Legal Research Demystified

Legal Research Demystified

Author: Eric P. Voigt

Publisher:

Published: 2019

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781531007836

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Legal Research Demystified offers a real-world approach to legal research for first-year law students. The book guides students through eight steps to research common law issues and ten steps to research statutory issues. It breaks down the research steps and process into "bite-size" pieces for novice researchers, minimizing the frustration often associated with learning new skills. This text also gives students context, explaining why and when a source or finding tool should be used when researching the law. The process of legal research, of course, is not linear. This book constantly reminds students of the recursive nature of legal research, and it identifies specific situations when they may deviate from the research steps. Through the book's step-by-step approach, students will connect seemingly unrelated tools (e.g., citators and the Key Number System) and understand how to leverage them to answer legal questions. Every chapter includes charts, diagrams, and screen captures to illustrate the research steps and finding methods. Each chapter concludes with a "summary of key points" section that reinforces important concepts from the chapter. This book provides students and professors with multiple assessment tools. Each chapter ends with true-false and multiple-choice questions that test students' understanding of chapter content. These questions are replicated on the book's companion website, Core Knowledge. Students may answer these end-of-chapter questions, as well as more advanced questions, on Core Knowledge and receive immediate feedback, including an explanation of why the answer is correct or incorrect. Professors can generate reports to track students' performance. Based on students' performance, professors will know whether to review a topic in more detail or to move to the next topic. (New books contain an access code to Core Knowledge; students purchasing used books can buy an access code separately.) Core Knowledge offers yet another assessment tool: interactive research exercises. These online exercises walk students through the research steps on Westlaw and Lexis Advance, giving professors the option to "flip" the classroom. Through many screen captures and tips, students can navigate both research platforms outside of class, allowing students and professors to dig deeper into the material during class. Each research exercise simulates a real-world research experience and contains self-grading questions. For example, in one exercise, students research on Westlaw to determine whether the client could recover damages against a neighbor for the emotional distress for the death of the client's dog. To answer the client's question, students must complete the research steps, including finding and reviewing secondary sources on Westlaw, using the Key Number System and KeyCite, and performing keyword searches. Professor support materials include a Teacher's Manual, sample syllabi, and sample research exams.


Learning from Practice

Learning from Practice

Author: J. P. Ogilvy

Publisher: West Academic Publishing

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780314152848

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The new edition of this popular textbook for externship seminars has been revised and updated. It now includes several additional chapters written by contributing authors new to this edition, including a chapter on judicial externships, expanded material on ethical issues in externships, a chapter on creative problem solving, and a chapter on learning practical judgment. Chapters are designed for convenient use in a single class session, and the book offers a menu of topics among which teachers can choose to match the objectives for their particular externship course.


Experiential Legal Research

Experiential Legal Research

Author: Diana Donahoe

Publisher: Aspen Publishing

Published: 2011-08-10

Total Pages: 423

ISBN-13: 1454831650

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Print publication based on the online legal research materials available at TeachingLaw Features: Takes a clear, straightforward approach to research sources and strategies plus to citation (ALWD and Bluebook styles) and grammar. Covers 1L material including finding federal and state statutes and cases, using secondary sources, and strategies for effective and efficient research; also covers upper-class courses with materials on administrative law and legislative history. Breaks down the research process into manageable tasks, discussing strategies for the process and presenting specific strategies for each legal source, including specifics on updating the law. Uses hypothetical fact patterns and case briefs to illustrate research plans and strategies. Provides maps, diagrams, text boxes, and tables to summarize material and provide visual interest. Instructs through annotated facsimiles and screen shots of a wide variety of law and research sources. Provides abundant, thorough study aid materials Quick References and Checklists: reinforce and test students' understanding of the material Quizzes and Self-Assessments: allow students and teachers to test students' understanding of the material Exercises: for use as in-class to reinforce the readings, such as exercises on case analogies, statutory interpretation, conciseness, and citation Can be used both as an aid to instructors and students working partially or predominantly in the electronic environment of TeachingLaw and as a standalone primary or supplementary textbook. Online version of the book includes an idea bank, a school bank for sharing, and an integrated courseware program.


International Law Legal Research

International Law Legal Research

Author: Anthony S. Winer

Publisher:

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781611630688

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This concise yet comprehensive book is designed to be accessible for the beginner as well as useful for those with more experience. For students, the book can serve as enrichment for a doctrinal course in international law or as the basis for a stand-alone course in international law research. To allow for self-evaluation, the book includes frequent review questions to help assure retention. For practitioners new to the international area, each type of search tool and search strategy is covered in detail with explanations to provide background comprehension. This book is part of the International Legal Research Series, edited by Mark E. Wojcik, The John Marshall Law School. "[T]his new text is essential even if it cannot record every new database development. In fact, the best format for a text such as this one is indeed print. This title is not a brief "one off" taste of the subject but rather a comprehensive, detailed treatment. The quality of the content will stand the test of time. ...The text provides an excellent framework for new students to learn international legal research and for more seasoned legal researchers to hone their skills or fill gaps where necessary. ...The reader will want to pay special attention to Lyonette Louis-Jacques' Additional Resources and General Bibliographic References at the conclusion of each chapter. Her concise lists of sources should be part of every international legal researcher's toolkit. ...Most valuable of all, this text will give students the necessary context to understand what they are researching and why. This context is all too often lost in today's world of instant information." -- Anne Abramson, International Law Prof Blog "Given the increasing importance of public international law to U.S. legal practice, I also believe this book to be of great value to all law librarians (and at $35 I recommend every law librarian purchase a desk copy), especially the new breed of entry-level FCIL librarians who yearn for a training manual. No doubt I will read and reread this text until its dog-eared pages fall apart in my hands...I am now also indebted to Winer, Archer, and Louis-Jacques for helping me contextualize my growing knowledge of research sources and methods by connecting them to the historical evolution of international law. International Law Legal Research is particularly good at explaining treaties and customary international law and the related research processes in a useful and memorable way...The purpose of this book is to support those who need to complete public international law research for moot court, for scholarly research, or to handle a client's legal problem, and it is an excellent resource for those situations. As the first volume in the Carolina Academic Press International Legal Research Series, it sets a high bar for clarity, brevity, and utility. I am excited to see what other offerings may follow." --Catherine A. Deane, Foreign and International Law Librarian and Lecturer in Law, Vanderbilt Law School


