Legal Research and Writing Secondary Sources
Below, you will find a curated selection of the leading Legal Research & Writing study supplements. To view the full range of supplements available through D'Angelo Law Library subscriptions, see below:
West Study Aids (Legal Research & Writing) | Lexis Digital Library (Legal Writing) | Aspen Learning Library
Principles of Legal Research, 3rd ed. by
Principles of Legal Research provides comprehensive yet concise coverage of research methods in both online and printed resources. It has been thoroughly updated to explain the latest features of the major legal research platforms as well as dozens of other free and subscription websites. In this expanded and reorganized edition, an introductory survey of research strategies is followed by discussion of major secondary sources, treatment of the sources of U.S. law created by each branch of government, chapters on specialized resources for litigation and transactional practice, and an overview of international and foreign law. Other new features include a deeper look at search algorithms and executive branch lawmaking. Sample illustrations are included throughout, and an appendix lists hundreds of major treatises and topical services by subject.
Publication Date: 2020
Legal Research in a Nutshell by
Finding and using legal resources effectively is an essential skill for lawyers. This comprehensive but succinct guide covers research procedures using major online services, free Internet resources, and library materials. Several hundred websites are discussed and placed in context for effective and productive use in research. Discussion includes coverage of legislative history, administrative law, specialized and interdisciplinary resources, and research in international and comparative law. Appendices list state research guides and treatises and services by subject, and a companion website has a regularly updated list of URLs and illustrations of online and print resources. For more information and additional teaching materials, visit the companion site.
Publication Date: 2021
Legal Writing and Analysis in a Nutshell, 5th ed. by
This book provides a ten-step guide to clear, precise, and effective legal writing and analysis for both law students and experienced lawyers. It gives the keys to writing legal memoranda and briefs, organizing analysis, crafting clear and concise sentences, using legal language accurately, using grammar and punctuation properly, writing persuasively using classical rhetorical techniques. The book describes a method for analyzing and improving individual writing style includes a sample analysis. It also includes new material on using plain English and new legal documents to illustrate effective writing techniques.
Publication Date: 2017
International Legal Research in a Nutshell, 3rd ed. by
This Nutshell provides a basic introduction to international and foreign legal research for the non-specialist. It offers guidance through the unfamiliar pathways of research using international and non-US legal materials and demystifies the world of treaties and international case law. Since it's aimed at the non-specialist, it provides straight-forward background information on the United Nations and the European Union and includes guidance using the documents and legal materials of these institutions. There are extensive links to the rich world of Web resources, but it also describes print research tools that remain important in this field. It also sets out a road map for approaching a research problem involving international, foreign and comparative law. Finally, there is information on keeping current on new information and resources as well as tips for how to do handle source collection and cite-checking an international law journal article. Additional teaching materials are available for this title, and include online links to research sources noted in the book: Appendix A: Comprehensive List of Sources Appendix B: Websites Containing National Law Appendix C: Web Treaty Collections Appendix D: Planning Your Research and Organizational Tools
Publication Date: 2021
Gilbert Law Summary on Legal Research, Writing and Analysis, 13th ed. by
This outline covers court systems, precedent, case reporting system (including regional and state reporters, headnotes and the West Key Number System®, citations, and case finding), statutes, constitutions, and legislative history, and secondary sources (including treatises, law reviews, digests, and restatements). Also discussed are administrative agencies (including regulations), Shepard's Citations®, KeyCite, legal research using computers, including Westlaw, Lexis, and other online sources, reading and understanding a case (including briefing a case), using legal source books, basic guidelines for legal writing, organizing your research, writing a memorandum of law, writing a brief, and writing an opinion or client letter.
Publication Date: 2019
Legal Citation in a Nutshell, 3rd ed. by
Learning legal citation is one of the difficult (and sometimes admittedly annoying) tasks that students new to the law face. This book is designed to ease that task. It initially focuses on conventions that underlie all accepted forms and systems of legal citation. Building on that understanding and an explanation of the process of using citations in legal writing, the book then discusses and illustrates the particular rules of The Bluebook and the ALWD Citation Guide for citing cases, statutes, and all other major legal sources. Its unique appendices provide a useful reference resource to aid students in formulating citations.
Publication Date: 2021
Legal Writing Style, 3rd ed. by
Legal Writing Style promotes the art of good writing by teaching students and practitioners the tools to make their prose clear, precise, simple, and forceful. With examples of what works and what doesn't, this short but comprehensive treatise provides an invaluable resource for recasting writing for maximum impact and ultimate success.
