The Library now has new titles from the Maryland State Bar Association (MSBA), the National Business Institute (NBI), and the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC).
MSBA
The 2022 seventh edition of Pleading Causes of Action in Maryland from MSBA provides example complaints with updated commentary to help the reader plead their case:
NBI hosts seminars on an array of legal topics for every state jurisdiction. The Library receives the bound Maryland materials that include lectures, presentation slides, and sample forms.
The books in NCLC’s digital collection, available online and in print, are excellent, reader-friendly sources for comprehensive information on consumer debt, credit, mortgages, fraud, litigation, and other topics.
Fair credit reporting. Authors: Chi Chi Wu, Ariel Nelson ; contributing authors, Elizabeth De Armond [and 6 others]. SELF HELP NCLC KF1040 .R63 2022
Credit discrimination. Author: Battle, Jeremiah, Jr. SELF HELP NCLC KF697.D5 C74 2022
In an August 31, 2022 Press Release, the American Association of Law Libraries announced that the AALL Advancing Access to Justice Special Committee has developed a new resource, the Online Legal Information Resources (OLIR, “for information professionals—law librarians, legal information professionals, and public librarians—and members of the public to easily locate online primary legal materials.”
“The new Online Legal Information Resources (OLIR) includes information for U.S. states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, the U.S. Federal Government, and Canada. The OLIR includes links to session laws, statutory codes, registers, administrative codes, and court opinions. To help users easily identify reliable online sources, the OLIR contains information about whether the legal materials are official, authentic, preserved, and copyrighted. The OLIR also includes contact information for state and local public law libraries, covering whether services to incarcerated people are provided.”
HeinOnline is available in the law library through the Thurgood Marshall State Law Library and on judiciary computers. One of the many databases there includes the National Survey of State Laws.
Topics that are in the news – abortion, gun control and voter laws – have been updated in advance of the updated 9th edition that will be available soon. Previous editions are available for historic research comparisons.
Our FAQs page now links to our new resources page on trusts. There, you will find a bibliography of manuals and treatises on the topic, as well as links to relevant statutes, forms, and articles.
Frequently, patrons ask us if we have official court forms to file for their specific situations. The courts have their own official forms (People’s Law Library lists some of the most frequently used), but more often, people ask for official forms that do not exist.
Fortunately, the library has a wide variety of sample procedure and legal forms that are free to be copied and modified. Procedure forms are for court filings, while those commonly called “legal forms,” most of which are not standardized, are used for all other legal affairs, such as wills, leases, and contracts.
Non-standardized procedure forms can include very general templates, such as blank petitions and blank motions; they can also be more specific (but still general enough to copy), such as motions for summary judgments and counterclaims for bringing in a new party.
Form books and form sets are good sources for all kinds of sample forms and templates. Some are available online through Westlaw or Lexis, others are exclusively in print, available here inside the library. When there is no sample form specific enough to cover a situation, they can be modified.
Form Books and Individual Samples
In addition to forms from Westlaw and Lexis, the Library has a variety of form books in print and has made available additional sample procedure forms for Maryland courts. Below, I have listed them by jurisdiction and subject area, and have also included the Library’s recommended form sets from Lexis and Westlaw.
Maryland
Practice and Procedure Sample Forms
Maryland practice forms (MSBA)
Call Number: KFM1738.A65 M3 2009
Also on Lexis and Westlaw
Maryland civil procedure forms: Maryland practice series (George W. Liebmann)
Call Number: KFM1730.A65 L5
Also on Westlaw
Forms from Maryland civil procedure forms (Robert Dale Klein)
Call Number: KFM1730.A65 K64 2000
Also on Lexis
Practice manual for the Maryland lawyer
Call Number: KFM1730.A65 P7 2019
Also on Lexis and Westlaw
Maryland litigation forms and analysis /by Gary I. Strausberg, general editor
Call Number: KFM1730.A65 M372 1998
Also on Westlaw
Family Law Sample Forms
Maryland family law form finder
On Westlaw
Maryland divorce and separation law / editors, John J. Condliffe, Esq. & Debra B. Cruz, Esq.
See “Marital Settlement Agreements” chapter for sample agreement.
