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Foundations of Legal Research and Writing

by: Bast, Carol M.; Hawkins, Margie

Foundations of Legal Research and Writing

by: Bast, Carol M.; Hawkins, Margie

ISBN 13:
9780766831643
ISBN 10:
0766831647
Edition: 2nd
Format: Paperback
Copyright: 08/17/2001
Publisher: Cengage Learning
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Summary

"This text presents a unique approach to legal research and writing by giving equal weight to both areas. This up-to-date and classroom-tested book includes outstanding chapters on research, including a chapter with detailed explanations of legal reasoning and analysis and another on computer-assisted legal research. The research chapters end with legal research assignments. Cyber law exercises requiring students to perform computer-assisted legal research are included at the end of most chapters."--BOOK JACKET.

Table of Cases

xii

Preface

xiii

Organization of the text

xiii

New to this edition

Supplemental resources

Acknowledgments

xvi

Introduction

xviii

Law and Sources of Law

(17)

Introduction

(1)

The American system of law

(5)

Our tripartite system

(2)

Interplay among the three branches of government in lawmaking

(6)

Sources of law

(2)

Summary

(1)

Exercises

(1)

Cyberlaw Exercises

(1)

Legal Reasoning and Analysis

(24)

Introduction

(1)

An illustrative fact pattern

(1)

Doctrine of stare decisis

(6)

Judicial opinions

(2)

Deductive reasoning

(1)

Legal analysis of statutory law

(6)

Legal analysis of constitutional law

(3)

The interpretation process

(3)

Summary

(1)

Exercises

(1)

Cyberlaw Exercises

(1)

Secondary Sources and Finding Tools

(63)

Introduction

(1)

Encyclopedias

(12)

American Law Reports

(12)

Attorney General opinions

(1)

Restatements of the Law

(1)

Treatises

(1)

Legal dictionaries

(6)

Legal directories

(1)

Formbooks

(6)

Looseleaf services

(1)

Legal periodicals

(3)

Internet material

(1)

Digests

(11)

Summary

(1)

Cyberlaw Exercises

(1)

Legal Research Assignment--Legal Encyclopedias

(2)

Legal Research Assignment--American Law Reports

100

(2)

Legal Research Assignment--Digests

102

(3)

The Judicial Branch and Cases

105

(47)

Introduction

105

(1)

The judicial branch

105

(15)

Reading cases

120

(19)

Briefing a case

139

(2)

Location of cases

141

(2)

Case citations

143

(4)

Summary

147

(1)

Cyberlaw Exercises

148

(1)

Legal Research Assignment--Reading Cases

149

(1)

Legal Research Assignment--Case Law

150

(2)

Primary Sources: Constitutions, Statutes, Court Rules, and Administrative Law

152

(68)

Introduction

152

(1)

Constitutions

152

(4)

Statutes

156

(33)

Court rules

189

(6)

Administrative law

195

(18)

Summary

213

(1)

Cyberlaw Exercises

213

(1)

Legal Research Assignment--Constitutions

214

(1)

Legal Research Assignment--Statutes

215

(1)

Legal Research Assignment--Court Rules

216

(2)

Legal Research Assignment--Administrative Law

218

(2)

Citators

220

(42)

Introduction

220

(1)

Citators

221

(4)

Shepardizing procedure

225

(17)

Statutes

242

(13)

KeyCite

255

(5)

Summary

260

(1)

Cyberlaw Exercises

260

(1)

Legal Research Assignment--Citators

260

(2)

Overview of the Research Process

262

(16)

Introduction

263

(1)

Gathering information

263

(3)

Identification of key terms

266

(1)

Basic approaches to legal research

267

(2)

Currency

269

(1)

Learning about the general topic

269

(1)

Locating primary sources

270

(2)

Relationship among research tools

272

(3)

Summary

275

(1)

Cyberlaw Exercises

276

(1)

Exercises

276

(2)

CALR: Computer-Assisted Legal Research

278

(18)

Introduction

278

(1)

History of Computer-Assisted Legal Research (CALR)

278

(1)

Electronic information formats

279

(2)

Computer-Assisted Legal Research tools

281

(2)

Legislative databases

283

(1)

Business information databases

284

(3)

Investigative and public records databases

287

(3)

Legal citation: electronic formats

290

(1)

CALR: pros and cons

291

(1)

Summary

292

(1)

Exercises

293

(3)

The Internet in a Nutshell

296

(22)

Introduction

296

(2)

Accessing the information superhighway

298

(1)

Navigating the Internet

299

(3)

The Internet as a research tool

302

(8)

Evaluative guidelines for selecting Internet resources

310

(1)

Future trends

310

(4)

Summary

314

(2)

Legal Research Assignment--The Internet

316

(2)

Cyberlaw: Using the Internet as a Legal Research Tool

318

(13)

Introduction

318

(1)

Available resources

319

(2)

The bad news: what is [currently] not available

321

(1)

Free vs. fee-based

321

(1)

Legal resources on the Internet

322

(1)

Government information on the Internet

322

(1)

Litigation support

323

(1)

Limitations to using the Internet as a research tool

324

(1)

Cyber-citation

324

(1)

325

(1)

Future trends

326

Summary

237

(92)

Legal Research Assignment--the Internet

329

(2)

Introduction to Legal Writing

331

(16)

Introduction

334

(5)

Types of legal writing

339

(7)

Summary

346

(1)

Cyberlaw Exercises

346

(1)

Exercises

346

(1)

