative history from the 1988 passage of the Code and subsequent amendments
• Easy comparison of Louisiana Code and Federal Rules of Evidence
• References to commentary dealing with more specific issues - Daubert decisions, DNA testing in paternity cases, rules of evidence in family law, choice of law, automotive recalls. 
• Important provisions re evidence from the US and Louisiana Constitutions, US Code, Civil Code, Code of Civil Procedure, Code of Criminal Procedure, Children's Code, and Revised Statutes
• Excerpts from the Rules of Professional Conduct and Louisiana Supreme Court Rules

Note that the text of the Code of Evidence is included twice - in the first half of the book with only the language of the Code and in the second half with official comments and extensive authors' notes. (This second part is where the real goodness lies.)

You can find this book in the Reserve Collection on the first floor or in Reference on the second floor of the library at KFL 540 .H36. New editions are typically printed every year with updates reflecting amendments, new cases, and new commentary.