THERE OUGHTA BE A LAW:

Developing a Consumer Law Collection

Nassau County Library Association, April 23, 2008


What to Remember . . .

Lawyer referral - DON'T PRACTICE LAW!

For Lawyer referrals and patrons with limited income try

  1. lawyer referral - Nassau Bar Association - 516 747-4832
  2. American Bar Association (ABA) - Public Resources
  3. LawHelp.org - free legal help
  4. New York State Bar Association - Lawyer referral
  5. Martindale.com - lawyer directory

Self Help


"THE LAW" - legislation and regulations

  • Federal
    1. U.S. Constitution - established structure of federal government
      A great source for federal constitutional law (e.g. 1st Amendment (freedom of speech/press, 4th Amendment (search and seizure) is
      Constitution of the United States: Analysis and Interpretation (from GPO Access)

    2. Finding Federal Legislation (Statutes)
      • a. Current laws are in the subject arranged United States Code (U.S.C.). (The U.S.C. is also available at the House of Representative web site.) The subjects of the U.S.C. (called Titles) are given numbers. You cite to the U.S.C. using the title number and section within that title - for example, 15 U.S.C. 1692 .

      • b. If you can avoid it, do not use the U.S.C. Instead, use an annotated code - either the United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A., published by West) or United States Code Service (U.S.C.S., published by Lexis). These publications contain the same statutory text, but are much more up-to-date and provide other EXTREMELY USEFUL research features:
        • -cross references, library references, Notes of Decisions
        - pocket part.

      • c. Popular Names Table - if you have the name of a statute (e.g. "Fair Debt Collection Practices Act"), this will tell you where to find it in the U.S.C.A. or U.S.C.S.

      • d. Original act as passed by Congress (known as "Public Law") is in United States Code Congressional and Administrative News (USCCAN). These are published in chronological order. The original act is then divided into subjects (Titles) and any later amendments are best found in U.S.C.A. or U.S.C.S.

      • e. Subject Index - republished every year


    3. Regulations are promulgated by agencies, which are part of the Executive branch - the alphabet soup of agencies - OSHA, EPA, etc...
        See list of Executive Branch agencies
      • a. Regulations - authorized by legislature asking agencies to enforce legislation by creating rules - for example, how many parts per billion of arsenic in water is permissible or which employees are eligible for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act.

      • b. Regulations first appear in Federal Register - published daily.

      • c. Regulations are in subject arrangement (subjects again called titles and numbered - but not always the same numbers at Titles in the USC) - in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)

      • d. The CFR is updated annually, 1/4 in January, 1/4 in April,1/4 in July and 1/4 in October. Each year has a different color.

      • e. There is a 1 volume index

  • New York
    1. N.Y. Constitution; N.Y. Constitution as pdf - also in McKinney's and CLS

    2. Finding N.Y. Statutes
      • a. Current laws arranged by subject are found in McKinney's Consolidated Laws ("McKinney's", published by West), which is the "official code" and Consoliated Laws Service ("CLS", published by Lexis ). Both of these are annotated codes and have the same features as the federal annotated codes. N.Y. statutes are also, available on the Web at:
        • FindLaw
        N.Y. Assembly

      • b. The subjects are given names rather than numbers (as in USC)

      • c. Use the Popular Name Table - in last index volume (S-Z), to find a law by name, for example "Lemon Law"

      • d. A bill signed into law is referred to as "chapter" - assigned number 1 in beginning of year and found in McKinney's Session Laws

      • e. subject index - republished every year

    3. NY agencies are authorized by the NY legislature to promulgate regulations to enforce NY law

  • Municipal or Local Law
    1. The State is not only legislating body - also have cities, counties, towns, villages with legislatures which create local laws (also called ordinances) - this is where you might find "dog law"

    2. Local Government
      • The Charter typically established the structure of the municipal government (equivalent to the state or federal constitution).
      • The Administrative Code is typically the equivalent of legislation.
      • The Rules and Regulations, if any, are typically the regulations of the municipal agencies.

    3. New York Local Law online
    4. Other States' Municipal Codes

a little humor

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