Course Syllabus

LEGAL RESEARCH - LGLA 1303

           

I. Course Description:

This course provides a working knowledge of the fundamentals of effective legal research. Topics include law library techniques, computer-assisted legal research, briefs, and legal memoranda.

 

II. Required/Recommended Texts:

  1. Required
    1. Mersky and Dunn, Legal Research Illustrated (8th ed.)
    2. Mersky and Dunn, Assignments to Fundamentals of Legal Research, 8th ed., and Legal Research Illustrated, 8th ed.
    3. Harvard Law Review, The Blue Book: A Uniform System of Citation (17th ed.)
    4. Texas Law Review, Texas Rules of Form (9th ed., second printing)

 

  1. Recommended
    1. Delaney, Electronic Legal Research (West 2002)
    2. Black’s Law Dictionary

 

III. SCANs Competencies:

The SCANs Competencies that will be developed in this course are listed on Attachment A.

 

IV. Instructional Methodology

This course will be taught via a combined lecture and Socratic method format. Students will be expected to have absorbed the assigned material prior to class and be able to respond to questions on the assigned material. In addition, students will complete assignments using various legal research sources in a law library.

 

 

 

V. Course Rationale:

This course is designed to provide the student with a working knowledge of the fundamentals of effective legal research. Topics will include law library research techniques and computer assisted legal research as well as briefs and legal memoranda.

 

VI. Course Outcomes:

The Student Learning Outcomes for this course are listed on Attachment B.

 

VII. Course Evaluation System:

  1. Total course points will be computed as follows:

1. Midterm Exam ---------------------------15 points

2. Final Exam -------------------------------15 points

3. Homework --------------------------------60 points

4. Participation ------------------------------10 points

TOTAL POINTS------------------100 POINTS

 

  1. The final letter grade in the course will be based on the points earned as follows:

A = 90-100 points

B = 80-89 points

C = 70-79 points

D = 60-69 points

F = 0-59 points

 

  1. Homework:

At the end of each class the student will receive a worksheet consisting of problems from the material covered in that class.  The worksheet is always due at the beginning of the next class session unless the instructor specifically states otherwise.  Because the problems will be reviewed in class on the night they are due, NO late assignments will be accepted.  However, the lowest homework grade will automatically be dropped for each student.  The student should try working all the problems independently before asking for help.  The student may ask the librarians, each other, or the instructor for help. 

 

Local Law Libraries:

Tarleton Law Library (471-7726): located at the western edge of the University of Texas School of Law at 727 East 26th Street.  Hours vary, so call first.

 

State Law Library (463-1722): located on the 4th floor of the Thomas Clark Building at 14th and Lavaca. Hours are usually 8-5p, M-F.

 

Travis County Law Library(473-9500): located on the 4th floor of the Travis County Courthouse at 1100 Guadalupe.  Hours are usually 8-6p, M-F.

 

 

  1. Extra Credit:

     Near the end of the course an optional worksheet will be handed out. The grade for this worksheet may be used to replace a low grade on any of the other worksheets.

 

VIII Course Policies:

 

A.     Class Participation

You will be expected to have read and absorbed the material assigned for each class session. The instructor will call on students to explain concepts from the assigned material and from previous class sessions. Students will be allowed two announcements of “unprepared” or non-responses to questions during the course. Additional “unprepared” announcements or non-responses will result in the loss of class participation points. A non-response is a failure to respond to a question, or a response that indicates that the student has inadequately prepared for class.

 

B.     Attendance Policy and Withdrawal

Attendance for this class is mandatory.  However, you are allowed one absence without an effect on your grade. Additional absences will result in the loss of class participation points. Arrival in class more than 15 minutes after the beginning of the class or leaving class more than 15 minutes before the end of class will be treated as a “one-half absence.” Excessive absences may eventually result in the student being withdrawn from the course. Do not, however, assume that absences will automatically result in a withdrawal.  Excessive absences may simply result in a letter grade of “F” at the end of the course. If the student wishes to withdraw from the course, the student must go to an Admissions Office and fill out a Withdrawal Form.

 

  1. Incomplete

An “Incomplete” will not be granted in this course unless the student has a grade of  “C” or better on the midterm, and a “C”-average or better on the homework assignments, and a demonstrable emergency.

 

  1. Scholastic Dishonesty

Acts prohibited by the college for which disciple may be administered include scholastic dishonesty, including but not limited to cheating on an exam or quiz, plagiarizing, and unauthorized collaboration with another in preparing outside work. Academic work submitted by students shall be the result of their thought, research or self-expression. Academic work is defined as, but not limited to tests, quizzes, whether taken electronically or on paper; projects, either individual or group, classroom presentation, and homework.

