"Legal research is 'the process of identifying and retrieving information necessary to support legal decision-making. In its broadest sense, legal research includes each step of a course of action that begins with an analysis of the facts of a problem and concludes with the application and communication of the results of the investigation.'"
An introduction to the different kinds of legal research, including primary and secondary sources of law, and how to conduct legal research effectively.
Sources of Law: This topic deals with the various sources of law that exist in a legal system, including statutes, case laws, administrative regulations, and treaties.
Legal Systems: This topic explores the different legal systems that exist in the world such as Common Law, Civil Law, Islamic Law, and Customary Law.
Legal Terminology: This topic covers the fundamental legal terms used in legal research such as precedents, statutes, regulations, and legal opinions.
Jurisdiction: This topic discusses the concept of jurisdiction and examines the different types of jurisdiction that exist in a legal system, including personal, subject matter, and territorial.
Legal Research Tools: This topic explores the various legal research tools, including legal dictionaries, annotated codes, and online databases.
Legal Citation: This topic deals with the rules of legal citation and their application in law journals and legal writing.
Legal Writing: This topic covers the principles of legal writing, including drafting legal memos, briefs, and pleadings.
Legal Ethics: This topic explores the ethical rules and professional conduct that govern lawyers and legal professionals.
Case Briefing: This topic deals with the art of summarizing and analyzing court opinions for effective legal advocacy.
Legal Analysis: This topic examines the principles of legal analysis, including issue spotting, legal reasoning, and bibliographical research.
Legal Argumentation: This topic covers the techniques of legal argumentation and the principles of effective persuasion in legal advocacy.
Legal Drafting: This topic explores the art of legal drafting, including drafting contracts, pleadings, and legal instruments.
Legal Problem-solving: This topic covers the various strategies and techniques for solving legal problems, including legal reasoning, research, and negotiation.
Legal Theory: This topic examines the different schools of legal theory, including positivism, natural law, and legal realism.
Legal Practice: This topic deals with the practical skills and strategies required to succeed in the legal profession, including client management, conflict resolution, and legal networking.
Statutory Research: This research involves analyzing the law that has been enacted by the legislative body. Essentially, this type of research involves interpreting and making sense of the statutory body of law in a jurisdiction.
Case Law Research: This research involves studying the decisions of the court system. It involves the examination of the principles of law that arise from judicial opinions and cases.
Administrative Law Research: This research involves the examination of the regulations, policies, and guidelines that are created by administrative agencies. The research focuses on the authority and procedures that administrative agencies must follow to enforce the law.
Constitutional Law Research: This research is similar to statutory research in that it involves interpreting the law. However, the focus is on the United States Constitution and how it applies to states, federal government, and individuals.
Practice Area Research: This research involves studying the laws that relate to a particular field of practice. For example, it could include studying environmental law, immigration law, or family law.
Comparative Legal Research: This research involves examining the legal system of different countries and comparing them to identify similarities and differences.
Empirical Legal Research: This research involves the use of quantitative data and methods to study legal phenomena. It involves empirical analysis of legal doctrines and outcomes.
Overruling Research: This research identifies cases that have been overruled by higher courts, which can be helpful in determining how current laws are applied.
Legal History Research: This research involves studying the various periods of law and legal doctrines that evolved over centuries.
Interdisciplinary Legal Research: This research involves examining the relationship between law and other disciplines such as economics, sociology, anthropology, and psychology.
Legislative History Research: This research involves examining the legislative documents that led to the creation of a law. It provides insight into the policymaker's intent, which can be helpful in interpreting the law.
Legal Ethics Research: This research involves examining the ethical rules that apply to lawyers and legal professionals. It is helpful in understanding the professional duties that lawyers owe to their clients and the legal system.
"The main primary sources of law include constitutions, case law, statutes, and regulations."
"Secondary authorities can come in many forms, such as law reviews, legal dictionaries, legal treatises, and legal encyclopedias such as American Jurisprudence and Corpus Juris Secundum."
"Searching non-legal sources for investigative or supporting factual information."
"Legal research is performed by anyone with a need for legal information, including lawyers, law librarians, and paralegals."
"Sources of legal information can include printed books, free legal research websites (like Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute, Findlaw.com, Martindale Hubbell, or CanLII), and websites or software providing paid access to legal research databases such as Wolters Kluwer, LexisNexis, Westlaw, Lex Intell, and Bloomberg Law."
"Law libraries around the world provide research services to help their patrons in law schools, law firms, and other research environments find the legal information they need."
"Many law libraries and institutions provide free access to legal information on the web, either individually or via collective action, such as with the Free Access to Law Movement."
"The processes of legal research vary according to the country and the legal system involved."
"Legal research includes each step of a course of action that begins with an analysis of the facts of a problem and concludes with the application and communication of the results of the investigation."
"Finding primary sources of law, or primary authority, in a given jurisdiction."
"Secondary authorities can come in many forms, such as law reviews, legal dictionaries, legal treatises, and legal encyclopedias such as American Jurisprudence and Corpus Juris Secundum."
"Websites or software providing paid access to legal research databases such as Wolters Kluwer, LexisNexis, Westlaw, Lex Intell, and Bloomberg Law."
"Law libraries around the world provide research services to help their patrons in law schools, law firms, and other research environments find the legal information they need."
"Free legal research websites (like Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute, Findlaw.com, Martindale Hubbell, or CanLII)."
"Searching non-legal sources for investigative or supporting factual information."
"Searching non-legal sources for investigative or supporting factual information."
"The process of identifying and retrieving information necessary to support legal decision-making."
"Law libraries around the world provide research services to help their patrons in law schools, law firms, and other research environments find the legal information they need."
"Sources of legal information can include printed books, free legal research websites, and websites or software providing paid access to legal research databases."