Advanced Legal Research
Course Description:
Advanced Legal Research is designed to teach “real-world” legal research skills to prepare students for the challenges and expectations they will encounter in legal practice and/or clerkships. The course will review who publishes legal authority, how it is organized, and how to access it efficiently with particular attention on cost-effective research. Utilizing current, and emerging, legal research tools and technologies, the course develops research skills with assignments, lectures, and mock legal research exercises which emulate assignments typically given to attorneys new to practice. The pedagogical goals of this course include: 1) teaching students how to effectively evaluate research sources and use these materials with attention to cost, 2) proficiency working with primary and secondary legal materials (including practice materials such as forms, model documents, and guidelines/checklists), 3) expose students to SEC filings and transactional materials, 4) cover state and federal regulatory materials and current awareness tools. This course is offered online in the summer and in the classroom during the fall semester. Assignments and lectures will emphasize cost-efficient research strategies, legal technology and current awareness resources for attorneys, and Internet research.