FORMS & PLEADINGS -- Resource Guide
Main Law Library: 813 Sixth St., Sacramento, CA 95814 -- (916) 874-6012 Branch Library: William R. Ridgeway Family Relations Courthouse, 3341 Power Inn Rd., Rm. 112, Sacramento, CA 95826 -- (916) 875-3490 www.saclaw.org
This guide identifies major sources for locating the forms most often asked for in the law library, and tells you whether the forms are available on the Internet, on the library‘s subscription databases, on CDs, or only in a print format. Sections are divided as follows: 1. Court Forms: Standardized forms for Superior, Appellate and Federal court actions 2. Legal Pleadings: When there is no standardized, fill-in-the-blank court form 3. Transactional Forms: Agency, Business and Personal
1. Court Forms
Sources in this section provide the standardized, fill-in-the-blank court forms. Judicial Council “California Courts” website www.courtinfo.ca.gov/forms Links to several hundred Mandatory and Optional Judicial Council forms, created by the state judiciary for use in Superior Court proceedings in all counties in California. You can elect to fill in the forms online before printing them out. FORMS IN CONTEXT: Link to a Topic in the Self Help Center – www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/ and within the discussion about that topic you will find links to the associated forms and Instructions in the context of when and how they are used. Sacramento Superior Court website www.saccourt.com This is where you find the mandatory and optional forms designed for use specifically in and by the Sacramento County courts. At the left side of the screen, your choices include: 1. Click on Fees and Forms to go right to the list of ‗local forms‘. The forms are not fillable online at this website. (See the listing for USCourtforms at the end of this section for how to find online-fill-able local forms.) FORMS IN CONTEXT: 2. Click on a Topic (e.g. Family or Civil etc.) to find links to local forms within the context of a discussion about when and how they are used. EZ Legal File is an interactive program that helps you fill out domestic violence, family law and guardianship forms. The program asks you a series of questions, and generates a completed form. Link to it through the home page of saccourt.com, or directly through www.ezlegalfile.org www.USCourtforms.com is a comprehensive source for court forms for California counties, all states, and for the Federal Courts. From your home computer, registration is free and gives you access to the forms for printing out. The forms are not fill-able unless you pay a subscription fee for their Premium access. The law library subscribes to their Premium access files of California Judicial Council and most counties‘ local forms. Using this database in the library allows you to fill out the forms in Word or PDF, and save them to a disk or a USB drive.
California Courts of Appeal www.courtinfo.ca.gov/courts/courtsofappeal/ Almost all appellate court filings are done on pleadings (see Section 2 below). There are very few standardized forms for the Appeals Courts. Go to this website and click on your District (Sacramento is in the Third District). Depending on the district you may find a link to Forms, and/or a document that provides instructions for writing briefs. For further information, contact the Court, or visit the Law Library. Federal Court Forms www.uscourts.gov Almost all federal court filings are done on pleadings (see Section 2 below). The website listed here is the best gateway page for linking to the Federal Districts and Appellate Circuits, to see what, if any, standardized forms they have online. (Sacramento is in the Eastern District Court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.) For further information, contact the court or visit the law library.
2. Pleadings
The following list represents only a few titles of the many available in the law library that contain model or suggested wording for legal pleadings. These titles are available in print and also electronically, as noted. The online versions allow the model pleadings to be downloaded and edited on the computer to customize them for individual facts and circumstances. Bring your own disk or USB drive to the library or purchase one here. CEB- Practice Guides – sampling of titles 1. Appeals and Writs in Criminal Cases 2. Civil Procedure during Trial 3. Debt Collection Practice 4. Mechanic‘s Lien Practice 5. Probate 6. Tort Practice Electronic Availability on the Library’s computers through Onlaw Also, CEB practice manuals typically come with accompanying Forms CDs, which can be used in the library or checked out either with the books, or separately... Matthew Bender- Practice Guides – sampling of titles 1. California Criminal Defense Practice 2. California Forms of Pleading and Practice Electronic Availability on the Library’s computers through LexisNexis CD The Rutter Group- Practice Guides – sampling of titles 1. Appeals and Writs 2. Civil Procedure before Trial 3. Employment Litigation 4. Family Law Practice 5. Federal Civil Procedure before Trial 6. Landlord/Tenant 7. Personal Injury Practice Electronic Availability on the Library’s computers through Westlaw Nolo Press “plain English” law books Nolo‘s well-known and highly regarded self -help books are written by attorneys for the lay person trying to survive the legal system on his or her own. These books include 2.