 

E.      Academic Freedom

Each student is expected to participate in class. In any classroom situation that includes discussion and critical thinking, there are bound to be differing viewpoints. Students may not only disagree with each other on occasion, but the students and instructor may also find that they have disparate views. It is expected that these differences will enhance the class and create an atmosphere where students and instructor alike will be encouraged to think and learn. Accordingly, rest assured that no student’s grade will be adversely affected by any beliefs or ideas expressed in class.

 

F.      Student Discipline

In the event a student acts in such a way as to significantly interfere with or disrupt the learning atmosphere of the classroom, the instructor may direct the student to leave the class and may take other measures as appropriate. See the ACC Student Handbook either in hardcopy or on the web at http://www3.austin.cc.tx.us/evpcss/handbk/toc.htm.

 

G.     Office of Students with Disabilities

Each ACC campus offers support services for students with documented physical or psychological disabilities. Students with disabilities must request reasonable accommodations through the Office for Students with Disabilities on the campus where they expect to take the majority of their classes. Students are encouraged to do this three weeks before the start of the semester.

 

H.     Course Calendar

The Course Calendar is a separate document that you will have received along with this syllabus.

 

I.        Testing Center

General use of the testing center is not available to students in this course; however, should you have occasion to use an ACC testing center, be sure to first review the Testing Center Guidelines available either in the testing center or on the web under “students” at: http://www2.austin.cc.tx.us/testctr/.

 

J.       Student Services Handout

A Student Services Handout is attached for your review.

 

K.    Instructional Services Handout

An Instructional Services Handout is attached for your review.

 

 

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ATTACHMENT A

LEGAL RESEARCH – LGLA 1303

SCANs Competencies

 

Students in this Course will be expected to use or achieve the following Competencies:

 

Resources

1.1              Allocates Times: Allocates time between coursework/work/family/friends.

Interpersonal

2.1              Participates as a Member of a Team: Works cooperatively with others on joint assignments.

2.2              Teaches Others: Explains concepts in class

2.6       Works with Cultural Diversity: Works well with men and women and with a variety of ethic, social, or educational backgrounds in the context of the class.

Information

3.1              Acquires and Evaluates Information: Extracts crucial legal issues from court cases and other sources.

3.2              Organizes and Maintains Information: Takes notes on assigned material for use in class. Develops a Research Notebook for use in future research assignments.

3.3              Interprets and Communicates Information: Evaluates assigned material and explains it to class.

3.4              Uses Computers to Process Information: Uses computers to process course notes, and to access various legal sources via Westlaw or the internet.

Technology

5.2              Applies Technology to Task: Understands the overall intent and the proper procedures for setting up and using computers and their programs, particularly Westlaw.

Basic Skills

6.1              Reading: Locates, understands, and interprets written information in the text and in various legal research sources.

6.2              Writing: Communicates thoughts, ideas, information, and messages effectively in writing.

6.5              Listening: Receives, attends to, interprets, and responds to verbal messages during class lectures and discussions.

6.6              Speaking: Organizes ideas and effectively communicates thoughts when being questioned in class and during class discussions.

Thinking Skills

7.1              Creative Thinking: Uses imagination freely, combines ideas in new ways, when discussing hypothetical problems and when locating sources material for legal documents.

7.2              Decision Making: Chooses the best alternative in multiple choice questions.

7.3              Problem Solving: Recognizes problems in hypothetical situations and identifies possible solutions.

7.5        Knowing How to Learn: Finds the important information in class

            discussions and texts and consolidates the information into a useable 

                        format.

7.6        Reasoning: Identifies the crucial issues in a research question and

            recognizes what research choices will be best to answer the issues.

Personal Qualities

8.1       Responsibility: Exerts a high level of effort and perseverance in effectively preparing for class and class discussions.

8.4        Self-Management: Motivates self through goal achievement; exhibits self-

      control and responds to feedback unemotionally and non-defensively, is a

      “self-starter.”

8.5        Integrity/Honesty: Can be trusted to accomplish his/her own work without

            excessive involvement of other students.

 

 

 

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ATTACHMENT B

LEGAL RESEARCH – LGLA 1303

Learning Outcomes

 

Students in this Course will be expected to achieve the following learning outcomes:

 

A.     The Legal Research Process

  1. Identify the origins of American law.

2.    Understand the importance of the doctrine of Precedent and the doctrine of Stare Decisis.

  1. Differentiate between primary and secondary sources and finding tools.
  2. Identify the main types of primary authority.
  3. Describe the four basic steps for effective legal research.

