Now that we know a little more about abuse of process we are ready to move to the next stage of preliminary research. A legal encyclopedia might still be something you reach for for additional information, but you can also look toward state specific materials and jury instructions. 

After you finish this section you may feel comfortable enough to look at primary resources you've found, or continue to the next familiarity level for secondary sources.

The best way to find resources for a specific jurisdiction or a specific area of law is the use of a legal research guide. These are clearinghouses of information written by law librarians. The easiest way to find one is to use your favorite search engine and search for the following: [topic/jurisdiction] legal research guide.

Go ahead and search for a Wisconsin legal research guide. 

Pick Georgetown's guide.

Select Secondary Sources in the tab.

Notice that Wisconsin does not have a state specific encyclopedia.

Wisconsin has a series called "Wisconsin Practice" that is similar in scope to Oregon's BarBooks and is considered a practical guidebook for attorneys. This can be found on Westlaw. Knowing that abuse of process is a tort, you can also look on Lexis for tort related treatises like the Wisconsin Personal Injury treatise.

Jury instructions are detailed instructions that a jury uses to deliberate on the substance of the law. They are usually easy to understand instructions on elements of criminal or civil law.

Wisconsin's Civil Jury Instructions can be found in Westlaw.

Go To Content>Secondary Souces

Go to Jury Instructions

Scroll down to Wisconsin Jury Instructions- Civil and select it

Search for "abuse of process"

You should find §2620 Abuse of Process

Read through the elements and the comments here. This is especially helpful because all of your secondary sources will be in Wisconsin. Notice how the information is easier to understand based on your prior knowledge from familiarity #1.

Write down the elements and at least 2 cases you want to read on the subject.

We are going to now look at the sources we found in our legal research guide.

Westlaw- Wisconsin Practice

Select States>Wisconsin

Scroll to Secondary Sources, then select Wisconsin Practice Series

Since none of these books immediately looks perfect, search for the term "abuse of process" in the search bar for all Wisconsin Practice Series at the top of this page

Select §15.1 Introduction in the Civil Procedure Forms book.

Read §§15.1-15.3 on Abuse of Process. After reading through, use the footnotes to select cases that you think you should read on this topic.

Lexis- Wisconsin Personal Injury

Start on Lexis>States>Wisconsin

Scroll to the Secondary Materials, then select All Wisconsin Treatises, Guides, & Jurisprudence

Select Wisconsin Personal Injury

Search "abuse of process", then select §8.01

Once in §8.01 you can use cmd F or Ctrl F to search for the term abuse of process in the article.

You will find a large section titled [3] Abuse of Process (at about 4 of 21 in your search)

Read this section to understand Abuse of Process in Wisconsin. Concentrate on elements, defenses, and litigation privilege. Use the footnotes to find the best Wisconsin cases to use for your primary sources and going forward.

In your head compare these 2 resources. Which one provided more information? Remember since Lexis and Westlaw are 2 different publishers they often do not have the same content. One may have more robust content on a subject or law or may have a series you prefer. Check them both for the best resource for your research question.

Now that you understand the law in Wisconsin, think about how your research question has changed and what you will be researching next.

Are you ready to read your primary sources then come back to secondary sources for further understanding or clarity?

Let's start on our primary research next. We will see deeper levels of familiarity as we continue to research.