forms with excellent instructions, and also model court pleadings. Some of the highdemand Nolo titles cover real estate deeds, expunging criminal records, divorce, landlord/tenant law and procedure, probate, and succeeding in small claims court. Electronic Availability—Forms and Pleadings CDs come with some of the books. The publisher‘s website, www.nolo.com, does not provide free forms, but it offers lots of pay as you go options for ordering or downloading them. CREATING PLEADINGS ON THE LAW LIBRARY’S COMPUTERS Court documents are normally required to be on pleading paper, with the line numbers down the side. To help you create a court document—complaint, motion, brief etc.— the law library offers a pleading template on its website: Go to the law library website www.saclaw.org Under the heading Self-Help Consumer, click on Forms, Motions, & Pleadings Under Forms, choose either: Pleading paper-click on either [doc] or [PDF] to bring up blank pleading paper in either Word or PDF format. Pleading Sample -to open up a pleading template pre-formatted with caption, footer and signature line for use in Sacramento’s courts.
3. Transactional Forms
These forms are not initially created as court forms—they are substantive, rather than practice-oriented. But, they are legally binding, and can end up as the subject of, or evidence in court proceedings. Agency: Forms used in transactions with public agencies. Government agencies make increasing numbers of forms available from their websites. The federal government has a centralized database of forms. State and County forms usually have to be located within the web site of the particular agency. Forms.gov -- www.forms.gov Comprehensive database of Federal Agency forms. Federal Agency directory – Directory of federal agency websites. Try this site if the form you are looking for isn‘t available via forms.gov. www.firstgov.gov/Agencies/Federal/All_Agencies/index.shtml. USCourtForms – www.USCourtForms.com In addition to court forms, this database contains Federal agency forms and California Secretary of State and Workers Compensation forms—you must register to access they forms. They are not fill-able unless you pay for a subscription. The law library‘s subscription will allow filling out of the California forms only. State Agency Directory www.ca.gov/agencyindex.html Sacramento County Agency Directory www.saccounty.net/portal/department-index/index.html City of Sacramento Agency Directory www.cityofsacramento.org/depts.htm Business and Personal Forms: This guide defines business forms as being in the commercial realm. Personal forms include transactions between persons, which might include wills, trusts, powers of attorney, pre-nuptial agreements, leases and other types of personal contracts. 3.
On the Internet You can find some of the more commonly used business and personal forms on the Internet. You will discover that most of the ‗free‘ sites make available the same types of forms. These are loss leaders for the sites, so that you will stay on the site and find and purchase the more task-specific forms they have for sale. All About Forms - www.allaboutforms.com/ This website contains 2000+ free and fee-based forms, most downloadable as RTF. AllLaw - www.Alllaw.com Access free html forms that can be copied and pasted into Word. 'Lectric Law Library's Business & General Legal Forms This website provides full-text documents that you can copy/paste into Word. www.lectlaw.com/formb.htm LexisOne – www.lexisone.com Free and pay automated forms. Registration is required. After you answer a series of questions, LexisOne generates a Word document. New Century Title - www.newcenturytitle.com/ebusiness/ca_forms.aspx Registration required for access to dozens of real estate –related forms in Word format. USCourtForms.com – www.uscourtforms.com Search ―Business Forms‖ and ―Legal Forms‖ databases. Free registration is required. Business and Personal Forms electronically in the Law Library Electronic sources listed here are derived from long-established print sources found on the law library shelves. Use these sources to customize forms on the computer. California and National Transactional Forms Available as part of our subscription to Westlaw, this database includes electronic versions of such titles as AmJur Legal Forms, California Transactions Forms (in Business, Employment Law, Estate Planning, Family Law) and West’s Legal Forms. CEB CDs and Onlaw The CDs accompany specific print practice guides, and they provide computercustomizable forms taken from the guides. The Onlaw database of all CEB publications will have the model forms and associated commentary for downloading to diskette or USB drive. LexisNexis CD Electronic versions of California Legal Forms: Transaction Guide, California Corporation Law, California Real Estate Practice, etc. which provide sample language for customizing business documents Nolo Press books with CDs In addition to legal topics, Nolo books also provide fill-in-the blanks forms for a variety of business and personal topics, including forming and managing corporations, buying and selling real estate and businesses, copyright, patent, wills and trusts. If you are a patron of the Sacramento Public Library you can go to their home page— www.saclibrary.org –and using your library card you can set up remote access to their research databases, among which is Thomson Gale‘s Legal Forms.
IF YOU NEED HELP FINDING OR USING THE MATERIALS LISTED, PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO ASK A REFERENCE LIBRARIAN. FROM HOME, FEEL FREE TO CALL US AT THE NUMBERS LISTED AT THE TOP OF THE GUIDE, OR E-MAIL US AT REFERENCE@SACLAW.ORG. h\public\guides\forms and pleadings
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