Discovery Resources:A short list of web-based productivity applications – Note: This list was authored in ZohoWriter and exported as HTML.Discovery Exercise: Create a free account for yourself in Zoho Writer.
I created an account in Zoho Writer. Explore the site and create a few test documents of two. Try out Zoho Writer’s features and create a blog post about your discoveries. Optional: If you're up for the challenge, try using Zoho’s "publish" options to post to your blog.*
Note: You can also explore Google Docs (formerly known as Writely), Google's online word processer, as an option for this exercise. On Oct 11th, Google relaunched Writely (which it acquired in Spring 2006) as Google Docs.
Google Docs was easy to use, I up-loaded an earlier document from Word, made changes and posted it here.
Legal Resources on the Internet
Pathfinder
Prepared by: June VanWingen, Law Librarian/
U.S. Attorney’s Office & Reference Librarian/
Kent District Library - Plainfield
The following are web sites that provide legal information free of charge.
Thomas - http://thomas.loc.gov/- U.S. Congress on the Internet. Legislative information on Congressional bills under debate, the Congressional Record, committee information, new laws and historical documents are available at this site.
United States Supreme Court – http://www.supremecourtus.gov/ The Supreme Court of the United States provides access to the calendar, docket information, recent decisions, a history of the Court and biographies of the Justices. As the highest court in the land, the U.S. Supreme Court is called the Court of last resort. All appeals from state and federal courts can be appealed up to the Supreme Court, but the Court decides which cases it chooses to hear. The Supreme Court has the final say on all interpretations of Constitutional law.
The Executive Branch of the federal government is vested in the President of the United States. As the home of the President, the White House web site http://www.whitehouse.gov/ provides Presidential Proclamations, Executive Orders, proposed new laws, speeches, Presidential radio addresses, historical information about the house and Presidential signing or veto of laws or legislation from Congress.
The United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan has their site available now at http://www.miwd.uscourts.gov/. General information on the location, judge’s chamber information, employment opportunities, jury information, local rules, maps, a telephone book, public access, rates and fees, attorney information, a list of arbitrators, mediators, a pro bono list, plans and policies, forms, reports, links to other legal sites and civil jury instructions are available at this site. Also at this site is a link to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Michigan, which provides general information, hours of operation, courtroom locations, a court telephone directory, fee schedule, listing of Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 Trustees, job announcements, a FAQ section, links to the online docketing system (Pacer), local rules online, case filing statistics, the 1999 Court Calendar, Motion Day Calendars, an Unclaimed Funds section and downloads of forms. http://www.miw.uscourts.gov/
The Federal Court Locator http://www.law.vill.edu/Fed-Ct/fedcourt.html has a United States map, with all the federal courts divided into their circuits, then the District and Bankruptcy Courts within each circuit. Web Locator provides a United State map, which allows the user to locate an attorney within a state. <http://www.weblocator.com/indexbody.html
State Bar of Michigan - http://www.michbar.org/ The State Bar Association of Michigan provides this site, with links to federal, state and local legal sites. Recent Michigan Supreme Court and Courts of Appeals decisions are also available.
The State Law Library provides excellent guides to finding Michigan law and links to other good legal web sites. Information on locating federal and Michigan statutes, regulations, researching a legal topic or legal periodicals and even a how-to guide on compiling a legislative history is provided. As the Library of Michigan is also a government repository library, many federal and Michigan legal documents are in this collection. The State Law Library, a division of the Library of Michigan, http://www.michigan.gov/hal has a FAQ listing, law related Internet sites, a listing of “Michigan Law Libraries Open to the Public” and the text of the State Constitution of 1963.
The State Bar Association of Michigan provides links to the Michigan Supreme Court and Michigan Court of Appeals decisions, specialized sections of the bar association, a legal gateway, committee information, news, meetings and event schedules, a marketplace, legal resources, a desktop directory of members, publications and links to related legal sites. The State Bar is composed of licensed attorneys in the State of Michigan. http://www.michbar.org/ Information for the public on a Lawyer Referral Program, Legal Aid, legal forms and opinions of Michigan courts, Michigan law schools and the Attorney Grievance procedure are also available.
The Michigan Courts are linked at the One Court of Justice web page. Links to the Michigan Supreme Courts, Michigan Court of Appeals, Trial Courts, the Michigan Legislative site, Court Rules and Administrative Orders, Court Forms and links are provided http://courts.michigan.gov/ The Michigan Court of Appeals site http://courtofappeals.mijud.net/ includes recent decisions, history, judges, rules, pro per (a term derived from the Latin in propria, meaning "for one's self," used in some states to describe a person who handles her own case without a lawyer) manuals, maps and directions, forms and legal links.
The official web site http://www.michigan.gov/ for the state of Michigan includes links to all state agencies, courts and the legislature. Links to city and county governments are available as well. The Governor is the head of the Executive Branch of state government.
The Michigan Legislature site http://www.michiganlegislature.org/ provides a searchable full-text database to Michigan statutes. The search features include a basic, advanced, Constitution, Chapter and Historical Documents search engine. Michigan’s Office of Regulatory Reform http://www.michigan.gov/orr explains the rulemaking process, recent and pending rule changes, the Michigan Register and Administrative Code. Similar to the federal system, state agencies propose rules to interpret state statutes, then final regulations are posted on this site.
