Researching Georgia Law (2015 Edition)

• Publication year: 2015

Researching Georgia Law (2015 Edition)

Austin Martin Williams
Georgia State University College of Law, awill230@nccu.edu

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RESEARCHING GEORGIA LAW (2015 EDITION)

Austin Martin Williams^*

INTRODUCTION

This article serves as a revision of the previous Researching Georgia Law (2006 Edition) article published by Georgia State University Law Review.¹ As with the previous version, this article sets out to describe the process of researching Georgia laws, provide a description of the print and online legal resources available, and offer strategies and techniques researchers can use to locate applicable laws.

Readers of the previous versions of this article will notice a significant increase in the discussion of online sources. There are two reasons that necessitated this change. First, attorneys and legal researchers today overwhelmingly are using online sources to conduct legal research.² Second, there have been significant changes to the online sources available to Georgia researchers. Since the last publication, LexisNexis and Westlaw have rolled out next-generation systems, Bloomberg Law has arrived as an alternative legal research system, and the State Bar of Georgia has switched from Casemaker to Fastcase. For these reasons, significant portions of this article deal with how to use online sources effectively to locate applicable legal materials. Due to the large number of online sources, the discussion in each section will focus on strategies to employ, mention a few

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noteworthy online sources, and then refer readers to tables that follow the section for more information on other online sources.

This article is also organized differently from the previous version. The organizational changes are due to the author's preference to arrange the primary and secondary sources based on when researchers should consult them during the legal research process. Parts I and II establish the foundation for conducting legal research by analyzing legal authority in Georgia and the legal research process. Part III discusses secondary sources that researchers will use as starting points. Parts IV-VIII will introduce and describe the various Georgia primary sources, as well as provide strategies and techniques for locating these materials. Part IX will explore legal ethics research. Part X discusses other sources attorneys will use in practice in conjunction with the legal research process. Part XI provides a bibliography of Georgia secondary and practice materials.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION.................................................................................741

I. LEGAL AUTHORITY......................................................................745

II. PROCESS OF GEORGIA LEGAL RESEARCH...................................748

A. Phase One: Preliminary Considerations...........................749
B. Phase Two: Locating, Reviewing, and Evaluating Legal Sources...............................................................................750

III. SECONDARY SOURCES...............................................................751

A. Words and Phrases............................................................752
B. Legal Encyclopedias..........................................................752
C. Practice Treatises..............................................................753
D. Law Reviews and Bar Journals.........................................755

IV. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW.............................................................756

A. Researching the Constitution of the State of Georgia.......757
B. Proposed Amendments.......................................................758
C. Sources of the Georgia Constitution Online........................759

V. STATUTORY LAW.......................................................................760

A. Statutory Codes..................................................................761

1. Georgia's Print Statutory Codes..................................761
2. Statutory Code Organization and Citation..................762
3. Differences Between O.C.G.A. and Ga. Code. Ann.....763

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4. Locating Code Sections in Print...................................763
5. Researching Statutory Codes Using Online Sources ... 765
6. Sources of Georgia Code Online..................................767

B. Session Laws......................................................................768

1. Georgia Laws...............................................................768
2. Researching Session Laws............................................769
3. Online Sources of Georgia Laws..................................771
4. Sources of Georgia Session Laws Online.....................772

C. Local Laws and Codes of Ordinances...............................774

1. Home Rules...................................................................774
2. Local Laws Passed by the General Assembly..............775
3. Codes of Ordinances....................................................776
4. Sources of Local Laws and Codes Ordinances Online...........................................................................776

VI. BILL TRACKING AND LEGISLATIVE HISTORY............................778

A. Legislative Process............................................................778

1. Georgia General Assembly..........................................779
2. Types of Legislation......................................................780
3. How a Bill Becomes a Law...........................................781

B. Bill Tracking......................................................................782

1. Sources of Georgia Bills and Bill Tracking Online.....784

C. Legislative History.............................................................785

1. Georgia Statutory Interpretation..................................785
2. Sources of Legislative History......................................786

a. Process of Compiling a Legislative History...........788

3. Sources of Legislative History Online..........................789

VII. ADMINISTRATIVE LAW............................................................790

A. Rules and Regulations........................................................791

1. Locating the Official Compilation................................792
2. Updating the Official Compilation...............................793
3. Checking Authority Information...................................794
4. Sources of Rules and Regulations Online....................795

B. Proposed Rules and Regulation Tracking.........................796

1. Sources of Proposed Rules and Regulation Tracking Online...........................................................................797

C. Agency Orders, Decisions, and Opinions..........................798

1. Sources of Agency Decisions and Guidance Online ....800

D. Attorney General Opinions................................................802

1. Sources of Attorney General Opinions Online.............804

E. Executive Orders................................................................805

1. Sources of Executive Orders Online............................806

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VIII. CASE LAW..............................................................................807

A. Georgia Court System........................................................808
B. Reported and Unreported Opinions...................................809
C. Georgia Appellate Court Opinions....................................809

1. Online Case Opinions..................................................811
2. Citing Cases.................................................................812
3. Sources of Georgia Supreme Court and Court of Appeals Cases Online...................................................814

D. Finding Case Law..............................................................815

1. Fellow Attorney............................................................816
2. Form Banks and Pleadings..........................................816
3. Secondary Sources and Annotated Codes....................817
4. West Key Number System.............................................817
5. Topic Systems...............................................................822
6. Full-Text Keyword Searching......................................823
7. Citators.........................................................................826

E. Updating with Citators......................................................826

1. Online Citators.............................................................827
2. Direct History...............................................................828
3. Citing Decisions...........................................................828
4. Table of Authorities......................................................830

F. Georgia Trial Court Opinions, Summaries, Judgments, and Orders..........................................................................831

1. Sources of Georgia Trial Court Opinions, Summaries, Judgments, and Orders Online.................831

G. Eleventh Circuit Opinions.................................................833

IX. LEGAL ETHICS RESEARCH.........................................................833

A. Rules of Conduct................................................................834

1. Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct.......................835
2. Georgia Rules of Judicial Conduct..............................836
3. Sources of GRPC and GCJC Online............................837
4. Statutory Law...............................................................839

B. Advisory Opinions, Disciplinary Proceedings, and Court Opinion.....................................................................839

1. Advisory Opinions........................................................839
2. Judicial Advisory Opinions..........................................842
3. Disciplinary Proceedings and Court Opinions............842

C. Persuasive

...