The Legal Research Process
Published on Nov 21, 2015
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MORE DECKS TO EXPLORE
PRESENTATION OUTLINE
The Legal Research Process
WHERE TO START, WHAT TO LOOK FOR, WHEN TO STOP
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Big Picture
- Getting started: issue spotting
- Make a plan: where to look
- Secondary Sources
- Primary Sources
- When to stop
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Issue spotting: Building your research question
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Make a plan:
What's the best resource to answer your research questions?
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SECONDARY SOURCES: EXPLAIN AND ANALYZE THE LAW
- Most detail: American Law Reports, Law Reviews
- Least detail: Legal encyclopedias, Nutshells
- Why use #1: Get directed to pertinent primary sources
- Why use #2: Get a grasp on an unfamiliar legal topic
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Cases: How to Find
- Annotations in secondary sources, ann. codes
- Citators: cited, citing decisions
- Headnotes, Key Numbers
- Full Text Searching
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Statutes
- Unannotated Codes: just the law
- Annotated Codes: text of law plus annotations to cases, secondary sources
- Tip: Use annotated codes in research
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When to stop
- Are the same sources recurring in every search?
- Have you checked your primary sources for currency?
- Have you used a citator to check for positive/negative treatment?
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