Legal research is "the process of identifying and retrieving information necessary to support legal decision-

making. In its broadest sense, legal research includes each step of a course of action that begins with an analysis
of the facts of a problem and concludes with the application and communication of the results of the
investigation."


Legal research is performed by anyone with a need for legal information, including lawyers, law librarians,
and paralegals. Sources of legal information range from printed books, to free legal research websites
(like Cornell Law Schools Legal Information Institute, Findlaw.com, Martindale Hubbell, Casetext,
Lawyers.com, HG.org and CanLII) and information portals to fee database vendors such as Wolters Kluwer,
Chancery Law Chronicles,
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LexisNexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg Law. Law libraries around the world
provide research services to help their patrons find the legal information they need in law schools, law firms and
other research environments. Many law libraries and institutions provide free access to legal information on the
web, either individually or via collective action, such as with the Free Access to Law Movement.

Legal research and writing is a time consuming component of practicing law necessary to draft memoranda and
briefs, and prepare for court hearings, negotiations and other matters requiring the attorneys personal time and
attention. Legal research requires the use of special tools and publications.
Some of these resources include:
Factual Research
Case Law
Statutory Law
Regulatory Law
State Law
Foreign Law
International Law
Civil Court Records
Court Dockets
Criminal Records
Increasingly, legal professionals are conducting legal research electronically, through the use of the Internet and
specialized legal research services such as Lexis and Westlaw.

LEGAL RESEARCH: AN OVERVIEW
The purpose of legal research is to find "authority" that will aid in finding a solution to a legal problem. Primary
authorities are the rules of law that are binding upon the courts, government, and individuals. Examples are
statutes, regulations, court orders, and court decisions. They are generated by legislatures, courts, and
administrative agencies. Secondary authorities are commentaries on the law that do not have binding effect but
aid in explaining what the law is or should be. The resources available to find legal authority are vast and
complicated leading many law schools to require students to take a class in legal research. See Legal education
Finding tools enable a researcher to find and interpret legal authority. Initially, many researchers turn to tools
that provide summaries of a particular area of the law. Some examples are legal encyclopedias, treatises, and
the American Law Reports (ALR). Law reviews and legal periodical articles provide interpretation of the law as
well as detailed articles on particular legal topics. These interpretations may be found through indexes such as
the Index to Legal Periodicals. Restatements provide detailed summaries of what the law generally is or what
the restatement writers believe the law should be. The citations to other authorities and annotations provided in
legal encyclopedias, treatises, American Law Reports, law reviews, and legal periodicals are an important
element of their value in the research process.
There are also a number of specialized finding tools that enable one to search for relevant materials in primary
authorities. The index volumes for statutes and regulations compilations provide a quick guide to relevant rules
and regulations. There are also privately published version of statutes that are annotated. Case reporters contain
the decisions in cases that have been deemed important enough to publish. Case digests enable a researcher to
look up a particular area of the law and find a list of case decisions that are "reported" in relevant case reporters.
If one has the common name of a law (e.g.,The Lanham Act), a popular name table can provide a quick
reference to where the law can be found in the statute compilation. There are also conversion tables that allow
one to link a statute to the bill from which it developed and the commentary surrounding it's approval. Shepard's
Citations provides references to when cases and law review articles were cited by another source.
Computer databanks have provided the legal profession with quick and efficient tools to do
research. LEXIS and WESTLAW, two prominent legal search engines, provide databases that have case
reporters, statutes, legal periodicals, law reviews and various secondary authorities. State and specialty law
collections pulling together diverse types of authority are now appearing on CD-ROM and the Internet.

Lawyering, by its very nature, largely entails researching the law, communicating the results, and determining
the best course of action for the client. This training begins in law school as one might expect, but the
importance of developing these skills cannot be overstated. Legal research and writing has been called the
bread and butter of any successful lawyer. No matter the area of practice, new lawyers will spend the bulk of
their time researching and writing about the law.
Barry Law recognizes the importance of developing research and writing skills from the very beginning. The
Legal Research and Writing Program for first year students involves two courses for a total of six credits: LRW
I and LRW II. Taught in sections of approximately 20 students, these courses challenge students by presenting
rigorous writing, editing, and rewriting experiences. Associated research projects designed to interlace with the
writing lessons bring the experience full circle. By the end of the second semester, all students complete the
requirement to become certified researchers using two of the major legal research portals, Westlaw and Lexis.
As part of the coursework in the second semester, students prepare an appellate brief and participate in oral
arguments in a moot court setting. After the first year, students can extend their training in this area. For upper
level students, Barry Law offers Advanced Legal Research, Advanced Legal Writing, and Advanced Appellate
Advocacy.
Students also benefit from the faculty members chosen to direct these courses thanks to Barry Laws unique
tenure-track system for Legal Research and Writing. A tenure-track program in this area assures the highest
quality of teaching in these invaluable courses and insures continuity of excellence in teaching and the
development of scholarship in legal research and writing.