Missouri Legal Research

Missouri Legal Research

Author: Wanda M. Temm

Publisher:

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781611637113

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Missouri Legal Research was designed for teaching legal research to first-year law students, paralegals, and undergraduate students researching Missouri law. Missouri practitioners and others who need to be familiar with Missouri resources will also want this book in their library. Complex ideas and research processes are presented in a straightforward manner. Outlines of the research process and short excerpts from Missouri and federal resources make the book easy to use. Web addresses and examples point researchers to the many sources for finding free Missouri and federal legal material online. Concise explanations of resources needed for researching federal law and the law of other states are provided throughout. Thus, Missouri Legal Research can be used by instructors as a stand-alone text or in conjunction with a research text concentrating on federal law. This book is part of the Legal Research Series, edited by Suzanne E. Rowe, Director of Legal Research and Writing, University of Oregon School of Law.


Experiential Legal Writing

Experiential Legal Writing

Author: Diana Donahoe

Publisher: Aspen Publishing

Published: 2011-08-10

Total Pages: 600

ISBN-13: 0735509638

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Experiential Legal Writing: Analysis, Process, and Documents discusses the documents first-year law students are introduced to, including memos, briefs, and client letters, as well as documents that are used in upper-class courses, such as scholarly writing and pleadings. Based on the online legal writing materials available at TeachingLaw, this straightforward text is designed to be used either as an aid to instructors and students working in the electronic environment of TeachingLaw or on its own as a primary or supplementary textbook. Covering the entirety of the writing process, from analysis to citation form, this text Offers a clear instructional approach to legal analysis, legal documents, and the writing process, as well as to legal grammar and usage and to citation style for both ALWD and the Bluebook. Breaks down the analytical and writing processes into manageable tasks and provides students with strategies, examples, and exercises. Introduces each type of legal document with "Purpose, Audience, Scope, and View" bullet points, providing an at-a-glance overview. Employs maps, diagrams, text boxes, and tables to summarize material and provide visual interest. Includes multiple documents annotated with in-depth commentary to help students identify key parts, understand the arguments being made, and understand the strengths of each document. Provides abundant, thorough study aid materials Quick References and Checklists that reinforce and test students' understanding of the material Quizzes and Self-Assessments that allow students and teachers to test students' understanding of the material


Oklahoma Legal Research

Oklahoma Legal Research

Author: Darin K. Fox

Publisher:

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 291

ISBN-13: 9781611631340

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Oklahoma Legal Research is the first book focused exclusively on how to research Oklahoma law. Oklahoma Legal Research examines resources and research methods for all types of Oklahoma primary law, secondary law, and practice materials; with chapters on researching Oklahoma statutory, regulatory, and case law. The book also includes a chapter on researching tribal law for Native American tribes located in Oklahoma; discusses how to do historical statutory research to locate the increasingly available legislative history materials for Oklahoma statutes; and covers resources and methods in both print and online formats, with visuals included to assist the researcher.This text has been written for legal researchers of various levels of experience and training. For those just learning the intricacies of legal research, it explains the basic processes and introduces the novice to the most important sources of Oklahoma and Native American tribal law. It also briefly discusses analogous materials in federal law, so that the less experienced researcher can better see the parallels between state and federal research.Experienced researchers will also benefit from having a text that brings together both print and online sources of Oklahoma law and that will assist them in determining which of those sources are better suited to accomplishing a particular research task.This book is part of the Legal Research Series, edited by Suzanne E. Rowe, Director of Legal Research and Writing, University of Oregon School of Law.


Teaching Legal Research and Providing Access to Electronic Resources

Teaching Legal Research and Providing Access to Electronic Resources

Author: Gary Hill

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-04-14

Total Pages: 221

ISBN-13: 131794805X

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Teaching Legal Research and Providing Access to Electronic Resources is an essential guidebook to teaching lawyers and legal researchers how to find the information they need. Law librarians and reference librarians will welcome its timely, effective, and innovative techniques for facilitating their patrons’legal research. According to the MacCrate Report, legal research is one of the ten essential skills for practicing law, and educating users in research skills is a crucial part of the law librarian’s job. Teaching Legal Research and Providing Access to Electronic Resources provides you with techniques for training your patrons in effective search strategies. This comprehensive volume will help you offer much more than a list of information on where the data is located. This helpful volume covers the full range of both users and resources, from helping first-year law students find cases in print to helping attorneys learn to use new Web sites and search engines. Its range includes academic, company, and public law libraries. Teaching Legal Research and Providing Access to Electronic Resources discusses formal ways to teach the skills of research, such as scheduled workshops, one-on-one tutorials, for-credit courses in law schools, and CLE-credit courses in law firms. In addition, it offers hints for seizing the teaching moment when a patron needs help doing research. Teaching Legal Research and Providing Access to Electronic Resources presents practical advice for all aspects of patron education, including: the rival merits of process-oriented versus results-oriented learning strategies; coordinating library education programs with courses in legal writing; teaching foreign and international legal research; using learning style theory for more effective classes; helping patrons overcome computer anxiety; lower-cost alternatives to Lexis-Nexis and Westlaw; using technology to deliver reference services.