Winning Research Skills - Westlaw

Chapter 13
Uniform Laws Annotated
One of the major aspects of the law reform movement in the United States has been a drive for
the enactment of uniform laws by the states. The National Conference of Commissioners on
Uniform State Laws meets annually to draft, promulgate, and promote uniform laws, which the
states can then adopt, modify, or reject. West publishes Uniform Laws Annotated, which
includes the complete set of all uniform laws that have been adopted by at least one state, notes
of decisions from adopting states, and references to law review commentaries. On Westlaw, the
Uniform Laws Annotated database (ULA) contains documents from Uniform Laws Annotated.
Black’s Law Dictionary
Legal dictionaries can help you define terms and understand the sometimes arcane language of
the law and the legal profession. A dictionary entry may also refer you to leading cases and
suggest synonyms or antonyms that you can use in your Westlaw search requests. Black’s Law
Dictionary, Eighth Edition, is available on Westlaw in the Black’s Law Dictionary, Eighth
Edition database (BLACKS). You can also quickly and easily access information from BLACKS
from the Shortcuts section of the tabbed Law School page. Type your search terms (formulated
as you would a Terms and Connectors query) in the Define using Black’s Law Dictionary text
box and click Go. A document from a search result for the query “clean hands” is shown in
Figure 13.2.
Forms and Practice Materials
Figure 13.2: Entry in Black’s Law Dictionary
Sample forms and practice guides, which incorporate the experience of others, legal precedents,
and statutory requirements, can be very helpful in your procedure and litigation courses and in
your work as a summer associate or clerk.
180 Winning Research Skills