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October 16, 2005 Update Cite: David L. Masters, Lawyer's Guide to Adobe Acrobat (2005) (ABA). Searching and Legal Research By Eric Schnaufer I. Introduction This workshop is published with hyperlinks at http://www.schnaufer.com/Dickinson2005CLE.htm. It discusses researching medical issues related to disability; suggests methods for locating on your hard drive your prior work product; identifies the primary sources of commercial and free legal authority for the Social Security practitioner; and reviews Social Security disability blogs, boards, and wikis. II. Medical Issues: Can I Cite a Web Site? A. There Are Medical Issues in Every Case The legal definition of "disability" is in part medical. See 42 U.S.C. §§ 423(d), 1382c(a)(3). Therefore, a claimant's representative must have some understanding of each claimant's medical condition. How much a representative must know in a particular case depends on many factors, including the extent of the medical records, the clarity of any explanation or description of the claimant's medical condition, and the complexity of the medical condition. Even in the simplest case, a representative may need to explain medical evidence to the adjudicator or tribunal. And a representative may need to understand a specific medical condition to obtain from a physician or a psychologist an opinion demonstrating that the claimant is disabled. B. Educating Yourself is Different Than Educating an ALJ Educating yourself about a medical issue is different than educating someone else, e.g., an ALJ or district court judge. When you educate someone else, the medical reference source upon which you rely should be unquestionably authoritative. For example, for any definition of a medical term you should cite the most recent edition of Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary (Dorland's), not Dr. Bob's Medical Definitions Web Page even if Dr. Bob simply copied Dorland's. You don't want the ALJ or district judge to doubt for a moment your definition of a medical term. But simply to educate yourself, Dr. Bob's web site may suffice. C. Citing a Web Page Correctly is Difficult The Internet has millions of web pages about medical matters. Even if an authoritative web page is found, citing that web page correctly is difficult. In written advocacy to the Social Security Administration (Agency) or federal court, an attorney should follow when possible The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (Columbia Law Review Ass'n et al. eds. 18th ed. 2005) (The Bluebook) (order information at http://www.legalbluebook.com/) or deviate intentionally from The Bluebook. Rule 18 of The Bluebook governs Internet citations. Under Rule 18 of The Bluebook, an attorney should cite any printed reference source instead of any Internet version of that same source. This makes sense. All printed sources are paginated when many Internet sources are not. Also, the Internet is a moving target while printed sources are not. D. For Definitions, Cite a Print Dictionary Consider the definition of "lupus" in Dorland's. It is easy to provide a pinpoint citation to the definition on page 1072 of the print Dorland's: Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary 1072 (30th ed. 2003). Citations to the free Internet versions of Dorland's have no practical utility. This is an attempt to cite the official web site following The Bluebook: Dorland's, http://www.dorlands.com/wsearch.jsp (search Online Dictionary for "lupus") (last visited Oct. 15, 2005). This is an attempt to cite another free site: Merck Source Home Page, http://www.mercksource.com/pp/us/cns/cns_home.jsp (follow "Resource Library" to "Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary"; follow the dictionary to "lupus"). Do not spend a second considering using an Internet citation for basic medical information such as the definition of "lupus." You may, however, use an Internet source to copy and paste into a document and then provide a citation to the printed text. Further, at your option, you may provide a parallel citation to the Internet version. E.g., Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary 1072 (30th ed. 2003), available at www.dorlands.com. E. For Drugs, Cite the Print PDR For most information about medications, the authoritative source is the most recent annual print edition of Physicians' Desk Reference (PDR), e.g., PDR (59th ed. 2005). Unlike Internet sources for the PDR, the print PDR is paginated. You may educate yourself using Internet sources for the PDR when pagination is unnecessary. Simplified drug data from the PDR for consumers is found at PDR health, http://www.pdrhealth.com/drug_info/index.html. The actual PDR data for physicians is found for free at Drugs.com, www.drugs.com. Alternative sources of drug information include Medline Plus: Drug Information, http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginformation.html. F. For Medical Conditions, Cite the Print Harrison's An authoritative source for information about most medical conditions is Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine (16th ed. 2004). Because your time is valuable, as an initial matter consult Harrison's. If Harrison's answers your question, you can cite the print Harrison's as an authoritative source. Consider also subscribing to the Internet version of Harrison's, http://www.accessmedicine.com/. There is a free trial for the Internet version. Moreover, you can purchase as a package the printed Sixteenth Edition and access to the online version of that edition. As an ancillary source, you may cite The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy (17th ed. 1999), http://www.merck.com/mrkshared/mmanual/home.jsp. G. Mine the Main Internet Repositories National Library of Medicine Gateway, http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/gw/Cmd PubMed, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?DB=pubmed MedlinePlus, http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus PubMed Central, http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov Medscape, http://www.medscape.com H. Search a Meta Directory Emory University Med Web, http://www.medweb.emory.edu/MedWeb Yahoo Medicine, http://dir.yahoo.com/Health/Medicine I. Investigate Medical Sources State Boards, http://www.mhsource.com/resource/board.html Pennsylvania license verification, http://www.licensepa.state.pa.us I. llrx.com Guide Gloria Miccioli, Researching Medical Literature on the Internet - 2005 Update (May 15, 2005) http://www.llrx.com/features/medical2005.htm
III. Your Hard Drive: Finding What You've Already Found You have already briefed in district court the meaning of the Acquiescence Ruling for Sykes v. Apfel, 228 F.3d 259 (3d Cir. 2000). But you don't remember in which case. You remember that you mentioned Sykes in an e-mail message to a colleague. But you don't remember which colleague. You remember that you recently won a court case involving fibromyalgia. But you don't remember which case. It doesn't matter that you cannot remember if you are using software that indexes all the files on your hard drive, including MS Word files, MS Outlook messages, Corel Word Perfect files, and Adobe Acrobat files. For the PC there are several free, powerful search utilities for a desktop: o Google Desktop, http://desktop.google.com o MSN Search Toolbar With Windows Desktop Search, http://toolbar.msn.com o Yahoo Desktop Search, http://desktop.yahoo.com For network drives, consider X1 Desktop search, http://www.x1.com/. X1 is not free. (Yahoo's Desktop Search is based on X1.)