Call Number: RES KFM1300.M37 2019
Also on Lexis and Westlaw
Maryland domestic relations forms: with practice commentary / Ann M. Turnbull, Joseph J. Wase
Call Number: RES KFM1294.A65 T8
Also on Lexis
Forms from Maryland domestic relations forms
On Lexis
Premarital and domestic partnership agreements (MSBA)
On Lexis and Westlaw
Maryland family and juvenile law : practice manual and forms
Call Number: RES KFM1294.R44 2001
Marital settlement agreement – form / Thomas C. Ries, Richard B. Jacobs
Call Number: KFM1300.M34 2009
Maryland family law forms / [Constance K. Putzel, Shelley L. Rothschild … et al.]
Call Number: KFM1294.M37 2011
A practice guide to family law
Call Number: RES KFM1294.P88 1999
Collection of family law forms. Sample forms on this page include several types of answer templates, consent forms, interrogatories, and motions. There are also links to official court forms.
Real Estate
Forms from Maryland real estate forms
On Lexis
Maryland real estate forms: practice / Russell R. Reno, Jr., Wilbur E. (Pete) Simmons, Jr., Kevin L. Shepherd ; contributing editor, Michael S. Kosmas
Call Number: RES KFM1326.A65 R46 2005
Also on Lexis
Maryland estate planning, will drafting, and estate administration forms: practice
Call Number: KFM1340.A65 B37 1995
Also on Lexis
Probate forms in Maryland : annotated, including pleading, guardian and ward, actions at law and in equity relating to administration and forms of wills / by Philip L. Sykes
Call Number: KFM1344.A65 S9
Contest of wills in Maryland with complete forms / by Philip L. Sykes
Call Number: KFM1344.5 .C6 S9
Maryland estate planning, wills and trusts library : forms and practice manual
Call Number: KFM1340.A65 G88 1998
Maryland estate planning form finder
On Westlaw
Business and Commercial
Maryland corporation law and practice : with forms / by Herbert M. Brune
Call Number: KFM1413.B7 1953
Maryland limited liability company forms and practice manual
Call Number: KFM1407.5 .A65 M37 1999
Maryland secured transactions under revised article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code : forms and practice manual
Call Number: KFM1375.W58 2000
Criminal
Maryland criminal procedure forms and analysis
Call Number: KFM1775.A65 S653
Employment
Maryland employment law : forms and practice manual / Carla N. Murphy, editor ; Sharon A. Snyder, editor
Call Number: KFM1534.M87
Intellectual Property
Maryland intellectual property and technology transactions : forms and practice manual / William S. Galkin
Call Number: KFM1530.G35 2008
Technology
Maryland technology transactions: the Venable practice and forms manual
Call Number: KFM1530.M37 2002
Practice of Law
Legal representation and fee agreements for the Maryland Lawyer: forms and comments
Call Number: KFM1277.5 .F4 B36 2009
Also on Lexis and Westlaw
Federal Titles
On Lexis and Westlaw
Nichols cyclopedia of federal procedure forms
On Westlaw
Federal procedural forms
On Westlaw
Bender’s federal practice forms
On Lexis
Non-Jurisdictional
Print Titles
Family law arbitration : practice, procedure, and forms / Carolyn Moran Zack
Call Number: KF505.5 .Z33 2020
Forms, checklists, and procedures for the family lawyer / Mark A. Chinn
Call Number: KF505.C478 2021
The law of crimes and criminal procedure, including forms and precedents
Call Number: KF9219.H6 1904
On Westlaw
American jurisprudence pleading & practice forms annotated
American jurisprudence legal forms 2d
Lane’s Goldstein litigation forms
Fletcher corporation forms annotated
McGaffey legal forms with tax analysis / Jere D. McGaffey
Handbook of Personal Injury Forms and Litigation Materials
On Lexis
Rabkin & Johnson current legal forms with tax analysis / Jacob Rabkin and Mark H. Johnson ; revision author, Volume 1, Stephen E. Pigott
Murphy’s will clauses : annotations and forms with tax effects / Joseph H. Murphy, assisted by Beverly Massy Stowell Rounds, updates by John H. Skarbnik
Page on the law of wills : including probate, will contests, evidence, taxation, conflicts, estate planning, forms, and statutes relating to wills
Westlaw’s Form Finder is a convenient way to search for samples. To get there from the main screen, click on “Forms” in the “All Content” tab (Figure 1).
Figure 1
Once you are on the “Form Finder” screen, you can choose to search for forms by state, by topic (Figure 2), or by publication name.
