Lawyers and other legal researchers rely on the West Key Number system and the Lexis equivalent headnote system to find relevant case law.
If you want to know how these indexing systems work “behind the scenes,” here’s an article for you:
“The Case for Curation: The Relevance of Digest and Citator Results in Westlaw and Lexis,” by Susan Nevelow Mart and Jeffrey Luftig.
Not to be confused with Scams and Swindles, parodies, hoaxes, and April Fool jokes play a somewhat different role in history. (See, e.g. “The best historical pranks and hoaxes,” from The Independent (01 April 2010))
I ran across the following legal commentary at Justia’s Verdict website:
“Cultural Literacy for Judges,” by Justice William W. Bedsworth, from: A Criminal Waste of Space, August 2012:
Excerpt: ‘The headline in the London Daily Mail said, “Out-of-touch judges to be given lessons in popular culture.” Of course, that caught my attention. But the subhead not only held my attention, it grabbed it with both hands and shook it: “After one said who are the Beatles?”….’ [Link to A Criminal Waste of Space.)
Link to the Orange County Lawyer Magazine.
“New Oregon Legislature administrator selected,” Statesman Journal, 8/2/12:
“A new administrator for the Oregon Legislature will be on board at the Capitol in mid-September.
He is Kevin Hayden, who will retire soon as a lieutenant commander and a branch head in the Navy’s Bureau of Personnel….
…
Hayden’s appointment is subject to approval by the Legislative Administration Committee, which will meet when lawmakers come to Salem Sept. 10-12. The committee is led by Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, and House co-Speakers Bruce Hanna, R-Roseburg, and Arnie Roblan, D-Coos Bay. The leaders of each party caucus in both chambers also are on the committee….” [Link to Stateman-Journal article.]
“New Reference Resource: NYU Launches History of Undercover Reporting Database,” filed by Gary Price, InfoDocket, on August 6, 2012:
“New York University has launched a database chronicling undercover journalism dating back to the 1800s. The archive, “Undercover Reporting,” includes an array of stories, ranging from the slave trade in 1850s to efforts to boycott Jewish-owned businesses in the U.S. in the late 1930s to treatment of soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in the 21st century….” [Link to InfoDocket blog post.]
Link to Undercover reporting dot org.
Oregon Legal Research Blog