Publication Date: 2018
Examples and Explanations for Legal Research by
Examples & Explanations: Legal Research is designed to meet the needs of law students who have come to expect that they will instantly receive answers to their questions. Rather than cataloging sources or outlining processes, this text starts where today's law students are when they realize they have a research problem. By that time, their research problem is not locating sources, but knowing what to do with them. The Legal Research E & E guides students through examples and explanations of the kinds of sources they've found, using the context of interesting and entertaining real-world problems. The text helps students determine which sources are the most useful for the current project and which ¬ it leads students to understand how one source affects and relates to the others; and--equally important--it shows students how to write about the sources they have found. Because this book covers the kinds of research projects faced not only by beginning law students but also by advanced students and even new lawyers, its value to its readers is long-lasting. Even experienced researchers will learn more about working with the difficult, as well as the easy, research questions that today are addressed by an array of sources.
Publication Date: 2016
Examples and Explanations for Legal Writing, 3rd ed. by
A favorite classroom prep tool of successful students that is often recommended by professors, the Examples & Explanations (E&E) series provides an alternative perspective to help you understand your casebook and in-class lectures. Each E&E offers hypothetical questions complemented by detailed explanations that allow you to test your knowledge of the topics in your courses and compare your own analysis. Here's why you need an E&E to help you study throughout the semester: Clear explanations of each class topic, in a conversational, funny style. Features hypotheticals similar to those presented in class, with corresponding analysis so you can use them during the semester to test your understanding, and again at exam time to help you review. It offers coverage that works with ALL the major casebooks, and suits any class on a given topic. The Examples & Explanations series has been ranked the most popular study aid among law students because it is equally as helpful from the first day of class through the final exam.
Publication Date: 2019
Skills and Values: : Lawyering Process, Legal Writing & Advocacy, 2nd ed. by
This legal writing text is unlike others in that it is a hybrid text, with a smaller portion in print and the rest online. This offers several advantages over other books. First, it is somewhat less expensive than a traditional text, and with the significant burden of textbook costs on our students, this is an advantage they appreciate. Second, it is based on the belief that students today need to read less and do more, and be active, rather than passive, in their learning. It is no secret to educators that our students are changing, with shorter attention spans and an increased facility with technology. Rather than fight it, this text seeks to leverage that reality. Third, students who are learning this material for the first time perhaps do not need to read large amounts of information about the writing process. As they are first learning how to do, they need to do, rather than spend a lot of time reading about it. Finally, this textbook is designed for flexible use because each professor has his or her own way of teaching the course and the larger texts may not be fully in sync with how the professor treats the material. So a central idea behind this textbook is that it enables professors to assign limited amounts of reading and then to use the online materials (and their own materials) in ways that suit their individual approaches to the course, thus making it flexible and highly customizable by the adopting professor.
Publication Date: 2017
CALI (Computer Assisted Legal Instruction) has published over 1,000 computer-based, interactive tutorials that cover narrow topics of law. See a reference librarian for your free CALI activation code!
Researching an Appellate Brief
Here are some suggestions for an organized and comprehensive approach to researching for an appellate brief.
- Thoroughly familiarize yourself with the record below and the orders appealed from.
- Analyze the questions you will research. Consider:
- Jurisdiction
- Governing law
- Areas of law
- Applicable court rules
- Create a research plan.
- Places to begin:
- Secondary sources on the areas of law you’ve identified.
- Law cited in the opinion from which the appeal has been taken.
- Consider all types of relevant primary law—statutes, case law, court rules.
- Use the "one good case" method.
- Places to begin:
- Execute your research plan.
- Keep good notes.
- Use Folders in Westlaw and Lexis+ to organize your research.
- Use Copy with Reference (Westlaw)/Copy with Cite (Lexis+) to keep citations with quotations you may wish to use later.
- Update your research: use a citator to ensure that the law you will cite is current.
- Revisit your research plan to ensure that you have covered all the bases.
- Revisit the record in the lower court and the orders appealed from, since your research may have revealed new questions.
Civil Procedure Resources
Finding Actual Briefs
Finding Court Rules
Outside Resources
- Chicago-Kent "Word for Law School" GuideDetailed guide with videos and step-by-step instructions on how to format documents in Word. Includes detailed instructions on using Styles, creating Tables of Contents and Tables of Authorities, and cross-references.
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