Figure 2
Once in the search screen, fill in the search fields and press enter.
Some forms, like those in American Jurisprudence Pleading & Practice Forms Annotated, link to captions (Figure 3). A caption is a header in which you would fill in information about the court, the plaintiff, and the defendant if applicable (Figure 4).
From Lexis’s main screen, click “Sample Forms” under the “Content” tab (Figure 5), which will send you to the Sample Forms page. There, you can choose to search by state or practice area (Figure 6). On the next screen, you can search all forms under the heading you chose or add the second state or practice area filter to make your search more precise. More precise is not always better, however, because you could filter out relevant results.
Figure 5Figure 6
Unfortunately, there is no federal option listed with all the state options on the sample forms page.
To search for sample forms for federal courts, on the home screen click on “Federal” under “Explore Content,” then click on “All Federal” in the second section (Figure 7) (Be careful not to click “All Federal Cases”).
Figure 7
On the “All Federal” page, you can then scroll down to “Forms” and click “All Federal Forms” (Figure 8)
Figure 8
There you can choose to search all the federal form books or search an individual title (Figure 9).
These pages provide links to statutes, videos, free articles for the layperson, forms, and bibliographies of relevant print resources in the library. If you need help figuring out which resources to start with on the list, we at the law library can point you to those that would be most helpful and relevant to your situation.
Patrons who attend our Lawyer in the Library program frequently ask how to handle conflicts with their neighbors. This is such a common concern that there are countless sources on relevant law, or lack thereof, governing overhanging tree branches, fence placement, etc. For example, look at the number of search hits on Westlaw after entering some relevant keywords in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Westlaw search results showing sources on neighbor law
Below, I have collected print and electronic secondary sources available through the library that cover neighbor law for attorneys and laypersons. We also have a page on mediation resources, which may be a preferable first step in resolving many of these conflicts.
On the shelf and online through the Maryland Judiciary network:
All of the library’s alternative dispute resolution resources, filed under “ADR.” For a list of these, go to the catalog, search by “Call Number Prefix,” select “ADR,” then click “Search.”
The law library has added a number of recently published books to its shelves for both family law attorneys and others interested in family law. A list of them follows, with links to their more detailed records in our catalog.
I recently had an attorney looking for a section of the Service Members Civil Relief Act in the United States Code on Westlaw. The citation was for 50 U.S.C. App. §521 and the results indicated that the section had a new spot in the U.S.C. at 50 U.S.C. 3931. When this change took place is not included in the history of the section, but there is a note indicating that the “section was formerly classified to section 521 of the Appendix to Title 50.”
The Justice Department sheds some light on the date of the change on their information page on the Service Members Civil Relief Act:
The location of the SCRA within the United States Code changed in late 2015. Previously found at (codified and cited as) 50 U.S.C. App. §§ 501-597b, there was an editorial reclassification of the SCRA by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the United States House of Representatives that became effective on December 1, 2015. The SCRA is now found at (codified as) 50 U.S.C. §§ 3901-4043.
The Office of the Law Revision Counsel’s page on Editorial Reclassification explains the process of reclassification:
In order to maintain and improve the United States Code, the Office of the Law Revision Counsel must occasionally undertake editorial reclassification projects to reorganize areas of law that have outgrown their original boundaries, or to eliminate organizational units that are no longer efficient. No statutory text is altered by such editorial reclassification projects, other than necessary updates to references to reflect the reorganization. Relevant provisions are merely transferred from one place to another in the Code.
This page includes links to information about recent editorial reclassification projects. The link to Title 50 Appendix indicates that “the reorganization occurred on December 1, 2015, after which the new Code citations were effective.”
These reclassifications only move the sections and do not result in changes to the law other than references to the revised sections. Still, it is nice to know when the change took place.
Hein announced that “this month’s content release has brought our Legal Classics Library to a new milestone by surpassing 10,000 titles! This database contains works from some of the greatest minds in legal history and includes rare items that are found in only a handful of libraries around the world.”
You might think of HeinOnline as the source for law reviews and legal periodicals but the Legal Classics Library has saved many a trip elsewhere to find an older but still significant treatise such as Underhill on Evidence or Blackstone’s Commentaries.
Hein announced that “this month’s content release has brought our 
AACPLL Blog: Law Library News 