IV. Docketing Information and Electronic Filing Litigators should use Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) to monitor civil actions. With PACER, it is simple to check regularly the status of all your civil actions. PACER can also be used to learn about your competitors and the dispositions of Social Security cases you did not handle. To do this, just search for "Commissioner" and "Barnhart" under the party. A. Supreme Court http://www.supremecourtus.gov/docket/docket.html B. Third Circuit https://pacer.ca3.uscourts.gov/main.htm C. District Courts Within the Third Circuit Delaware http://pacer.ded.uscourts.gov New Jersey http://pacer.njd.uscourts.gov Pennsylvania Eastern https://ecf.paed.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl Middle https://ecf.pamd.uscourts.gov Western https://ecf.pawd.uscourts.gov/
V. Case Law All precedential case law is on the Internet and is free. However, F.3d pinpoint citations are available only from commercial sources.
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/opinions.html http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html B. Third Circuit 1. Third Circuit (Official) http://www.ca3.uscourts.gov/indexsearch/archives.asp http://www.ca3.uscourts.gov/recentop/week/recprec.htm o No F.3d citations o Only cases from last several years o Search for party name and case number o Recent cases are in Portable Document Format (PDF) o Published and unpublished cases o Best for checking recent developments 2. FindLaw http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/courts/3rd.html o No F.3d citations o Only cases from last several years o No sophisticated search mechanism o Recent cases are in PDF o No word wrap o Best for checking recent developments 3. Villanova http://vls.law.vill.edu/Locator/3/ o No F.3d citations o Updated once per month o Archives since 1994 o No effective search mechanism o No word wrap 4. CD-ROM & Westlaw / Lexis o Effective searches o F.3d citations with pinpoint cites o Word wrap o Editorial enhancements 5. schnaufer.com http://www.schnaufer.com/3d.htm o Recent list of precedential Social Security cases o No search capability o F.3d citations without pinpoint citations o Only most recent cases C. District Courts Within the Third Circuit 1. Self-published Cases Delaware http://www.ded.uscourts.gov/ New Jersey http://lawlibrary.rutgers.edu/fed/search.shtml Pennsylvania: Eastern http://www.paed.uscourts.gov/us03006.asp Middle http://www.pamd.uscourts.gov/opinions.htm Western http://www.pawd.uscourts.gov/ 2. Lexis and West o Many more district court decisions than self-published cases o Effective search capability
VI. Social Security Act Social Security practitioners seldom need to review the Social Security Act. Internet sources are just as useful as commercial sources for checking a statutory provision. A. Social Security Act http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OP_Home/ssact/comp-toc.htm B. Public Laws http://www.gpoaccess.gov/plaws/index.html C. United States Code http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/42/ch7.html http://www.gpoaccess.gov/uscode/index.html D. Legislation E. (House) Subcommittee on Social Security F. (Senate) Committee on Finance VII. Regulations Regulations are an essential authority for Social Security practitioners. Even though free Internet sources provide comprehensive coverage of regulations, the convenience and speed of a CD-ROM (copied onto a hard drive) is favorable to the Internet sources. Some, but not all, of the Internet sources are ideal for verifying the currency of a regulation. A. Social Security Online - Unreliable 1. 20 C.F.R. as of April 1, 2005? E.g., 20 C.F.R. § 404.1527 (2005). http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OP_Home/cfr20/cfrdoc.htm 2. April 2, 2005 - present http://www.socialsecurity.gov/regulations/final-rules.htm 3. Social Security Online Search http://www.socialsecurity.gov/search a. Concept, Boolean, or Pattern? o Use "pattern" search for regulations, e.g.: o consultative examination CFR o treating source CFR o substantial gainful activity CFR b. Comments o Inefficient o Imprecise
1. Annual CFR http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html o Reliable o True copy of printed CFR o Retrieve history CFR sections to 1996 2. Current Regulations http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html (click on "e-cfr") o Regulations in effect today, not just as of April 1, 2005 o Practitioner must still know what is in the annual CFR C. Cornell Legal Information Institute http://cfr.law.cornell.edu/cfr/cfr.php?title=20 D. Lexis and West Group o Fastest when working for CD-ROM (copied onto a hard drive) o No differentiation between April 1, 2005 regulations and newer regulations o Word wrap E. Proposed and Recent Regulations http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html