PAR 103 - Legal Research

3 Credits, 3 Contact Hours
3 lecture periods 0 lab periods

Principles and techniques of legal research. Includes categories of research materials, citing legal material, finding and using secondary authority, finding tools. Shepards Citators, case law, constitutions, statutes and administrative law, analyzing research problems, and preparing research reports.

Prerequisite(s): PAR 101  and WRT 102 .
Information: Prerequisites may be waived if employed in a legal-related field, or if pursuing a post-degree certificate; see a PAR advisor or course instructor.
  

1. Discuss the fundamental concepts of legal research and explain the purpose and need for legal   research, and the collections found in law libraries.
2. Distinguish between categories of research authority and research aids, and discuss “official” and “unofficial” reporting.
3. Demonstrate how to cite primary law and secondary sources.
4. List the sources of secondary authority, and explain their purpose.
5. Use “finding tools”.
6. Define the term “shepardize”, and be able to explain the importance of this technique and how it is done.
7. Discuss fundamental techniques of factual analysis and legal analysis.
8. Discuss case law, and explain how it is created, where it is found, how it is used, and cited.
9. Discuss federal and state constitutions, and explain the purpose of constitutions, where to find them, how to use their provisions, and how to cite their provisions.
10. Discuss federal and state statutes, where to find them, explain how to use them, and know how to cite the statutes.
11. Discuss federal and state administrative agencies, their purpose and research materials associated with the agencies.
12. Use primary and secondary source materials to research assigned legal questions in a law library.

1. Introduction to Legal Research
   1. Legal research and the practice of law
   2. Reasons for learning research
   3. Law library
2. Categories of Research Materials
   1. Official and unofficial reporting
   2. Primary authority
   3. Secondary authority
   4. Finding tools
   5. Shepard’s citator
   6. Uniform system of citation
   7. Miscellaneous authority
3. How to Cite Legal Material
   1. Uniform system of citation
   2. How to cite primary law
   3. How to cite secondary sources
4. How to Find and Use Secondary Authority
   1. Dictionaries
   2. Thesauri
   3. Encyclopedias
   4. Treatises
   5. Legal periodicals
   6. Annotations
   7. Restatements
   8. Miscellaneous sources
5. Finding Tools
   1. West digest system
   2. American law reports digests
   3. Secondary authority as a finding tool
6. “Shepards” Citators
   1. Reading citation lists
   2. Updating procedure
   3. Using for primary law
   4. Using for secondary sources
7. Factual and Legal Analysis of Research Problems
   1. Techniques of factual analysis
   2. Techniques of legal analysis
8. Researching Primary Authority-Case Law
   1. The United States court system
   2. Where court decisions are published
      1. Slip opinions
      2. Advance sheets
      3. West’s reporter system
      4. American law reports
   3. Parts of a court decision
9. Researching Primary Authority-Constitutions
   1. Federalism
   2. United States constitution
   3. State constitutions
10. Researching Primary Authority-Statutes
    1. Overview of legislative process in the United States
    2. Federal and state statutory sources
       1. Slip laws
       2. Session laws
       3. Codes
    3. Uniform and model acts

1. Researching Primary Authority-State and Federal Administrative Materials
   1. Overview of administrative agencies
   2. Sources of agency regulations
   3. Administrative agency decisions
   4. Loose-leaf services
2. Minimum Required Library Research Exercises
   1. Research problem requiring use of secondary authority and research report
   2. Research problem requiring use of case law and research report
   3. Research problem requiring use of multiple sources and memorandum