Dr. Ronald B. Standler
U.S. Legal Research Services for
Solicitors, Barristers, & Attorneys
U.S. citizens living in foreign countries sometimes have the option of divorcing according
to U.S. law. Similarly, U.S. citizens in a foreign country may want to negotiate a prenuptial
agreement, or postnuptial agreement, that could be enforced in a U.S. court
after they return to the USA. I do legal research in
family law,
especially divorce and both pre- and post-nuptial agreements.
Foreign companies who do business in the USA in one of following areas
manufacturers of computers or electronic equipment,
developers of computer software,
manufacturers of electrical surge arresters or suppressors,
manufacturers of lightning protection, or
providers of meteorological services
(e.g., weather modification, negligent weather forecasts)
may be interested in products liability and negligence law in the USA.
With my background in scientific research and electrical engineering research and development,
as well as my experience in law, I can provide legal research to those companies.
There are four sources of law in the USA:
state and federal constitutions,
state and federal statutes,
common law (i.e., law made by judges in deciding cases), and
regulations made by government agencies.
Criminal law in the USA is statutory, with many important constitutional principles.
The law of contracts and torts in the USA is mostly common law.
Intellectual property law in the USA is mostly statutory.
Law in the USA respects precedent, which means that current cases are decided in the same way
as previous cases with similar facts.
When deciding matters of constitutions and statutes, judges
look at previous cases with similar legal issues, to understand the interpretation of words
and phrases in the constitutions and statutes.
Because of the respect for precedent by judges
in the USA, it is necessary to search for published cases to find judicial opinions to cite
as authority for issues of law.
As explained in more detail below, I offer searches of cases
and statutes to find relevant statements of law in the USA.
In addition to finding cases and statutes,
I can also write a memorandum of law that explains the significance of the cases and statutes.
Services
I offer the following services.
I can quickly search and find:
reported judicial opinions from any state and/or federal court in the USA,
current statutes from any state and/or federal government in the USA,
regulations from the federal government in the USA,
print them on paper, and send them to you.
I can also prepare a memorandum of law that summarizes and critically reviews
cases, and distinguish apparently contradictory holdings. Such a memorandum
will also include citations to cases and short quotations from cases.
In addition to a copy on paper, I can send a memorandum as an e-mail attachment,
either in rich text format (RTF)
or in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format, for your secretary to use to create
future Briefs, without needing to retype the quotations
and citations. This method avoids errors in the quotations and citations
in your Brief, because I copy the quotations directly from Westlaw.
I can search and find published information in science, engineering, medicine, technology,
engineering standards, and U.S. patents.
I can search for articles in legal journals (e.g., law reviews)
and send a paper copy to you.
I can find and purchase copy(ies) of law textbooks or legal reference books (e.g., treatises,
books with state or federal statutes plus a list of relevant cases)
and send them to you.
My Credentials
My brief credentials:
I earned a Ph.D. in physics in 1977.
I have more than 16 years of experience doing scholarly research in physics and
electrical engineering, including writing more than 35 published technical
papers and one book.
I earned a law degree in 1998, and I am licensed to practice law in all state
and federal courts in Massachusetts.
I am an attorney and consultant in private practice.
I have used Dialog online databases in science, engineering, and patents since 1981.
I used Lexis online legal databases during 1991-97.
I have used Westlaw online legal databases extensively since December 1995.
I often use Westlaw more than 20 hours/month, so I am experienced with Westlaw.
I have used the online access to U.S. federal court dockets
since August 2002, to retrieve briefs, judgments, and other
unpublished decisions.
Because I am both a scientist and an attorney,
I can do more than merely find technical information:
I can also interpret it in the context of law, as well as
provide critical reviews of the technical information.
I am creative and persistent.
Fees and Terms
I charge for my time at US$ 150/hour.
I will personally do all work on your project, so you get the full
benefit of my knowledge and experience.
It is impossible to estimate the amount of time involved in a legal research project, because
the amount of material available is not known until the search is nearly complete. In my experience,
searches and preparing a memorandum of law on one topic requires between 3 and 30 hours,
depending on the scope of the search (i.e., one state or all 50 states and federal)
and the number of reported cases.
Since Sep 2002, I have had a subscription to unlimited use of the Westlaw databases for
judicial opinions and statutes from all states and the federal government, so I do not
charge my clients for the expense of searching cases and statutes in the USA.
I ask for reimbursement of actual cost of airmail postage, Federal Express,
or other delivery methods. I also ask for reimbursement of the actual cost of using
the Dialog databases in science, engineering, and engineering standards.
I may ask for payment in advance, before sending paper copies of judicial opinions, statutes, articles, etc.
For established clients outside the USA, I send monthly invoices, with interest on amounts
unpaid more than 30 days after the date of the invoice, according to my usual
terms.
My legal research services are available exclusively to professionals (e.g. solicitors,
barristers, or attorneys) who are licensed to represent clients in local courts.
Contact Dr. Standler:
Dr. Ronald B. Standler
P.O. Box 3780
Concord, NH 03302-3780
USA
Copyright 2007-2008 by Ronald B. Standler
This document is at http://www.rbs2.com/legres2.htm
revised 25 Oct 2008
