Basic Legal Research: Tools and Strategies

by Sloan, Amy E.

• ISBN13: 9780735576728
• ISBN10: 0735576726
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-02-26
• Publisher: Wolters Kluwer

Summary

With so many texts available for legal research courses, how does Basic Legal Research: Tools and Strategies maintain its best-selling status? By concentrating on fundamental skills and offering premium teaching support for professors and students. Basic Legal Research: Tools and Strategies, leads the field with : accessible, clear, step-by-step instruction on the basics of legal research a building-block approach that breaks the material into discrete, easily digested parts self-contained chapters on research sources that can easily adapt to a variety of teaching objectives organization within each chapter that allows professors to choose how much emphasis to place on print and electronic research helpful end-of-chapter checklists, clear examples, and summary charts that support comprehension and memory sample pages and examples of research sources throughouta preview of what students will encounter in practice an accompanying workbook featuring practice exercises for use with the text Teacher's Manual and PowerPoint slides Updated and revised, The Fourth Edition offers : updated research materials and instruction increased focus on electronic research to maintain the right balance of print and electronic coverage new print sample pages and electronic screen shots interactive exercises and other new exercises on TeachingLaw.com Comprehensive coverage, a proven methodology for learning, and generous teaching supportthat's what makes Basic Legal Research: Tools and Strategies a leading text in its field. Available in print and online via the TeachingLaw.com coursebook platform, The updated and revised Basic Legal Research: Tools and Strategies is: Current Leading-edge research methods help students meet the needs of today's legal practice Flexible Increased focus on electronic research lets you determine the right balance of print and electronic coverage Interactive Quizzes and exercises are delivered online with assessment reports, allowing you to track class performance and progress Just-in-time The online content gives students direct access To The information they need For The research project they are working on at the moment Go to www.TeachingLaw.com for more information about TeachingLaw.com.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xv
Acknowledgments	p. xix
Introduction to Legal Research	p. 1
Introduction to the legal system	p. 2
Introduction to the process of legal research	p. 9
Overview of print and electronic search strategies	p. 12
Introduction to legal citation	p. 15
Overview of this text	p. 22
Generating Search Terms	p. 25
Generating search terms based on categories of information	p. 25
Expanding the initial search	p. 27
Secondary Source Research	p. 29
Introduction to secondary sources	p. 29
Researching secondary sources in print	p. 31
Researching secondary sources electronically	p. 50
Citing secondary sources	p. 53
Sample pages for print secondary source research	p. 59
Checklist for secondary source research	p. 74
Case Research	p. 77
Introduction to cases	p. 77
Researching cases in print	p. 84
Researching cases electronically	p. 99
Citing cases	p. 105
Sample pages for researching cases using a print digest	p. 108
Checklist for case research	p. 126
Research with Citators	p. 129
Introduction to citators	p. 129
Using Shepard's in LexisNexis for case research	p. 132
Using KeyCite in Westlaw for case research	p. 140
Using Shepard's Citations in print for case research	p. 145
Sample pages for case research with Shepard's and Keycite	p. 148
Checklist for case research with citators	p. 155
Statutory Research	p. 157
Introduction to statutory law	p. 157
Researching statutes in print	p. 163
Researching statutes electronically	p. 174
Citing statutes	p. 184
Sample pages for print statutory research	p. 186
Checklist for statutory research	p. 198
Federal Legislative History Research	p. 199
Introduction to federal legislative history	p. 199
Researching federal legislative history in print	p. 206
Researching federal legislative history electronically	p. 214
Citing federal legislative history	p. 222
Sample pages for federal legislative history research	p. 224
Checklist for federal legislative history research	p. 233
Federal Administrative Law Research	p. 237
Introduction to federal administrative law	p. 237
Researching federal regulations in print	p. 242
Researching federal regulations electronically	p. 244
Citing federal regulations	p. 252
Sample pages for federal administrative law research	p. 252
Checklist for federal administrative law research	p. 257
Subject-Matter Service Research	p. 259
Introduction to subject-matter services	p. 259
Researching subject-matter services in print, CD-ROM, and Internet formats	p. 261
Subject-matter research in LexisNexis and Westlaw	p. 262
Citing subject-matter services	p. 263
Sample pages for subject-matter service research	p. 264
Checklist for subject-matter service research	p. 268
Electronic Legal Research	p. 269
Introduction to electronic legal research	p. 270
Conducting effective electronic legal research	p. 275
Additional electronic research resources	p. 292
Citing authority obtained from electronic legal research services	p. 296
Sample pages for electronic legal research	p. 299
Checklist for electronic legal research	p. 303
Developing a Research plan	p. 305
Introduction to research planning	p. 305
Creating a research plan	p. 305
Finding help	p. 318
Sample research plans	p. 320
Research checklists	p. 325
Selected Internet Research Resources	p. 333
Index	p. 339
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