Finding, Reading and Using the Law

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ISBN: 9780314125781 | 0314125787
Cover: Paperback
Copyright: 10/8/2001

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Finding, Reading and Using Law is a widely appealing guide to legal research, analysis and writing. It identifies where and how to review legal documentation, how to analyze the results of a legal investigation, and how to succinctly present those findings in writing. Presented in a clear, concise manner, this book easily guides the reader through the processes essential to all who work within the field of law. Finding, Reading and Using Law is an excellent resource, as helpful to the professional on the job as it is for the student.

Introduction

(16)

About this Book and Course

(2)

``Thinking Like a Lawyer''

(4)

The Problem

(1)

Potential Issues

(1)

Review Questions

(1)

Exercise

(1)

Glossary

(1)

Notes

(1)

Sources of Law

(28)

American Law: What It Is and Where It Comes From

(1)

Federal Law

(13)

Federal Jurisdiction

(1)

The Constitution: Source of Substantive Law

(1)

The Constitution: Creator of Federal Lawmaking Bodies

(1)

The Congress: Creator of Law

(4)

The Executive: Implementer of Law

(2)

The Judiciary: Interpreter of Law

(1)

The Judiciary: Interpreter of Law

(5)

State Law

(10)

State Jurisdiction

(1)

State Government Structure

(10)

Review Questions

(1)

Exercise

(1)

Glossary

(2)

Notes

(2)

Finding the Law: Books I

(50)

Introduction

(1)

Law Libraries and Collections

(1)

Legal Publishers

(3)

Legal Research Books

(39)

Primary Sources

(36)

American Law Reports (ALRs)

(2)

Review Questions

(2)

Exercises

(1)

Glossary

(2)

Notes

(1)

Legal Research Books II

(30)

Secondary Sources

(15)

Dictionaries

(1)

Encyclopedias

(1)

Treatises

(12)

Law Journals and Reviews

108

(1)

Legal Newspapers

108

(2)

Law Finders

110

(1)

Review Questions

111

(12)

Exercises

123

(1)

Glossary

123

(2)

Finding the Law: Computer Assisted Legal Research (CALR)

125

(66)

Introduction

126

(1)

What is Computer Assisted Legal Research?

126

(4)

Understanding CALR

130

(1)

Understanding CALR

131

(1)

Using CALRs

132

(7)

Signing on to a CALR

132

(1)

Searching

132

(3)

Browsing

135

(1)

Other Searches

135

(1)

Beyond Legal Research

135

(3)

Printing and Saving Information

138

(1)

Signing off from a CALR

139

(1)

Review Questions

139

(1)

Exercises

140

(1)

Glossary

140

(2)

Notes

142

(49)

An Approach to Legal Research and an Example

191

(16)

An Approach to Investigating and an Example

192

(1)

Begin with a Concise Statement of the Issue

192

(9)

Choose Key Terms

192

(1)

Choose Alternative Terms

192

(1)

Begin with Legal Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, and/or Treatises

192

(2)

Move to the Statutes

194

(1)

Look in Digests

195

(4)

Agency Regulations and Decisions

199

(1)

CALR Research

199

(2)

Note Taking and Following Up on Likely Resources

201

(1)

Integrating Book and CALR Service (Westlaw, LEXIS) Research

202

(1)

Knowing When to Stop

203

(1)

Time's Up

203

(1)

You're out of Money

203

(1)

Tripping over Yourself

203

(1)

Review Questions

204

(1)

Exercises

205

(1)

Glossary

205

(2)

Finding the Current Law: Updating and Verifying Legal Research and Examples

207

(14)

Introduction

208

(1)

Updating Legal Research through Digests and Mini-Digests

208

(1)

Updating and Verifying Legal Research Using Shepard's Citations

209

(3)

Using Shepard's Citations to Update Legal Research: An Example

212

(3)

Verifying and Updating Research Using CALRs

215

(1)

Integrating Digest, Shepard's, and CALR Citators

216

(1)

Review Questions

217

(1)

Exercise

218

(1)

Glossary

218

(1)

Notes

219

(2)

Understanding the Results of Legal Research: Reading the Law

221

(22)

Introduction

222

(1)

Reading the Law: Statutes

222

(8)

Structure of Statutes

222

(1)

Interpretation of Statutes

222

(2)

Aids to Statutory Interpretation

224

(1)

Another Example of Statutory Construction

225

(5)

Reading the Law: Briefing Cases

230

(6)

Components of a Court Decision

230

(1)

Briefing a Case

230

(6)

Review Questions

236

(1)

Exercises

237

(3)

Glossary

240

(1)

