Some have asked me, “Can’t you pull up all this legal stuff on the internet?” So, perhaps I should elaborate a little more than before.
First, we must assume that individuals who need the legal assistance have internet access as well as the skills to do the research without a little guidance from a law librarian. I would say that this is a little bit of a stretch since I have friends who do not have internet access, either because of costs or because of where they a located in rural West Virginia. Of those who could travel to the public libraries to access the internet, and assuming they are permitted enough time on a public access computer to do meaningful legal research, many would just not know where to start.
This is not to say that these individual are in anyway stupid just because they are not versed in the law and legal research. I have friends who are master electricians, emergency room nurses, and even retired teachers, who are simply not familiar with looking up statutes, court rules, and case law. They may be able to figure out the journey for themselves once they are led to the “yellow brick road”, but without a little help, they may very well never find the “yellow brick road”, especially in time for a court deadline.
Even if all the access to research and case law on the internet were free, which it is not, most people need at least some assistance in getting started. Anyone who has ever asked questions at the courthouse has probably been given that same old answer – “We are not allowed to give legal advice.” Court personnel are justifiably reluctant to give any directions or assistance, because of the lines they cannot cross. They simply stay as far away from the lines to be safe and avoid appearing partial. This gives rise to the need for our law librarians.
However, let’s just say that a law librarian was not really necessary because there were advocates you could call. This does not currently exist, except when your case and circumstances and finances might all qualify you for representation from legal aid organizations that normally focus on those with disabilities. Even with telephone support, the only public online access is limited in scope.
West Virginia provides public access to the West Virginia Code and all the Rules of Procedure, however, this isn’t very helpful if you: 1.) don’t know what you are looking for, 2.) don’t understand the ‘legalese’, and 3.) don’t have access to the case law that explains and expounds upon the laws and rules you are looking through.
West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals’ Opinions (case law) from 1991 to the present are posted for you to access, but they are posted by date without any real way of finding topics related to your case or issues, except very recent cases and cases sorted by term. So, if you know when the Opinion was issued, you can then search by topic, providing in the final outcome the topical issue is actually the issue pertinent to you or your search. Sorting through the public access Opinions, which are limited to 20 years of cases out of over 100 years of opinions, is still akin to “finding a needle in a haystack”, perhaps even worse.
There are great software programs (such as Westlaw, CaseFinder, etc.) that access databases with cases (opinions) sorted by subject matter and indexed according to the statute or rules they pertain to, with cross references to other opinions, BUT, these programs are NOT FREE for public access.
So, the bottom line is that West Virginia could provide the public with free access to legal research, case law, and how-to-manuals, and they could provide a hotline for how to get started and answering questions. BUT, at this point, THEY DON’T.
There is, however, something called Fastcase that is provided free to all Members of the West Virginia State Bar…
If you got lost with this post…ask a law librarian… 🙂
savewvlawlibraries 