Fundamentals of Writing

347

(18)

Introduction

347

(1)

Writing Process

347

(1)

Structure

348

(4)

Mechanical errors

352

(3)

More legal writing advice

355

(6)

Summary

361

(1)

Cyberlaw Exercises

361

(1)

Exercises

361

(4)

Transmittal Letter and Client Opinion Letter

365

(21)

Introduction

365

(1)

Purpose of the transmittal letter

365

(1)

Style of letters

365

(9)

Purpose of the client opinion letter

374

(1)

Format of the client opinion letter

375

(1)

Sample client opinion letters

375

(9)

Summary

384

(1)

Cyber Examples

384

(1)

Exercises

385

(1)

Writing Contracts

386

(33)

Introduction

386

(1)

What is covered in this chapter

386

(1)

The substance of the contract

387

(2)

Writing a contract

389

(1)

Checklist of matters to be considered when writing a contract for the sale of goods

390

(1)

The perfect contract

391

(7)

Checklist for an employment contract

398

(1)

Organization and format

399

(2)

A type of employment agreement--the attorney-client retainer agreement

401

(16)

Summary

417

(1)

Cyberlaw Exercises

417

(2)

Pleadings

419

(23)

Introduction

419

(1)

Purpose and use

419

(3)

Format

422

(3)

Format of the complaint

425

(1)

Format of the answer

426

(3)

Evidentiary facts, ultimate facts, and legal conclusions

429

(3)

First sample set of pleadings

432

(4)

Second sample set of pleadings

436

(4)

Summary

440

(1)

Cyberlaw Exercises

441

(1)

Cyber Examples

441

(1)

Law Office Memo

442

(27)

Introduction

442

(1)

Purpose and use

442

(1)

Style

443

(1)

Format

443

(8)

First sample office memo

451

(6)

Second office memo

457

(6)

Communicating clearly with the reader

463

(5)

Summary

468

(1)

Cyber Exercises

468

(1)

Exercises

468

(1)

Memorandum of Law

469

(18)

Introduction

469

(1)

Purpose and use

469

(2)

Style

471

(1)

Organization

471

(1)

Format

472

First sample memorandum of law

464

(16)

Second sample memorandum of law

480

(5)

Summary

485

(1)

Cyberlaw Exercises and Examples

485

(1)

Exercises

486

(1)

Appellate Brief

487

(30)

Introduction

487

(1)

Purpose and use

488

(2)

Format

490

(7)

First sample appellate brief

497

(9)

Second sample appellate brief

506

(10)

Summary

516

(1)

Cyber examples

516

(1)

Exercises

516

(1)

APPENDICES

517

(88)

APPENDIX A Search and Seizure

517

(39)

Introduction

517

(1)

The Williams search and seizure problem

517

(1)

Examples of Primary and Secondary Sources Found after researching search and seizure problem

518

(1)

Research and writing exercises

519

(1)

Flowchart for office memo on Williams Brothers

519

(2)

Sample outline for office memo

521

(35)

APPENDIX B Citation Rules

556

(5)

General citation tips

556

(1)

United States Supreme Court cases

557

(1)

United States courts of appeals

557

(1)

United States district courts

557

(1)

Citations for constitutions

558

(1)

Citations for statutes

558

(1)

Citations for court rules

558

(1)

Citations for administrative law

559

(1)

Citations to legal encyclopedias

559

(1)

Citations to American Law Reports

559

(1)

Citations to attorneys general opinions

559

(1)

Citations to restatements

559

(1)

Citation to a treatise

560

(1)

Citation to a legal dictionary

560

(1)

Citation to a law review article

560

(1)

Citation to Internet material

560

(1)

Cyber citations

560

(1)

APPENDIX C Rules for Quotations and Short Form Citations

561

(7)

Introduction

561

(1)

Quotations

561

(5)

Short form citations

566

(1)

Short form citations for statutes

566

(1)

Exercises on short form citations

567

(1)

APPENDIX D Mechanical Errors

568

(13)

Introduction

568

(1)

Excess words

568

(2)

Use of apostrophes

570

(1)

Sentence fragments

570

(3)

Run-on sentences

573

(1)

Parallel construction

574

(2)

Antecedents

576

(1)

Active versus passive voice

577

(2)

Change in tenses

579

(1)

Combination of errors

580

(1)

APPENDIX E Problems

581

(5)

Was swimming pool an attractive nuisance?

581

(1)

Defamation

582

(1)

The nightmare property

583

(1)

I wonder what is in the package

584

(2)

APPENDIX F Web Bibliography: Company Information on the Internet

586

(2)

APPENDIX G Internet Terminology

588

(3)

APPENDIX H Bibliography of Evaluative Criteria Web Sites

591

(1)

APPENDIX I Legal Research ``Starting Points''

592

(2)

APPENDIX J Federal Law Resources

594

(3)

APPENDIX K State and Local Resources

597

(1)

Appendix L International Law Resources

598

(1)

APPENDIX M Commercial Legal Information Web Sites

599

(1)

APPENDIX N Topical Index of Legal and Government Web Sites

600

(4)

APPENDIX O Law-Related Internet Discussion Groups (Lists)

604

(1)

Glossary

605

(10)

Index

615

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

Foundations of Legal Research and Writing

Foundations of Legal Research and Writing

9780766831643

0766831647

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

Write a Review

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

Foundations of Legal Research and Writing

Foundations of Legal Research and Writing

9780766831643

0766831647

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

Write a Review

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