Business Law 101 / Legal Research-Online

By Albert L Kelley, Esq.

For the last few weeks we’ve been discussing legal research tools, focusing primarily on the various books historically relied on by lawyers. In today’s world rarely do we research books; research today is almost entirely online.

All the books that we have discussed over the last few weeks are available online, however, you have to order them or subscribe to them through Westlaw or Lexis.

The Florida statutes are available online through the Florida legislature at no cost. The web address ishttp://www.leg.state.fl.us/STATUTES/

Similarly, a searchable version of the Florida administrative code is available at https://www.flrules.org/default.asp however, it is not an easy system to navigate.

Caselaw is a little more difficult to find. For lawyers who do not wish to subscribe to Westlaw or Lexis, the Florida Bar provides free access to Fastcase, a searchable database of all cases, statutes, rules and regulations. There are other websites that provide access to caselaw, such as Findlaw.com, and Justia.com, however their search capability cannot compare to Westlaw or Lexis or Fastcase. Also, the Supreme Court’s website (http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/index.html) provides access to all cases decided by the appellate courts in Florida in chronological order (Unfortunately, the cases are not searchable, so you need to either know the case name, case number or when it was decided). Many law firms will also post selected cases on their firm’s website or provide an analysis of the law. Often times a simple search on Google or Bing will provide a starting point. After typing in your search terms (always include “Florida” so you don’t get too many results from other states), review the various website to uncover cases that may be beneficial. For example, on Google, I searched “Florida foreclosure statute of limitation”. The first two results were law firm websites analyzing a major Supreme Court decision that just came out on November 3, 2016. The cases provided the name of the case (Bartram v US Bank National Assn.) and case number (SC14-1265). With this information I was able to go back to the Florida Supreme Court website and locate the actual opinion issued by the court.

While this type of research does not guarantee the cases you research have not been overturned, it at least provides an initial foundation. Again by way of example, a Google search for “Bartram v US Bank National” not only provided links to the Supreme Court decision, but also provided links to the initial opinion issued by the Fifth District Court of Appeals. It is important that the proper opinion be cited.

The true difficulty in doing legal research online is exactness. While the historical book system allowed concepts and theories to be researched, the Internet requires exact words. Concepts that can be expressed in more than one way provide difficulties in locating cases that may be beneficial. If you use the wrong term, you may never find the case that you need. While online resources provide greater access, it can also increase research time, and require a review of countless cases and articles that have nothing to do with the topic you’re researching.

Al Kelley is a Florida business law attorney located in Key West and previously taught business law, personnel law and labor law at St. Leo University. He is also the author of “Basics of Business Law” “Basics of Florida’s Small Claims Court” and “Basics of Florida’s Landlord-Tenant Law” (Absolutely Amazing e-Books). This article is being offered as a public service and is not intended to provide specific legal advice. If you have any questions about legal issues, you should confer with a licensed Florida attorney.

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