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 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:
  1. state and federal constitutions,
  2. state and federal statutes,
  3. common law (i.e., law made by judges in deciding cases), and
  4. 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.

My Credentials

My brief credentials:
My c.v. is posted at my website.

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

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