Each legal resource documents a stage in the legal process.  To understand what you're reading, it's important to know what step in the process your source is covering. Therefore you need to know how the legal process works.  The table below represents a "timeline" in the legal process along with, for simplicity's sake, one basic source that documents that step.  The column on the right lists the collective label for that type of law.  The collective label is used to divide the sections in this guide.  Each section explains in more detail the legal process for that step and describes how to use the source that documents that process.  These sections are followed by "how-to's" for using the legal research sources of Shepard's and Lexis Nexis and then a list of where to go for more help.