Foundations of Legal Research and Writing,9780766831643

Foundations of Legal Research and Writing

by ;
Edition: 2nd
ISBN13: 9780766831643
ISBN10: 0766831647
Format: Paperback
Pub. Date: 2001-08-17
Publisher(s): Cengage Learning
Upgraded Edition: Click here!
  • Free Shipping Icon

    Free Shipping On Orders Over $35

    Your order must be $35 or more to qualify for free economy shipping. Marketplace items, eBooks and apparel do not qualify towards the $35 purchase minimum.

List Price: $157.95

Rent Textbook

Select for Price
Add to Cart
There was a problem. Please try again later.

New Textbook

We're Sorry
Sold Out

Used Textbook

We're Sorry
Sold Out

eTextbook

We're Sorry
Not Available

Buy from our Marketplace starting at $20.90

How Marketplace Works:

  • This item is offered by an independent seller and not shipped from our warehouse
  • Item details like edition and cover design may differ from our description; see seller's comments before ordering.
  • Sellers much confirm and ship within two business days; otherwise, the order will be cancelled and refunded.
  • Marketplace purchases cannot be returned to eCampus.com. Contact the seller directly for inquiries; if no response within two days, contact customer service.
  • Additional shipping costs apply to Marketplace purchases. Review shipping costs at checkout.

Summary

"This text presents a unique approach to legal research and writing by giving equal weight to both areas. This up-to-date and classroom-tested book includes outstanding chapters on research, including a chapter with detailed explanations of legal reasoning and analysis and another on computer-assisted legal research. The research chapters end with legal research assignments. Cyber law exercises requiring students to perform computer-assisted legal research are included at the end of most chapters."--BOOK JACKET.

