PAL 112 Course Outline

PAL 112 - Legal Research

Lecture Hours/Week: 3
Lab Hours/Week: 0
Credit Hours: 3
Prerequisites: PAL 111
Final Exam Required: Yes

Course Description

Course Objectives: To provide students with the skill necessary to research virtually any area of the law, and to enable them to produce briefs and memoranda of law which are accurate and timely.

Content Outline:

Background: Understanding Legal Research Tools
1. Source of Law
  1. Constitution and Charters
    1. U.S. Constitution
    2. N.Y. State Constitution
    3. Schenectady City Charter
    4. Court Law; Town Law; Village Law
    5. General Municipal Law
  2. Statutes and Municipal Law
    1. Statutes at Large (Federal)
    2. U.S.C.; U.S.C.A.; U.S.C.S.
    3. New York State Legislature Session Laws
    4. McKinney's Consolidated Laws and CLS
    5. Local Codes (e.g., Code of Ordinances of the City of Schenectady
  3. Case Law
    1. Common Law - Making the Law
    2. Jurisprudence - Judicial Interpretation
      1. Federal Case Law
        
        U.S. Reports
        Federal Reporter; Federal Supplement
        F.R.D.; B.R.
      2. State Case Law
        
        Official Reports - NY; AD; Misc.
        Unofficial Reports - NY Supplement
  4. Administrative Rules, Regulations and Quasi-Judicial Decisions and Opinions
    1. Federal Agency Regulations - C.F.R.
    2. Federal Agency Quasi-Judicial Decisions
    3. State Agency Regulations - NYCRR
    4. State Agency Quasi-Judicial Decisions
    5. Opinions of State Agencies
      1. Official
      2. Unofficial
2. Citations
  1. How to Cite Constitutions
  2. How to Cite Statutes and Ordinances
  3. How to Cite Cases
  4. How to Cite Administrative Materials
  5. How to Cite Secondary Authority
Preparation for Legal Research
1. Gathering and Analyzing Facts
  1. Interviewing Techniques
  2. Non-legal Research - Investigations
2. Identifying and Organizing Legal Issues
Finding and Reading the Law
1. Primary Authorities - Identifying "the Law"
2. Secondary Authorities - Using Legal Research Tools
  1. Digests, Encyclopedias, Treatises
  2. Legislative Histories
3. Techniques to Find Law
  1. Descriptive Word
  2. Known Authority
  3. Known Topic
  4. Words and Phrases
  5. Encyclopedias, Treatises, Law Reviews
4. Reading the Law
  1. Internal Evaluation
  2. External Evaluation
Updating the Law
1. Shepardizing
  1. Shepard's Case and Statute Editions
    1. Shepard's Case and Statute Editions
    2. Official and Unofficial Citations
    3. Shepard's as a "Case and Statute Evaluator"
2. Computerized Searches
  1. Westlaw - Simulated Computerized Search Computer Laboratory
  2. Lexis
3. When to stop the Search
FINAL EXAM

Return

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Last Updated 1/29/99

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