Business Administration Research Guide: Laws and legal topics

To research legal topics, select the database LexisUni below.

LexisUni will guide you to a central place to find:

1. Laws.

To do research effectively, you must understand the difference between judicial, statutory, and administrative law.

• Judicial -  refers to court cases.
  • Statutory or Legislative - refers to laws passed by legislatures.
  • Administrative. Refers to the rules and regulations developed by government agencies in order to carry out the laws passed by legislatures.

2. Legal news and analysis found in:

• • Legal news publications
  • Law reviews - refers to a special type of journal article published in a law review journal. The article will provide an overview of a specific area of law by reviewing the pertinent court cases, legislation, and regulations that are most significant. Such an article can give you a better understanding of what matters in a particular legal topic than what you might gain by reading piecemeal articles without understanding the context of what has gone on in legal history.

 For legal research, use Lexis Uni!

State and federal codes (organized and classified collections of laws passed by legislatures) are available online on LexisUni. Keep in mind that the layout and organization of the print versions of the codes may make it easier to make sense of the law.

Available in print in the Mundt Library are:

• South Dakota Code.  In print in the Reference Collection of the Mundt Library at shelf location: KFS 3030 2004 .A24. 

The print code is divided into "Titles" (volumes) and chapters that provide a subject or agency arrangement of the laws created by the SD legislatures.

Reading a paragraph in the context of its chapter will often make more sense than the same paragraph retrieved by itself in a search of LexisUni. Also, many people find the print indexes to the Code a better method for finding what is needed than using a LexisUni search.  If you are having difficulty with LexisUni, consider using the print version instead AND ask a librarian for help.

• "General Index" of the United States Code.  In print in the Reference Collection of the Mundt Library at shelf location: KF 62.5 .W45.

This is a print index to the contents of the U.S. Code.  Due to the organization of the index, it can sometimes be easier to use it than searching LexisUni.  The print index can be used to locate the specific title, chapter, and paragraph needed which you can then use in LexisUni for efficient retrieval of what you need. If you are having difficulty with LexisUni, consider using the print index to the U.S. Code AND ask a librarian for help.

Articles on legal aspects of business can be found:

• in the business research databases such as ABI-INFORM and Business Source Premier.
• However, "law reviews" are a special form of legal article. An article in a law review journal will provide an overview of a specific area of law by reviewing the pertinent court cases, legislation, and regulations that are most significant. Such an article can give you a better understanding of what matters in a particular legal topic than reading piecemeal articles without understanding the context of what has gone on in legal history.