VIII. Social Security Rulings and Acquiescence Rulings A. Social Security Online 1. Finding List By Year http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OP_Home/rulings/rulfind1.html 2. Recent SSRs and ARs http://www.socialsecurity.gov/regulations/ssa-rulings.htm 3. Social Security Online Search http://www.socialsecurity.gov/search Use Boolean operators with the term "SSR" as in: SSR AND trial AND work AND period 4. Disadvantages o No word wrap o Not easily searchable 5. Internet Citation The citation for an SSR or an AR at Social Security Online is ideal for a federal court brief whenever an SSR or an AR is not attached to that brief. Consider the following sentence from a brief citing an SSR for the first time in that brief: At step five, only full-time work is considered. Social Security Ruling (SSR) 96-8p.[Footnote] 1 Available at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OP_Home/rulings/ di/01/SSR96-08-di-01.html. By regulation, ALJs must follow Social Security Rulings. 20 C.F.R. § 402.35(b) (2005). Social Security Rulings are published in the Federal Register and at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OP_ Home/rulings/. B. Lexis and West o Boolean searching o Word wrap C. Search Tips and Sample Searches o No substitute for familiarity with rulings o Sample simple Boolean searches 1996 AND stoop! stoop! AND light o Do not assume that SSR includes acronym ((residual /1 functional) OR RFC) o Do not assume latest lingo (medical /1 (advisor OR expert)) D. Federal Register for Recent SSRs and ARs http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html IX. HALLEX A. Social Security Online The HALLEX at socialsecurity.gov is the official version. http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OP_Home/hallex/hallex.html B. Lexis, Matthew Bender, and West C. Search Tips and Sample Searches 1. Review New HALLEX Provisions http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OP_Home/hallex/hallex.html 2. Understand Organization of HALLEX Volume I has five divisions: 3. Sample Searches ALJ AND post! and proffer! ALJ AND dismiss! AND (fail! /p appear!) X. POMS A. Social Security Online POMS Home Page, http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/aboutpoms Table of Contents, http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/partlist!OpenView Emergency Messages, http://policy.ssa.gov B. Lexis/Matthew Bender and West XI. Social Security Online New URL: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/ Old URL: http://www.ssa.gov A. What's There o Social Security Act o Regulations o Proposed regulations o SSRs and ARs o Online Social Security Handbook
o Blue Book (Listings) http://www.socialsecurity.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook o Red Book (Work Incentives) http://www.socialsecurity.gov/redbook/redbook.htm o Select forms and publications http://www.socialsecurity.gov/online o Some contact information for local offices https://s044a90.ssa.gov/apps6z/FOLO/fo001.jsp o Documents of interest to representatives http://www.socialsecurity.gov/representation o Legislation and Congressional Testimony http://www.socialsecurity.gov/legislation o July 27, 2005, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking - New Process http://www.socialsecurity.gov/disability-new-approach http://tinyurl.com/7lluj (PDF NPRM) http://tinyurl.com/9hmyh (text NPRM) B. What's Not There o Case law o Many phone numbers XII. Other Sources and Tools A. Google o Search ssa.gov before socialsecurity.gov B. NOSSCR C. Social Security Disability Advice CONNECT (Dave Traver) D. Social Security Advisory Service 1. Links for Social Security Practitioners 2. Useful Authority Not Readily Available Elsewhere a. 137 Unskilled Sedentary Occupations http://www.ssas.com/137sed.htm b. May 10, 2001 Childhood Disability Questions and Answers http://www.ssas.com/childq&a.htm E. Charles Martin's e-mail List (for Claimants' Representatives Only) To subscribe, contact an existing list member for sponsorship. This is a sample e-mail message to Charles Martin's list: To: [Charles Martin's List]
F. Charles Martin's Wiki (for Claimants' Representatives Only) G. Kevin Morton's Blog H. Cornell Legal Information Institute Social Security Library http://www.law.cornell.edu/socsec I. Social Security Advisory Board J. Government Accountability Office http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/agency.php XIV. Vocational Resources A. Dictionary of Occupational Titles http://www.oalj.dol.gov/libdot.htm West integrates the Dictionary of Occupational Titles with the Selected Characteristics of Occupations Defined in the Revised Dictionary of Occupational Titles and Enhanced Guide for Occupational Exploration. B. Occupational Outlook Handbook http://www.bls.gov/oco/home.htm C. O*NET |
Eric Schnaufer, Attorney at Law,
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