Table of Contents

1. Quick Legal Research Tips

2. An Overview of Legal Research

Patience and Perspective
How to Find (and Feel at Home in) a Law Library
Legal Research on the Internet
A Basic Approach to Legal Research in the Law Library
Six Time-Saving Research Tips
An Online Search Strategy
Understand the Legal Uncertainty Principle
Know When You're Done

3. An Overview of the Law

What Is the Law?
Foundations of American Law
The Increasing Importance of Statutes and Regulations
The Development of American Common Law
Where Modern American Law Comes From
About Going to Court

4. Putting Your Questions Into Legal Categories

The Land of the Law
Find the Broad Legal Category for Your Problem
Identify Specific Terms for Your Problem
Searching by Subject Matter Categories on the Internet
Key Word Searching on the Internet
Searching With Google

5. Getting Some Background Information

How Background Resources Can Help
Self-Help Law Resources
Law Textbooks
Legal Encyclopedias
Form Books
Practice Manuals
Law Reviews and Other Legal Periodicals
Specialized Loose-Leaf Materials
Treatises and Monographs
Restatements of the Law
Background Resources on the Internet

6. Constitutions, Statutes, Regulations and Ordinances

Constitutional Research
Introduction to Federal Statutes
How to Find Statutes in the United States Code
How to Find a Recent or Pending Federal Statute Online
Finding Out-of-Date Federal Statutes in the Law Library
Finding State Statutes in the Law Library and on the Internet
Finding Recently-Enacted or Pending State Statutes
How to Read Statutes
The Importance of Cases That Interpret Statutes
Using Words and Phrases to Interpret Statutes
Using Attorney General Opinions to Interpret Statutes
Using Legislative History to Interpret Statutes
Using Uniform Law Histories to Interpret Statutes
Regulations
Procedural Statutes and Rules
Local Law -- Ordinances

7. Understanding Case Law

What Is a Case?
How Cases Affect Later Disputes

8. How Cases Are Published

Federal Cases
State Court Cases
Keeping Case Reporters Up-to-Date
The Newest Cases
Publishing Cases on the Internet

9. Finding Cases

Interpreting Case Citations
How to Find Cases in the Law Library
How to Find State Cases on the Internet
Finding Federal Case Law on the Internet
Using VersusLaw to Research Federal and State Case Law
Using Westlaw to Find Cases by Key Words and Other Search Criteria
The Next Step

10. Shepard's, Digests and the Internet: Expand and Update Your Research

Shepard's Citations for Cases
Shepardize! Online
The West Digest System

11. How to Write a Legal Memorandum

Why Prepare a Legal Memorandum?
How to Prepare a Legal Memorandum
Research Hypotheticals and Memoranda
Research Problem: Government Tort Liability Hypothetical (Texas)
Research Problem: Burglary Hypothetical (California)
Research Problem: Alimony Hypothetical (West Virginia)
Online Research Project, March 2007

12. The Legal Research Method: Examples

The Facts
Classify the Problem
Select a Background Resource
Use the Legal Index
Get an Overview of Your Research Topic
Use Shepard's Citations for Cases
Check the Pocket Parts
Use Shepard's and Digests to Find On-Point Cases
Summary

Appendix

Glossary of Legal Terms

Index

Library Exercises

Paperchase
Using Citations to Find Cases
Using Am. Jur
Finding Law Reviews: Exercise One
Finding Law Reviews: Exercise Two
Using a Loose-Leaf Service
Using Treatises
Finding a Statute From Its Citation: Exercise One
Finding a Statute From Its Citation: Exercise Two
Finding Statutes by Their Popular Names
Finding Federal Statutes by Using the Index to the U.S. Codes
Using Annotated Code Index to Find a Federal Statutory Scheme
Finding Statutes by Pub. L. No.
Using Words and Phrases
Finding the Legislative History of Federal Statutes
Using U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News
Finding Federal Regulations
The Nuts and Bolts of a Case
Anatomy of a U.S. Supreme Court Case
How to Use Shepard's Citations: Statutes
Finding Cases by Popular Name
Using Shepard's Citations: Cases
Using A.L.R., Case Headnotes and Shepard's
Using Digests
Using the American Digest System

Internet Exercises

Finding a Federal Statute on the Internet
Finding a State Statute on the Internet
Finding Pending State Legislation
Finding an Attorney General Opinion
Finding a Federal Regulation
Finding a State Regulation
Finding a State Case on the Internet
Finding a Federal Case on the Internet

Summaries

How to Use the Law Library to Find a State Statute or Amendment Passed Within the Past Year
How to Find Federal Regulations
How to Find State Regulations in the Law Library
How to Shepardize Federal Statutes
How to Shepardize State Statutes
How to Find Federal Cases When the Citation Is Unknown
How to Find U.S. Supreme Court Cases When the Citation Is Unknown
How to Find State Cases When No Citation Is Known
How to Find the Text of a U.S. Supreme Court Case Decided Over One Year Ago
How to Find a State Supreme Court Case Decided More Than One Year Ago
How to Find the Text of a U.S. Supreme Court Case Decided Within the Past Year
How To Find a State Supreme Court Case Decided Within the Past Year
How to Shepardize State Court Cases
How to Shepardize U.S. Supreme Court Cases
How to Find Similar Cases in Different States

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