The Michigan Attorney General's Office provides information on AG Opinions, consumer and business legal issues, women/children issues, FOIA/Open Meetings laws, senior citizen legal information, press releases, environmental information, healthcare/insurance information, charities, crime and victim information. As with the Department of Justice, the Michigan Attorney General prosecutes violations of state laws. http://www.michigan.gov/ag
The Michigan State Appellate Defender’s Office has increased the information available at their web page.<http://www.sado.org/fcomm.htm Find defense attorneys, criminal justice system basics, addresses and maps, bulletins and recent newsletters, recent criminal decisions, a criminal defense database, the SADO Forum (subscription only) and links to other legal web sites and listservs are available. In the criminal justice system basics, administrative rules in prison visitation are reviewed, the full text of the Michigan Sentencing Guidelines are available, information on pre-sentence reports, a memorandum on attorney visits, attorney guidelines, standards and appointments systems are reviewed. Addresses and maps include information on city, county, state and federal jails and prisons, county prosecutors in Michigan, Michigan State Police posts, Circuit and Appellate Courts. The criminal defense database is restricted with password requirements.
The Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan (PAAM) provides information on all the prosecutors in Michigan, local, state and federal, with a map for each of the counties in Michigan. http://www.ag.state.mi.us/AGWebSite/pacc Another valuable legal site is the Eaton County, Michigan Prosecuting Attorney's Office web site. This site provides information on the "Anatomy of a Prosecution," "Appeals," "Legal Definitions," "Domestic Violence," "Family Support," "Frequently Asked Questions," "Links," an "Office Overview," "Personal Protection Orders," "Press Releases" and "Prosecutor Web Sites." http://www.co.eaton.mi.us/ecpa/
61st District Court lists biographical information on the six judges and two magistrates, names and contact numbers for administrators and department managers, types of cases handled, juror information and legal links. http://www.ci.grand-rapids.mi.us/departments/61stcourt/ Also included is a map to the new Kent County Courthouse in downtown Grand Rapids. AccessKent provides information on the Courts throughout Kent County. The Circuit and District Court links are provided in one location. http://www.accesskent.com/government/courts/
The Grand Rapids Bar Association provides a Lawyer Referral and Information Service for consumers. Consumers can meet with an attorney for 30 minutes for a charge of $25.00 The Association tries to match an individual with an attorney practicing in that area of law. http://www.grbar.org/ The Legal Assistance Center is a public service of the Grand Rapids Bar Association. http://legalassistancecenter.org/ This non-profit organization provides legal counseling and help with locating an attorney or referring an individual to Legal Aid of Western Michigan. The Legal Assistance Center is working on providing self-help forms with instructions on filling out and filing court forms with the local courts. Self-help computer access is available at this Center in Grand Rapids. Michigan Law Help: A Free Civil Legal Aid in Michigan is also at this site and online at this URL. http://www.lawhelp.org/MI/
The Seattle Public Library hosts the Municipal Codes Online. Arranged by state, only Ann Arbor is listed in Michigan at this site. http://www.spl.org/govpubs/municode.html The Municipal Code Corporation provides a listing of municipal codes including Belding, Cedar Springs and Grand Rapids. The codes are listed alphabetically by state. http://www.municode.com/ The State Bar of Michigan provides additional city ordinances. http://www.michbar.org/sections/realprop/mi_city_codes.html The Michigan Townships Association provides model ordinances for townships. http://www.michigantownships.org/sample_ordinances.htm Many cities with web sites now include ordinances on their site. Rockford - http://www.rockford.mi.us/services/Ordinances/OrdinancesIndex.htm Walker - http://www.ci.walker.mi.us/Resources/Ordinances/OrdinanceHome.html Vergennes Township - http://www.vergennestwp.org/vtordinances.html are several examples of local governments with ordinances on their web sites.
Mel, the Michigan eLibrary, provides information and links to comprehensive legal sites, international legal resources, state laws and courts, legal directories, Federal Judicial Branch, Michigan law, legal associations, legal journals and media. http://www.michigan.gov/hal
Martindale-Hubbell is a legal directory of law firms, attorneys, biographical information and a topical review of each state’s legal requirements. Bankruptcy, family law, contracts and business information are included here. Lists of attorneys in each state include where attorneys earned their undergraduate and law school degrees. Law firms with attorney listings and areas of practice are included in another section. http://www.martindale.com/xp/Martindale/home.xml
American Bar Association's site provides information on this national organization of attorneys for its’ members and the public. A Lawyer Referral Service, publications, legal products, services, legal links under "Lawlink," federal and state government information, courts, legal associations on the Internet, legal indexes, International law sites and Internet guides are available. http://www.abanet.org/
FindLaw - http://www.findlaw.com/- FindLaw provides links to cases, statutes, state constitutions, legal news, attorneys, law firms and legal directories. A legal search engine, Law Crawler is provided.
The law schools in Michigan, the University of Michigan http://www.law.umich.edu/ , Detroit College of Law at Michigan State University <http://www.dcl.edu/>, Thomas M. Cooley Law School http://www.cooley.edu/ , Wayne State University http://www.law.wayne.edu/ and the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law http://www.udmercy.edu/ .
The American Law Sources On-Line (ALSO) provides “a comprehensive, uniform, and useful compilation of links to all on-line sources of American law that are available without charge. This site contains additional links to sources of commentary and practice aids that are available without charge (or available at a reasonable charge from governmental and nonprofit providers.) Links “to the legal systems of the United States, Canada, and Mexico, at a site maintained by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (Quebec, Canada).” http://www.lawsource.com/also/
Hieros Gamos http://www.hg.org/hgfr.html continues to add additional legal information to this site. An easier to use directory of resources has been added. In addition, world reports and country guides are available. The European Union Legal Guide, as well as the traditional United States and state guides has been organized more efficiently. Related legal information Internet and commercial search engines and links to online commercial services are available.
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