Legal Research and

Writing

Legal ResearchStructure of Government

Executive

President

Vice President

Administrative Staff

http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/executive-branch

Legal ResearchStructure of Government

Legislative

Senate

House of Representatives

http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/dc76.htm

Legal ResearchStructure of Government

Judicial

Supreme Court

http://www.baucus.senate.gov/files/images/ToursSupremeCourt2.jpg

Legal ResearchStructure of Government

Judicial

Federal Court (District)

http://www.uscourts.gov/uscourts/images/CircuitMap.pdf

Legal ResearchStructure of Government

Judicial

State Courts

County Courts

Municipal Courts

Legal ResearchSources of Law

United States Constitution

Supreme Law of the Land

http://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/document.html?doc=3

Legal ResearchSources of Law

Primary Sources

Statutes

* United States Code

United States Reports

* U.S. Supreme Court Official Publication

Legal ResearchSources of Law

Secondary Sources

Encyclopedias

Brief broad summaries of legal topics

WestLaw’s Corpus Juris Secundum

LexisNexus’s American Jurisprudence

Dictionaries

Defines legal terms

Black’s Law Dictionary

Merriam Webster's Dictionary of Law

Legal ResearchResearch Methods

Case Method

Name of the case is knownU.S. vs. William Jefferson Clinton

Topic and Index Method

Subject of the caseImpeachment

Legal ResearchResearch Methods

Word and Phrase Method

Case is hinged on legal definitions Perjury

Shepardizing

Tracing the judicial history

Latest decision on the case

Legal WritingCase Brief

Procedures

Read the case at least 3 times

Questions to keep in mind:

What are the facts?

What issues did the court consider?

How did the court resolve these issues?

Legal WritingFormat

“IRAC” Method

IssuesFacts, jurisdiction (federal or state),

Source of law (statutory, common, constitutional)

Rule Statutes, regulations, precedents

ApplicationIdentify, apply, arguments

Conclusion Finding of the court and reasoning

Legal WritingCitation

Citing a Case

United States Code

Title - Subject Area – 50 Titles

Publication – Abbreviated (U.S.C.)

Section - Paragraph

Legal WritingOrder

Order to followCitation

Rule of Law – synopsis

Facts

Issues

Holdings (Yes or no to the elements of a crime)

Reasonings (The court’s rationale)

Conclusion (Decision of the court)

Dissent (Disagreeing judges)

Legal WritingDocument

Form TypeFormal Memorandum

Informal Memorandum

Letter

Email

Legal Research Websites

Cornell University Law School’s Legal Information Institute http://www.law.cornell.edu/

 

University of Washington School of Law (http://lib.law.washington.edu/research/research.html )

 

Washburn University School of Law’s WashLaw (http://www.washlaw.edu/)

 

Duke University’s Duke Law (http://law.duke.edu/lib/researchguides/intresear ch)

 

FindLaw (http://www.findlaw.com/)

 

Legal.com (http://www.legal.com/legal-research )

 

ReferencesThe Executive Branch (2013). Our Government, Retrieved on June 29, 2013from http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/executive-branch

The U.S. Capitol (2013). Retrieved on June 29, 2013 from http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/dc76.htm

The U.S. Supreme Court (2013). Retrieved on June 29, 2013 from http://www.baucus.senate.gov/files/images/ToursSupremeCourt2.jpg

U.S. Constitution (2013). Retrieved on June 30, 2013 from http://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/document.html?doc=3

U.S. District Court Map (2013). Retrieved on June 30, 2013 from http://www.uscourts.gov/uscourts/images/CircuitMap.pdf