My moronic professor and I got into an argument, which let to the equivalent of my acedemic execution.
Out of spite, I was assigned to write a paper on the great Louisiana Tort Reform.
I have been beating my way through it, and gathering up any info I can. The Louisiana State Legal System is AMAZING!, and it's no wonder those damn Cajuns are crazy... It's probably the most complex system of state laws out there. I believe it comprises 130 thomes of legal binding just addressing systems of precedence and annomoly.
It's truly painful stuff to deal with, and i'd HATE to be a Lawyer in Louisiana.

Does anyone know of a good place online that has info on this sort of thing?
Or any place in Louisiana I can call that could help? I tried calling some DA in New Orleans, but he didn't want to deal with it since most of the info I need is civil.

Hi McUzi--
I'm not a lawyer, but I'm a professor.  I know the value of networking with other professors.  As you may be aware, academia can be an excellent source for the bizarre, obscure, the esoteric.  You might consider checking with some of the larger university depts. around Louisiana and see if you can find some good law professors, who might take an interest in your particular topic.  Probably won't help, but it might be worth a few phone calls.  Remember that professors like to feel important!  Best of luck!

P.S. It just occurred to me that you may be studying in Louisiana already.  If so, forgive me if I've pointed you toward the people already giving you the assignment.  

McUzi,

Finding laws online is never a problem.  Finding critical legal theory or a really good treatise online?  That's another story.

What you need is a law library.  Go to the nearest one and find an index to law review jounals from state law schools- then search by subject.  Law review journals are great sources for the type of stuff you need in your argument.  They are written by top-end law students who, although clueless about real world lawyering (not their fault btw), explore all sides of a certain legal issue with great research.

Good luck,

Steve

I have a friend that is a big time administrator for LSUs libraries. You might try asking her if she can point you in the right direction. I'm not sure which library she works out of but you can call any one of them and ask for Gladys Dreher. Prounced dreeer. Tell her that your an acquaintence of David Arbour. Good luck bro.

Well, that's what we get when we buy something from France (along with another half-a-continent that Napoleon didn't know existed)... World's best real estate deal, ever...

heh heh heh...

Hehe...that's ME! The law review editor stuck in academia!

Anyway, McUzi, to add to what Steve said, most good law school libraries will have an entire section for each state with state encycolpedias, case reporters, code,  etc. Many will also have treatises on specific subjects (lie torts), etc.

Try to find a treatise (basically a book or collection of books) or a "hornbook" (type of thing one would use in a law school course) that gives an overview of the Lousiana Tort system. It'll probably have a nice section on the tort reform too.

I'm willing to bet that there have been dozens of law review articles written on LA tort reform. Look not only at what they say, but look at what they are citing in the footnotes as primary authority. There's probably a few sources that everyone is citing, so that should give you an idea of who the main scholars are in this area. Then go get their books and articles. Bam...instant paper.

Have fun.

From your posts here, I would have to edit my statement to say that you are the exception to the rule- about being clueless.  You seem to be a little bit ahead of the game for a law student.

Steve

Well, law school is, of course, a game, and one that I learned to play quickly. I'm finding that life in the legal profession is too this summer.

I also like to think that I'm less of a dork than most of my classmates. [smash]

Where are you interning?

Check your email.