 

B.     Federal and State Case Law and the Court Reporter Systems

  1. Identify the elements or segments of a typical court case as reported in a court reporter.
  2. Distinguish between official and unofficial court reporters.
  3. Describe the typical features found in a bound volume of a court reporter.
  4. Discuss the various ways court reporters are organized.
  5. Describe the method of publication for court reporters.
  6. Identify the three main U.S. Supreme Court reporters and describe their similarities and differences.
  7. List ways to locate Supreme Court decisions not found in the main reporters.
  8. Identify the main reporters for federal courts below the Supreme Court level.
  9. Describe the organizational structure of the National Reporter System.
  10. Explain what a parallel citation is and how to locate a parallel citation for a given case.

 

C.     Digests for Court Reports

  1. Define what a digest is used for.
  2. Explain why West’s key number system is important in legal research.
  3. Explain the organization of the American Digest System and when it will be useful in legal research.
  4. Describe the Descriptive Word Method and the Topic Method as they apply to the use of digests.
  5. Describe how to “update” digests results.
  6. Explain the limitations of the digests.
  7. Describe West’s organization for the digests that are not a part of the American Digest System.
  8. Identify the various books available for use with a particular digest.

 

D.     Shepard’s Citations and Other Citator Services

  1. Explain what type of source Shepards is and how to use it to update another source.
  2. Identify the types of sources Shepards can be used to update.
  3. Explain the abbreviations used in Shepards.
  4. Explain how Shepards can be used as a finding tool.

 

E.      Legal Citation Form

  1. Form a proper citation for any given source, legal or non-legal, by referring to the Blue Book or Texas Rules of Form.

 

 

F.      Federal and State Legislation and Legislative History

  1. Describe the legislative process a bill goes through to become law (federal and state).
  2. Identify documents that are generated at each step of the legislative process (federal and state), and explain how each could be helpful in legal research.
  3. Explain how a new law is published (federal and state).
  4. Identify sources containing federal statutes and explain how the sources differ.
  5. Explain how to locate relevant statutes within the sources.
  6. Identify sources containing state statutes.
  7. Explain how the statutory sources are kept current.
  8. Demonstrate how to use various finding tools when compiling legislative history.
  9. Explain how to locate legislative materials on the Internet.

 

G.     Administrative Law

  1. Identify how and where federal and state agency regulations are published.
  2. Demonstrate how to locate a relevant agency rule, regulation, or decision.
  3. Explain how to update agency rules, regulations, and decisions.
  4. Identify how and where to find Presidential Documents.

 

H.     Constitutions

  1. Explain how to locate copies of the US Constitution and state constitutions.
  2. Explain how to locate court interpretations of constitutions.
  3. Explain how to locate scholarly and historical interpretations of constitutions.

 

I.        Annotated Law Reports

  1. Explain what ALRs are and how they differ from the National Reporter System.
  2. Describe the organizational structure of the ALR series.
  3. Explain how to find an ALR annotation and how to update it.

 

J.       Annotated Law Reports

  1. Explain what ALRs are and how they differ from the National Reporter System.
  2. Describe the organizational structure of the ALR series.
  3. Explain how to find an ALR annotation and how to update it.

 

K.    Treatises

  1. Explain what a treatise is and how it is used in legal research.
  2. Explain how to locate a treatise.

 

L.      Restatements

  1. Explain the history of the Restatements and their usefulness for legal research.
  2. Describe the features of the Restatements.
  3. Explain how to locate a Restatement section and how to update it.

 

M.   Court Rules and Procedures

  1. Describe what type of matters are covered by court rules.
  2. Explain how to locate court rules as well as interpretations of the rules.
  3. List several sources where court rules can be found and discuss how these sources differ.

 

N.    Periodicals and Indices

  1. Define the purpose of  periodicals.
  2. List the various types of periodicals available and describe the features of each.
  3. Explain how to locate a periodical and how to update it.
  4. List other Indices available for locating periodical literature.

 

O.      Encyclopedias

1.      Describe the two main general encyclopedias.

2.      List what other types of encyclopedias are available to use in legal research.

 

P.       Other Legal and General Research and Reference Aids

1.      Explain how to locate, update, and use Attorney General opinions.

2.      Describe the different law dictionaries available and when each is useful.

3.      Describe the different law directories available and when each is useful.

4.      Explain how to locate items in a form book and how to use them appropriately.

5.      Explain how to locate briefs, records, and oral arguments on appeal.

6.      Describe how to locate Model Rules of Conduct.

 

Q.      Computer-Assisted Legal Research

1.      Identify the main providers of CALR.

2.      Describe the type of data bases available on Westlaw and Lexis-Nexis.

3.      Conduct a search on Westlaw for relevant cases, statutes, and other sources.

4.      Demonstrate how to use KeyCite to verify the status of a case.

5.      Explain the difference between terms and connectors searching and natural language searching.

6.      Discuss the importance as well as the limitations of searching on the Internet.

 

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