Notes

240

(3)

Using the Law: Legal Analysis

243

(16)

Introduction

244

(1)

Ninety Percent of Legal Analysis Happens in the Head

244

(2)

The Remaining Ten Percent: Written Legal Analysis

246

(2)

Examples

248

(9)

Simple Legal Analysis: Single Law Source

248

(1)

Complex Legal Analysis: Many Law Sources, Legal Synthesis

249

(8)

Review Questions

257

(1)

Exercises

257

(1)

Glossary

258

(1)

Notes

258

(1)

Putting Pen to Paper: Legal Writing

259

(38)

Legal Writing

260

(10)

Legal Citations

261

(9)

Legal Writing is Organized

270

(8)

Macro-Organization: Organizing Your Document

270

(3)

Micro-Organization: Organizing Sentences and Paragraphs

273

(5)

Legal Writing is Brief

278

(2)

Redundancy and Repetition

278

(1)

Wordiness

278

(1)

Excising Adjectives and Adverbs

279

(1)

Legal Writing is Readable

280

(7)

Use Simple Words, Sentences, and Paragraphs

280

(1)

Elegant Variation

281

(1)

Fog Index

282

(1)

Negatives

283

(1)

Prefer Active over Passive Voice

283

(2)

Forget the Legalese

285

(2)

Legal Writing is Accurate

287

(2)

Vagueness

288

(1)

Writing, Rewriting, and Revising

289

(1)

Review Questions

290

(1)

Exercises

291

(2)

Glossary

293

(1)

Notes

294

(3)

Writing Letters

297

(14)

Introduction

298

(1)

Know Your Audience

298

(1)

Know Your Purpose

298

(1)

Legal Correspondence Form and Elements

298

(1)

Form of Legal Correspondence

298

(1)

Organizing the Body of Legal Correspondence

299

(1)

E-mail

300

(1)

Review Questions

301

(1)

Exercises

302

(1)

Glossary

303

(1)

Sample Correspondence

303

(8)

The Legal Research Memoranda

311

(38)

Introduction

312

(1)

Know Your Audience

312

(1)

Know Your Purpose

312

(1)

Legal Research Memos: Form and Elements

312

(1)

The Body of a Legal Research Memorandum

312

(7)

Review Questions

319

(1)

Exercise

319

(1)

Glossary

320

(1)

Notes

320

(1)

Sample Legal Research Memoranda

320

(18)

Sample Student Briefs in the Vincent McCall Case

338

(11)

Trial Court Legal Memoranda

349

(18)

Introduction

350

(1)

Know Your Audience and Purpose

350

(1)

Trial Court Memoranda: Form and Elements

350

(1)

Body of a Trial Court Memorandum

350

(5)

Caption

350

(1)

Introduction

351

(3)

Statement of Facts

354

(1)

Argument

354

(1)

Conclusion

355

(1)

Review Questions

355

(1)

Exercise

355

(1)

Glossary

355

(1)

Sample ``Trial Court'' Memoranda

356

(11)

Writing Appellate Briefs

367

(52)

Introduction

368

(1)

Appellate Process, Rules, and Deadlines

368

(2)

Know Your Audience and Purpose

370

(1)

Appellate Briefs: Form and Elements

370

(1)

The Body of the Appellate Brief

371

(10)

Cover/Title Page

371

(1)

Table of Contents

371

(1)

Table of Authorities

371

(6)

Statement of Jurisdiction

377

(1)

Statement of Issues

377

(1)

Statement of the Case

378

(1)

Summary of the Argument

378

(1)

Argument

379

(1)

Conclusion

379

(1)

Certificate of Service

379

(1)

Addendum of Constitutional and Statutory Provisions

379

(1)

Appendix

380

(1)

Form of an Appellate Brief

380

(1)

Review Questions

381

(1)

Exercise

382

(1)

Glossary

382

(1)

Notes

383

(1)

Sample Appellate Briefs

383

(36)

Appendix A Selected Codes Governing Paralegal Ethics

419

(18)

NALA Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility

420

(1)

National Federation of Paralegal Associations, Inc. Model Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility and Guidelines for Enforcement

421

(13)

Preamble

421

(1)

NFPA Model Disciplinary Rules and Ethical Considerations

422

(12)

ABA Model Standards and Guidelines for Utilization of Legal Assistants

434

(3)

Introduction

434

(1)

Standards

434

(1)

Guidelines

435

(2)

Appendix B Comparison of Selected ALWD and Bluebook 17th Edition Rules

437

(8)

Glossary

445

(12)

Index

457

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Finding, Reading and Using the Law

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

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