Legal Research: How to Find and Understand the Law

Legal Research: How to Find and Understand the Law
Author: Suzanne McKie
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 185
Release: 2012-09-10
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1135317534

Many students and first-time practitioners may know of certain legal textbooks which cover a certain area, but do not know where to look to update the knowledge these books provide. Similarly, a legal problem may arise which is not generally covered by such books. This work deals with how to find the answers, how to update an answer, how to discover if those cases have been applied since judgement was given, how to find statutes and regulators, and how to research and understand the law.

Legal Research Demystified

Legal Research Demystified
Author: Eric P. Voigt
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2019
Genre: Legal research
ISBN: 9781531007836

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.

Law 101

Law 101
Author: Brien A Roche
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2009-08-01
Genre: Law
ISBN: 140224035X

A solid reference for both the everyday and the unexpected legal issues, written by practicing attorneys Law 101 is an essential reference that explains: How laws are made How the court system works How each area of the law impacts your daily life Key information for important questions: How does a lawsuit begin? How do civil and criminal law differ? When do state laws trump federal laws? What makes a contract solid? What can you expect if called as a juror? What can you expect if called as a witness? And other complex areas of the law that you need to know. No home reference shelf is complete without this indispensible guide. The new edition also includes information on legal subjects that have become more important recently, including alternative dispute resolution, privacy rights, and Internet law.

Legal Research Methods in a Modern World

Legal Research Methods in a Modern World
Author: J. Paul Lomio
Publisher: Djoef Publishing
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2011
Genre: Electronic books
ISBN: 9788757424676

Lawyers engaged in European/US transborder transactions need to know how to find, understand, and compare applicable foreign and international laws. Breaking the oceanic divide, this book is the first legal research guide to consider internationalization and globalization in both the new law school curriculums and the changing practice of law. The book is a significant expansion and revision of the second edition of Legal Research Methods in the US and Europe. With the inclusion of material on China, Russia, and England - and on researching foreign law in general - the book now reflects a broader scope. Regarding US legal research, this edition explains the impacts and effects of major changes and developments that have occurred very recently, including the introduction of Bloomberg Law, WestlawNext, and the revolutionary Law.gov movement.

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law
Author: Merriam-Webster, Inc
Publisher: Merriam-Webster
Total Pages: 662
Release: 1996
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9780877796046

A search only dictionary on the FindLaw web site that includes 10,000 definitions of legal terms.

Law Books in Action

Law Books in Action
Author: Angela Fernandez
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 262
Release: 2012-04-02
Genre: Law
ISBN: 184731922X

'Law Books in Action: Essays on the Anglo-American Legal Treatise' explores the history of the legal treatise in the common law world. Rather than looking at treatises as shortcuts from 'law in books' to 'law in action', the essays in this collection ask what treatises can tell us about what troubled legal professionals at a given time, what motivated them to write what they did, and what they hoped to achieve. This book, then, is the first study of the legal treatise as a 'law book in action', an active text produced by individuals with ideas about what they wanted the law to be, not a mere stepping-stone to codes and other forms of legal writing, but a multifaceted genre of legal literature in its own right, practical and fanciful, dogmatic and ornamental in turn. This book will be of interest to legal scholars, lawyers and judges, as well as to anyone else with a scholarly interest in law in general, and legal history in particular.

Empirical Legal Research in Action

Empirical Legal Research in Action
Author: W. H. van Boom
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2018
Genre: Legal research
ISBN: 9781785362743

Empirical legal research is a growing field of academic expertise, yet lawyers are not always familiar with the possibilities and limitations of the available methods. Empirical Legal Research in Action presents readers with first-hand experiences of empirical research on law and legal issues. The chapters, written by an international cast of scholars, reflect on the methods that they have applied in their own empirical work, spanning a wide breadth of research from psychological experiments in personal injury to field studies in criminology. Empirical Legal Research in Action not only reviews the advantages, limitations and challenges that such methods pose but also considers the value of empiricism to lawyers and the law. Vitally, the contributions offer an academic reflection on methodological challenges, as well as the relevance, of empirical research for lawyers. This insightful book will be useful reading for academic researchers in law and for policymakers seeking to understand the methodological challenges of empirical work in legal research. Social sciences scholars will also find this book of interest to appreciate the multitude of methods in empirical legal research. Contributors include: B. Boppre, J. Crijns, P. Desmet, C. Engel, J. Etienne, I. Giesen, H. Grootelaar, P. Mascini, C.P. Reinders Folmer, M. Rorie, S.S. Simpson, W. Voermans, W.H. van Boom, K. van den Bos, I. van Oorschot

Legal Research, Analysis, and Writing

Legal Research, Analysis, and Writing
Author: Kathryn Myers
Publisher: Pearson Higher Ed
Total Pages: 744
Release: 2013-07-30
Genre: Law
ISBN: 013356407X

This is the eBook of the printed book and may not include any media, website access codes, or print supplements that may come packaged with the bound book. This comprehensive guide to modern legal research and writing offers a unique balance of traditional print research techniques with newer online methods. Throughout, LEGAL RESEARCH AND WRITING helps students fully understand the issues they are researching, so they can apply analytical thinking to achieve superior results. Students discover how laws are made, how to decide which law is applicable, how to read the law, how to search legal databases, and how to apply the law in a client's unique situation. The text offers insights for overcoming research obstacles, and provides many examples, figures, and reference checklists. It also offers deep insight into effective writing, including extensive coverage of case briefs, memoranda of law, external briefs, correspondence, and pleadings. A concise review of the writing process addresses everything from pre-writing to grammar and word usage. Extensive pedagogical features include opening scenarios, lists of key terms, case excerpts, media and web resources, and many forms of practice, from Quick Check quizzes to detailed Research Assignments.

How to Find the Law

How to Find the Law
Author: Morris L. Cohen
Publisher: West Publishing Company
Total Pages: 840
Release: 1983
Genre: Law
ISBN:

"Characteristics of American Law and Legal Resources; Court Reports; Shepard's Citations; Online Updating Tools; West Key-Number Digests; ALR Annotations; Federal Statutory Research; State Statutory Research; Local Law Sources; Constitutional Law; Legislative History; Administrative Regulations and Decisions; Court Rules; Practice Materials; Looseleaf Services; Legal Periodicals; Periodical Indexes; Legal Encyclopedias; Restatements; Texts; Legal Dictionaries; Directories; Formbooks; Nonlegal Research Sources; Treaties; International Law; International Organizations; English Legal Research; Canadian Legal Research; Foreign and Comparative Law; Research Strategies."-- Book description

Legal Research, Analysis, and Writing

Legal Research, Analysis, and Writing
Author: Joanne Banker Hames
Publisher: Pearson College Division
Total Pages: 574
Release: 2011
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9780135109441

LEGAL RESEARCH, ANALYSIS, AND WRITING, 4/e fully integrates the basics of legal research, analysis, and writing, bringing together all the basic knowledge and tools students need to research and analyze a legal problem and communicate the results in diverse forms of legal memoranda. It provides many highly realistic research and writing exercises, as well as new tools designed to help students become more effective writers. Throughout, it clarifies the interrelationships among legal research, analysis, and writing, enabling students to experience the total process as it is performed in practice. Reflecting today's new realities, this edition also contains extensive new coverage of Internet-based research on both free and fee-based sites.