Advanced Legal Research Professor Fox Spring 2010 LAW 6100-2 credit hours SYLLABUS Week 1 - January 20 Course Introduction Enrollment in Course Web Page In-Class Exercise with Clickers Reading: Mark Herrmann, This is What I'm Thinking: A Dialogue Between Partner & Associate... From the Partner, 25 No. 1 Litigation 8 (1998) Reading: Myriam Gilles, This is What I m Thinking: A Dialogue Between Partner & Associate From the Associate, 25 No. 1 Litigation 9 (1998) Week 1 January 21 Advice from Law Firm Librarians Introduction to the Research Process Reading: Nutshell, 1-1 to 1-3, and 1-7 Week 2 - January 27 Identifying and Using Secondary Sources Treatises and Encyclopedias Handout: The Legal Information Buyer s Guide and Reference Manual Evaluating the Cost of Secondary Sources Reading: 2-1 to 2-4 Week 2 - January 28 Identifying and Using Secondary Sources ALR, Journals, LegalTrac, HeinOnline, Pleadings Databases, Law Firm Case Management Systems Reading: Nutshell, 2-5 to 2-6 and 3-4 DEADLINE: Email your Final Project subject selections to Professor Fox Exercise #1 Secondary Sources Due 2/3 at 10 a.m.
Week 3 - February 3 WestlawNext as a Starting Point Reading: Introduction to WestlawNext Reading: Getting Started on WestlawNext Week 3 - February 4 Case Law Research Natural Language and Boolean Searching Unpublished Opinions in Oklahoma Oklahoma Public Legal Research System Reading: Nutshell 1-6 Reading: Venn Diagrams and Boolean Operations Exercise #2 WestlawNext and Case Law Searching Due 2/10 at 10 a.m. Week 4 - February 10 Case Law Research - Understanding Headnotes, Digests, and Keynumbers Reading: Nutshell 3-1 to 3-3 Reading: The Relevance of Results Generated by Human Indexing and Computer Algorithms: A Study of West s Headnotes and Key Numbers and LexisNexis s Headnotes and Topics Week 4 - February 11 Statutory Research on Westlaw and LexisNexis Reading: Nutshell 4-1 to 4-5 Exercise #3 Case Law and Statutory Research Due 2/17 at 10 a.m. Week 5 - February 17 Bills and Legislative History - Federal Thomas, LexisNexis Congressional Universe, Westlaw Legislative History Reading: Nutshell 5-1 to 5-2 Supplemental Reading: Nutshell 5-3 to 5-4 Week 5 February 18 Bills and Legislative History Oklahoma Oklahoma Legislature Site, ecapitol, Journal Record Legis. Service Reference: Guide to State Legislative Histories Exercise #4 Legislative History Due 2/24 at 10 a.m.
Week 6 - February 24 Administrative Law Research Federal Regulations and Administrative Decisions Reading: Nutshell 6-1 to 6-3, 6-5 Week 6 - February 25 Administrative Law Research Oklahoma Regulations and Administrative Decisions Exercise #5 Administrative Law Research Due 3/3 at 10 a.m. Week 7 - March 3 KeyCite on Westlaw and Shepard s on LexisNexis Reading: Nutshell 3-5 Reading: Comparing KeyCite and Shepard's for Completeness, Currency, and Accuracy Reading: Caveat Citator (Or Why Shepardizing Your Cases Isn t Always Enough) Week 7 - March 4 How to Find Court Filings Government and Commercial Services OSCN, PACER, LexisNexis CourtLink, Westlaw Docket Watch Reading: CourtLink Quick Guide Exercise #6 KeyCite, Shepard s and Court Filings Due on 3/10 at 10 a.m. Week 8 - March 10 Legal Research and Law Practice Resources Available from the Bar Guest Lecturer - Jim Calloway Week 8 - March 11 Practice Materials and Court Rules Vernon s, Form Books, AmJur PoF, AmJur P&P, etc. SPRING BREAK - March 12-21 Week 9 - March 24 Cost Effective Legal Research - Westlaw Representative
Week 9 - March 25 Cost Effective Legal Research - LexisNexis Representative Exercise #7 Cost Effective Research Due 3/31 at 10 a.m. Week 10 - March 31 Low-Cost and Free Legal Resources Fastcase, Loislaw, Google Legal, Findlaw Week 10 - April 1 Current Awareness Sources for Attorneys The Three Bs: Blogs, Bar Journals, BNA, and more Reading: Nutshell 8-3 to 8-4 Week 11 - April 7 Focus on Non-L/W Commercial and Specialized Databases Week 11 - April 8 Focus on Non-L/W Commercial and Specialized Database Exercise #8 Commercial and Specialized Databases Due on 4/15 at 10 a.m. Week 12 - April 14 Technology for Organizing Your Research LexisNexis for Microsoft Office, Zotero Week 12 - April 15 Technology for Organizing Your Research Mobile Technology for Conducting Research WestCheck and CheckCite No Exercise Currently Scheduled - Work on Final Project Week 13 - April 21 Legal Research in the Law Firm Environment Guest Lecturer - Law Firm Librarian and/or New Associate
Week 13 - April 22 Verdicts and Settlements Competitive Intelligence Online Guide: http://libguides.law.uga.edu/awards Online Guide: http://drakelaw.libguides.com/juryawards No Exercise Currently Scheduled - Work on Final Project Week 14 - April 28 Class Evaluation Researching Native Peoples Legal Materials Week 14 - April 29 Review Q&A for Final Project DEADLINE: Final Project Due by 5 PM on 5/13 No Exercise Currently Scheduled - Work on Final Project