The Legal Research Manual: A Game Plan for Legal Research and Analysis

by Wren, Christopher G.; Wren, Jill Robinson

• ISBN13: 9781578620296
• ISBN10: 1578620295
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-05-01
• Publisher: Legal Education Pub

Summary

This step-by-step guide to basic legal research procedures contains materials on how to organize a research problem, how to take useful notes, and how to know when to stop researching. Also included are checklists of research and analysis steps, an introduction to computerized legal research, and an overview of civil procedure.

Table of Contents

Introduction: About This Book	v
Preface to the Second Edition	vii
Acknowledgments	ix
Table of Figures and Illustrations	xiii
PART I Background: Understanding the Tools
Before You Start: Sources of the Law	1	(19)
About Citations	20	(9)
Gathering and Analyzing Your Facts, and Identifying and Organizing the Legal Issues	29	(12)
PART II Doing Legal Research
Step One: Finding the Law	41	(38)
Step Two: Reading the Law	79	(16)
Step Three: Updating the Law	95	(28)
How to Take Effective Notes	123	(6)
When to Stop	129	(104)
PART III Appendices
Appendix A Computerized Legal Research	133	(3)
Appendix B Other Research Sources	136	(4)
Appendix C Overview of Civil Procedure	140	(3)
Appendix D Case Headnotes and the Digesting System	143	(3)
Appendix E Briefing a Case: Brown v. Board of Education and Sample Brief	146	(17)
Appendix F Answers to Shepardizing Exercises	163	(1)
Appendix G Alphabetical Listing of Case Digest Topics (West Publishing Company)	164	(4)
Appendix H Subject Matter Listing of Case Digest Topics (West Publishing Company	168	(7)
Appendix I Titles in the United States Code	175	(1)
Appendix J Titles in the Code of Federal Regulations	176	(1)
Appendix K Researching Legislative History	177	(43)
Appendix L Definitions of Terms Frequently Encountered in Legal Research	220	(6)
Appendix M Translations of Foreign Words and Maxims Frequently Encountered in Legal Research	226	(7)
Index	233