DEFINITiON OF LEGAL RESEARCH
the process of identifying and retrieving
information necessary to
support legal decision-making
In its broadest sense, legal research
includes each step of a course of action
that begins with an analysis of the facts of a
problem and concludes with the application
and communication of the results of the
investigation.
purpose of legal research is to find
"authority" that will aid in finding a solution
to a legal problem
Primary authorities are the rules of law that
are binding upon the courts, government,
and individuals. Examples are statutes,
regulations, court orders, and court
decisions. They are generated
by legislatures, courts, and administrative
agencies.
Secondary authorities are commentaries on
the law that do not have binding effect but
aid in explaining what the law is or should
be.
NECESSITY OF LEGAL RESEARCH
Finding the law is an important part of legal
research, but the ability to analyze what
you have found and reach a conclusion or
formulate an argument based on it is just as
essential.
correctly assess the legal weaknesses of
the Emancipation Proclamation
realize that a constitutional amendment
was the best solution available
Todays lawyers continue to use legal
research on a daily basis to prepare them to
advise clients, negotiate with opposing
counsel, or persuade a judge or jury.
research will help you find, understand, and
apply the law.
Performing good legal research in this way
will provide you with the foundation you
need to proceed confidently and achieve
the best result for your client.
Good legal research, however, is much
more than a research system; its a process
Good legal research is intertwined with
analysis, understanding, and application
one has not truly found the law until he
understands it
SOURCES OF LEGAL RESEARCH
Finding tools enable a researcher to find and
interpret legal authority. Initially, many researchers
turn to tools that provide summaries of a particular
area of the law. Some examples are legal
encyclopedias, treatises, and the American Law
Reports (ALR). Law reviews and legal periodical
articles provide interpretation of the law as well as
detailed articles on particular legal topics. These
interpretations may be found through indexes such
as the Index to Legal Periodicals. Restatements
provide detailed summaries of what the law
generally is or what the restatement writers
believe the law should be. The citations to other
authorities and annotations provided in legal
encyclopedias, treatises, American Law Reports,
law reviews, and legal periodicals are an important
element of their value in the research process.
There are also a number of specialized finding
tools that enable one to search for relevant
materials in primary authorities. The index
volumes for statutes and regulations compilations
provide a quick guide to relevant rules and
regulations. There are also privately published
version of statutes that are annotated. Case
reporters contain the decisions in cases that have
been deemed important enough to publish. Case
digests enable a researcher to look up a particular
area of the law and find a list of case decisions that
are "reported" in relevant case reporters. If one
has the common name of a law (e.g.,The Lanham
Act), a popular name table can provide a quick
reference to where the law can be found in the
statute compilation. There are also conversion
tables that allow one to link a statute to the bill
from which it developed and the commentary
surrounding it's approval. Shepard's
Citations provides references to when cases and
law review articles were cited by another source.
Computer databanks have provided the legal
profession with quick and efficient tools to do
research. LEXIS and WESTLAW, two prominent
legal search engines, provide databases that have
case reporters, statutes, legal periodicals, law
reviews and various secondary authorities. State
and specialty law collections pulling together
diverse types of authority are now appearing on
CD-ROM and the Internet.
SOURCES OF LAW
Sources of law means the origin from which rules
of human conduct come into existence and derive
legal force or binding characters.It also refers to
the sovereign or the state from which the law
derives its force or validity.
BASIC APPROACH TO LEGAL RESEARCH
Regardless of how the question is phrased, the
user is ultimately asking what law or
laws apply to his or her situation. Your first task, as
in any reference interview, is to
analyze the information provided in order to
identify the relevant facts and to weed out
the irrelevant. To determine the relevant facts, you
will usually need to ask additional
questions. At this point, it is appropriate to briefly
address concerns about the
unauthorized practice of law.
contract, mistaken identity)
R RELIEF sought or type of lawsuit (e.g., monetary
damages,
injunction)
P PERSONS or PARTIES involved & their relationship
to
each other (e.g., husband-wife, employeremployee,
landlord-tenant)
Using the TARP Method
Many legal researchers use a systematic approach
called the TARP method to
1. What information is already known? For
example, the user may have
analyze fact situations (see table on next page).
part or all of a case name, the popular name of a
law, or a code citation.
It is not always necessary to think of words to fit
each TARP category. However,
2. In which jurisdiction will research be conducted?
Is the research only
an analysis of the facts with TARP will suggest
alternative ways in which the
for California law, only federal law, or perhaps
both? Remember that
problem can be researched. Use your imagination.
county or city municipal ordinances may also
apply.
T THING or subject matter, place, or property (e.g.,
divorce,
contested will, dog bite)
A Cause of ACTION or ground for defense (e.g.,
breach of
3. What are the factual issues involved? An issue is
the question a court
(or the researcher) must answer to solve a specific
legal problem.
