Legal Research and Writing

Legal Research and Writing

Full Description

Through legal research, a researcher can develop a more sophisticated understanding of law, by referring to codes, legal treatises, and legal encyclopedia, among others. Navigating through that data, however, requires a systematic and practical approach. By gathering appropriate information, analyzing it, and drawing conclusions from the analysis, a researcher can best serve the interests of the client. For this Basic Completion course, students have 24/7 access to on-line testing materials. Each chapter of text in a course has twenty questions, multiple choice, true-false or a combination thereof. Students may query the instructor up to three times, via e-mail, regarding course content. For the Advanced Completion course enrollment, students have unlimited access to the instructor via e-mail. TEXTS: Legal Research and Writing (Some starting points), by William P. Statsky. Fifth Edition. West Educational Publishing Company, 1999. ISBN: 0-314-12901-4 List Price: $60.95 0-314-12901-4:Product Link on Barnes & Noble.com. Legal Research and Writing (Some starting points), by William P. Statsky. Fifth Edition. West Educational Publishing Company, 1999. (Student workbook) ISBN: 0-314-12978-2. List Price: $26.95

Outcomes:

Upon completion of this course, students will have: . learned about different research materials; . practiced the different strategies used in conducting legal research; . discover the different kinds of legal writings; and . go about learning how to do such writing.

Assessment:

Students will complete open-book multiple choice exams on each chapter of material in the course (where the course consists of 18 chapters of material). Students may query the instructor up to three times, via e-mail, regarding course content.

Week 1 LEGAL RESEARCH

Preliminary Considerations (Chapter 1): QUIZ

Categories of Law and Research Materials Chapter 2): QUIZ

Defining Research Materials: An Introductory Overview (Chapter 3): QUIZ

Week 2 Authority in Research and Writing (Chapter 4): QUIZ

Citation Form (Chapter 5): QUIZ

Components of Many Law Books (Chapter 6): QUIZ Week 3 The CARTWHEEL and Other Index Search Systems (Chapter 7): QUIZ

The First Level of Legal Research: Background (Chapter 8): QUIZ

Checklist for Using Nine Major Search Resources (Chapter 9): QUIZ Week 4 Case Law (Chapter 10): QUIZ

Statutory Law (Chapter 11): QUIZ

Other Primary Authority (Chapter 12): QUIZ Week 5 Computer Research (Chapter 13): QUIZ

Validation -- The Third Level of Research: Ending Your Research (Chapter 14): QUIZ

LEGAL WRITING

Letter Writing (Chapter 15): QUIZ Week 6 Memorandum of Law (Chapter 16): QUIZ

Appellate Brief (Chapter 17): QUIZ

Writing Fundamentals (Chapter 18): QUIZ

Contact Hours: 24