LSV Brief Lab

Research Process

Hypo

Primary Law

Secondary Source

LSV Appellate BriefResearch Lab

Validation

Organization & Resource Managment

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Brief Hypo

You are a new lawyer working in the appellate division of a large law firm in the South-Central District of Florida. Congratulations -- you have a new assigned case. You will be representing a new client, Nell Trent. The case concerns Plaintiff Daniel Quilp, who has sued your client over the latter's website accessibility. Ms. Trent owns a toy and curio store called, "The Old Curiosity Shop." The store has a website where it now completes most of its sales. Mr. Quilp, who is vision impaired, wished to purchase a vintage tin toy only sold on the website (not in store). He was unable to complete this sale and instead purchased the wrong item, as there were no alt text descriptions on the website for his screen reader. Mr. Quilp has sued Ms. Trent for violating Title III of the ADA, arguing that Ms. Trent's website is a place of public accommodation. You must develop a legal argument that Ms. Trent's website is not subject to the ADA at all and is not a service nor a place of public accommodation.

A Curious Website?

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Research Process

Primary Law

Secondary Source

• The law itself;
• Cases, Statutes, Regulations
• Use tools to find more relevant law;
• Headnotes, Citing References, Key Numbers, Citators

• Begin your research here;
• Guides you to relevant primary law & research sources
• Any source that describes, analyzes, comments on primary law;
• Treatises, practice manuals, Jurisprudences, etc.

The 3 Step Process

Home

Validate

• Make sure your source is still "good law"
• Use a citator (Shepard's or KeyCite)

Secondary Source

Choosing a Source

• ADA, disability law
• Federal
• Introductory, jurisprudence or treatise

• What is the topic or coverage?
• What jurisdiction should it cover?
• Where are you in your research?
• depth of coverage

Direct Your Research

Keywords to Search

• "public accommodation"
• ADA
• place or service
• disabilit!
• vision
• website
• store

• What terms of art or important words can we pull from the facts?

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Secondary Source

Step 2

Primary Law

Statutes, Cases, Regulations

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Step 3

Validate

Use KeyCite or Shepard's

• Look at signals and review citing cases to determine treatment

Is it good law??

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Organize Your Research

Keep Track of Sources & Notes!

Zotero

Powernotes

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