Legal Research 101

Legal Research 101 Table of Contents

 

Start Your Research Here! U.S. Supreme Court  U.S.Constitution  Uniform Commercial Code California Cases California Codes New York Court of Appeal Law Dictionary Westlaw Lexis The Latest from Craig Smith's Blog www.craigsmithsblog.com Legal Research in a Nutshell

Sources of the Law   Constitutions   Legislative Enactments    Case Law

Finding the Law Verifying Search Results Citation of Authorities Virtual Law Library

Legal Research Bibliography

This on line tutorial will take you through the basic steps of performing legal research, from identifying the sources of law to properly citing the authorities you find. There are links to the ever increasing number of free legal research tools available on the World Wide Web, as well as links to the major fee based services. The focus is on researching federal and California law.

If you're already adept at legal research methods and merely want a convenient place to start your on line research from, then go directly to the Virtual Law Library.

Legal and Factual Research on the Internet
a seminar presented by Genie Tyburski COURSE SECTIONS

Introduction

Finding the Law

Hypothetical Research

Information Quality

After Hours Practice

NAVIGATION

Home

Search This Web

Site Map

SPONSORS

The Virtual Chase

HSLC

Drexel University, College of Information Science & Technology

Tutorial Contents

LESSONS 1. Introduction 2. Agency Web Sites 3. CFR 4. Federal Register 5. Agency Decisions Definitions Problem Print Version

tutorials > admin law > home

Administrative Law Research

This tutorial will introduce you to the topic of administrative research. If you plan to work in a regulatory practice, the skills covered in this training session will be essential to your research. The structure of the tutorial is pretty simple. In the Introduction, you'll see the big picture of purpose, players and documents related to administrative law. Next, you'll take a quick look at a simple fact pattern we'll use to illustrate the dimensions explained in the Lessons. Each lesson focuses on a specific research dimension associated with administrative research and contains a research example. Finally, you'll connect to the accompanying problem which you'll complete online and in the Law Library.

1. Introduction
   • Overview
   • Fact Pattern
2. Agency Web Sites
   
   • What They Contain
   • Where You Find Them
   • Research Example - Step 1
3. The Code of Federal Regulations
   
   • What is the CFR?
   • Using the CFR
   • Research Example - Step 2
   • Updating the CFR
   • Research Example - Step 3
4. The Federal Register
   
   • What is the FR?
   • Using the FR
   • Research Example - Step 4
5. Agency Decisions
   
   • What is an Agency Decision?
   • Research Example - Step 5

Research Problem
Definitions
Print Version

Help With Legal Research

Federal Laws   State Laws

Learn About Statutes

•	Definitions
•	The Role of Statutes
•	Should I Search Federal or State Statutes?
•	How to Find a Statute
•	How to Read a Statute
•	How to Make Sure a Statute Is Up to Date
•	When Do I Need to Consult a Local Ordinance?
•	Where Can I Find the Text of Local Ordinances?
•	The Role of Court Cases in Understanding Statutes
•	Finding a U.S. Supreme Court Case