Chapter 1 Introduction 1
About this Book and Course 9
"Thinking Like a Lawyer" 11
The Problem 14
Potential Issues 14
Chapter 2 Sources of Law 17
American Law: What It Is and Where It Comes From 18
Federal Law 18
Federal Jurisdiction 18
The Constitution: Source of Substantive Law 19
The Constitution: Creator of Federal Lawmaking Bodies 19
The Congress: Creator of Law 19
The Executive: Implementer of Law 23
The Judiciary: Interpreter of Law 25
The Judiciary: Interpreter of Law 26
State Law 31
State Jurisdiction 31
State Government Structure 31
Chapter 3 Finding the Law: Books I 45
Introduction 46
Law Libraries and Collections 46
Legal Publishers 46
Legal Research Books 49
Primary Sources 52
American Law Reports (ALRs) 88
Chapter 4 Legal Research Books II 95
Secondary Sources 96
Dictionaries 96
Encyclopedias 96
Treatises 96
Law Journals and Reviews 108
Legal Newspapers 108
Law Finders 110
Chapter 5 Finding the Law: Computer Assisted Legal Research (CALR) 125
Introduction 126
What is Computer Assisted Legal Research? 126
Understanding CALR 130
Understanding CALR 131
Using CALRs 132
Signing on to a CALR 132
Searching 132
Browsing 135
Other Searches 135
Beyond Legal Research 135
Printing and Saving Information 138
Signing off from a CALR 139
Chapter 6 An Approach to Legal Research and an Example 191
An Approach to Investigating and an Example 192
Begin with a Concise Statement of the Issue 192
Choose Key Terms 192
Choose Alternative Terms 192
Begin with Legal Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, and/or Treatises 192
Move to the Statutes 194
Look in Digests 195
Agency Regulations and Decisions 199
CALR Research 199
Note Taking and Following Up on Likely Resources 201
Integrating Book and CALR Service (Westlaw, LEXIS) Research 202
Knowing When to Stop 203
Time's Up 203
You're out of Money 203
Tripping over Yourself 203
Chapter 7 Finding the Current Law: Updating and Verifying Legal Research and Examples 207
Introduction 208
Updating Legal Research through Digests and Mini-Digests 208
Updating and Verifying Legal Research Using Shepard's Citations 209
Using Shepard's Citations to Update Legal Research: An Example 212
Verifying and Updating Research Using CALRs 215
Integrating Digest, Shepard's, and CALR Citators 216
Chapter 8 Understanding the Results of Legal Research: Reading the Law 221
Introduction 222
Reading the Law: Statutes 222
Structure of Statutes 222
Interpretation of Statutes 222
Aids to Statutory Interpretation 224
Another Example of Statutory Construction 225
Reading the Law: Briefing Cases 230
Components of a Court Decision 230
Briefing a Case 230
Chapter 9 Using the Law: Legal Analysis 243
Introduction 244
Ninety Percent of Legal Analysis Happens in the Head 244
The Remaining Ten Percent: Written Legal Analysis 246
Examples 248
Simple Legal Analysis: Single Law Source 248
Complex Legal Analysis: Many Law Sources, Legal Synthesis 249
Chapter 10 Putting Pen to Paper: Legal Writing 259
Legal Writing 260
Legal Citations 261
Legal Writing Is Organized 270
Macro-Organization: Organizing Your Document 270
Micro-Organization: Organizing Sentences and Paragraphs 273
Legal Writing Is Brief 278
Redundancy and Repetition 278
Wordiness 278
Excising Adjectives and Adverbs 279
Legal Writing Is Readable 280
Use Simple Words, Sentences, and Paragraphs 280
Elegant Variation 281
Fog Index 282
Negatives 283
Prefer Active over Passive Voice 283
Forget the Legalese 285
Legal Writing Is Accurate 287
Vagueness 288
Writing, Rewriting, and Revising 289
Chapter 11 Writing Letters 297
Introduction 298
Know Your Audience 298
Know Your Purpose 298
Legal Correspondence Form and Elements 298
Form of Legal Correspondence 298
Organizing the Body of Legal Correspondence 299
E-mail 300
Sample Correspondence 303
Chapter 12 The Legal Research Memoranda 311
Introduction 312
Know Your Audience 312
Know Your Purpose 312
Legal Research Memos: Form and Elements 312
The Body of a Legal Research Memorandum 312
Sample Legal Research Memoranda 320
Sample Student Briefs in the Vincent McCall Case 338
Chapter 13 Trial Court Legal Memoranda 349
Introduction 350
Know Your Audience and Purpose 350
Trial Court Memoranda: Form and Elements 350
Body of a Trial Court Memorandum 350
Caption 350
Introduction 351
Statement of Facts 354
Argument 354
Conclusion 355
Sample "Trial Court" Memoranda 356
Chapter 14 Writing Appellate Briefs 367
Introduction 368
Appellate Process, Rules, and Deadlines 368
Know Your Audience and Purpose 370
Appellate Briefs: Form and Elements 370
The Body of the Appellate Brief 371
Cover/Title Page 371
Table of Contents 371
Table of Authorities 371
Statement of Jurisdiction 377
Statement of Issues 377
Statement of the Case 378
Summary of the Argument 378
Argument 379
Conclusion 379
Certificate of Service 379
Addendum of Constitutional and Statutory Provisions 379
Appendix 380
Form of an Appellate Brief 380
Sample Appellate Briefs 383
Appendix A Selected Codes Governing Paralegal Ethics 419
NALA Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility 420
National Federation of Paralegal Associations, Inc. Model Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility and Guidelines for Enforcement 421
Preamble 421
NFPA Model Disciplinary Rules and Ethical Considerations 422
ABA Model Standards and Guidelines for Utilization of Legal Assistants 434
Introduction 434
Standards 434
Guidelines 435
Appendix B Comparison of Selected ALWD and Bluebook 17th Edition Rules 437
Glossary 445
Index 457