Table of Contents

Table of Cases
xii
Preface xiii
Organization of the text xiii
New to this edition xv
Supplemental resources xv
Acknowledgments xvi
Introduction xviii
Law and Sources of Law
1(17)
Introduction
1(1)
The American system of law
1(5)
Our tripartite system
6(2)
Interplay among the three branches of government in lawmaking
8(6)
Sources of law
14(2)
Summary
16(1)
Exercises
17(1)
Cyberlaw Exercises
17(1)
Legal Reasoning and Analysis
18(24)
Introduction
18(1)
An illustrative fact pattern
19(1)
Doctrine of stare decisis
19(6)
Judicial opinions
25(2)
Deductive reasoning
27(1)
Legal analysis of statutory law
28(6)
Legal analysis of constitutional law
34(3)
The interpretation process
37(3)
Summary
40(1)
Exercises
40(1)
Cyberlaw Exercises
41(1)
Secondary Sources and Finding Tools
42(63)
Introduction
42(1)
Encyclopedias
42(12)
American Law Reports
54(12)
Attorney General opinions
66(1)
Restatements of the Law
67(1)
Treatises
68(1)
Legal dictionaries
69(6)
Legal directories
75(1)
Formbooks
75(6)
Looseleaf services
81(1)
Legal periodicals
82(3)
Internet material
85(1)
Digests
86(11)
Summary
97(1)
Cyberlaw Exercises
98(1)
Legal Research Assignment--Legal Encyclopedias
98(2)
Legal Research Assignment--American Law Reports
100(2)
Legal Research Assignment--Digests
102(3)
The Judicial Branch and Cases
105(47)
Introduction
105(1)
The judicial branch
105(15)
Reading cases
120(19)
Briefing a case
139(2)
Location of cases
141(2)
Case citations
143(4)
Summary
147(1)
Cyberlaw Exercises
148(1)
Legal Research Assignment--Reading Cases
149(1)
Legal Research Assignment--Case Law
150(2)
Primary Sources: Constitutions, Statutes, Court Rules, and Administrative Law
152(68)
Introduction
152(1)
Constitutions
152(4)
Statutes
156(33)
Court rules
189(6)
Administrative law
195(18)
Summary
213(1)
Cyberlaw Exercises
213(1)
Legal Research Assignment--Constitutions
214(1)
Legal Research Assignment--Statutes
215(1)
Legal Research Assignment--Court Rules
216(2)
Legal Research Assignment--Administrative Law
218(2)
Citators
220(42)
Introduction
220(1)
Citators
221(4)
Shepardizing procedure
225(17)
Statutes
242(13)
KeyCite
255(5)
Summary
260(1)
Cyberlaw Exercises
260(1)
Legal Research Assignment--Citators
260(2)
Overview of the Research Process
262(16)
Introduction
263(1)
Gathering information
263(3)
Identification of key terms
266(1)
Basic approaches to legal research
267(2)
Currency
269(1)
Learning about the general topic
269(1)
Locating primary sources
270(2)
Relationship among research tools
272(3)
Summary
275(1)
Cyberlaw Exercises
276(1)
Exercises
276(2)
CALR: Computer-Assisted Legal Research
278(18)
Introduction
278(1)
History of Computer-Assisted Legal Research (CALR)
278(1)
Electronic information formats
279(2)
Computer-Assisted Legal Research tools
281(2)
Legislative databases
283(1)
Business information databases
284(3)
Investigative and public records databases
287(3)
Legal citation: electronic formats
290(1)
CALR: pros and cons
291(1)
Summary
292(1)
Exercises
293(3)
The Internet in a Nutshell
296(22)
Introduction
296(2)
Accessing the information superhighway
298(1)
Navigating the Internet
299(3)
The Internet as a research tool
302(8)
Evaluative guidelines for selecting Internet resources
310(1)
Future trends
310(4)
Summary
314(2)
Legal Research Assignment--The Internet
316(2)
Cyberlaw: Using the Internet as a Legal Research Tool
318(13)
Introduction
318(1)
Available resources
319(2)
The bad news: what is [currently] not available
321(1)
Free vs. fee-based
321(1)
Legal resources on the Internet
322(1)
Government information on the Internet
322(1)
Litigation support
323(1)
Limitations to using the Internet as a research tool
324(1)
Cyber-citation
324(1)
Copyright concerns in the digital environment
325(1)
Future trends
326
Summary
237(92)
Legal Research Assignment--the Internet
329(2)
Introduction to Legal Writing
331(16)
Introduction
334(5)
Types of legal writing
339(7)
Summary
346(1)
Cyberlaw Exercises
346(1)
Exercises
346(1)
Fundamentals of Writing
347(18)
Introduction
347(1)
Writing Process
347(1)
Structure
348(4)
Mechanical errors
352(3)
More legal writing advice
355(6)
Summary
361(1)
Cyberlaw Exercises
361(1)
Exercises
361(4)
Transmittal Letter and Client Opinion Letter
365(21)
Introduction
365(1)
Purpose of the transmittal letter
365(1)
Style of letters
365(9)
Purpose of the client opinion letter
374(1)
Format of the client opinion letter
375(1)
Sample client opinion letters
375(9)
Summary
384(1)
Cyber Examples
384(1)
Exercises
385(1)
Writing Contracts
386(33)
Introduction
386(1)
What is covered in this chapter
386(1)
The substance of the contract
387(2)
Writing a contract
389(1)
Checklist of matters to be considered when writing a contract for the sale of goods
390(1)
The perfect contract
391(7)
Checklist for an employment contract
398(1)
Organization and format
399(2)
A type of employment agreement--the attorney-client retainer agreement
401(16)
Summary
417(1)
Cyberlaw Exercises
417(2)
Pleadings
419(23)
Introduction
419(1)
Purpose and use
419(3)
Format
422(3)
Format of the complaint
425(1)
Format of the answer
426(3)
Evidentiary facts, ultimate facts, and legal conclusions
429(3)
First sample set of pleadings
432(4)
Second sample set of pleadings
436(4)
Summary
440(1)
Cyberlaw Exercises
441(1)
Cyber Examples
441(1)
Law Office Memo
442(27)
Introduction
442(1)
Purpose and use
442(1)
Style
443(1)
Format
443(8)
First sample office memo
451(6)
Second office memo
457(6)
Communicating clearly with the reader
463(5)
Summary
468(1)
Cyber Exercises
468(1)
Exercises
468(1)
Memorandum of Law
469(18)
Introduction
469(1)
Purpose and use
469(2)
Style
471(1)
Organization
471(1)
Format
472
First sample memorandum of law
464(16)
Second sample memorandum of law
480(5)
Summary
485(1)
Cyberlaw Exercises and Examples
485(1)
Exercises
486(1)
Appellate Brief
487(30)
Introduction
487(1)
Purpose and use
488(2)
Format
490(7)
First sample appellate brief
497(9)
Second sample appellate brief
506(10)
Summary
516(1)
Cyber examples
516(1)
Exercises
516(1)
APPENDICES 517(88)
APPENDIX A Search and Seizure
517(39)
Introduction
517(1)
The Williams search and seizure problem
517(1)
Examples of Primary and Secondary Sources Found after researching search and seizure problem
518(1)
Research and writing exercises
519(1)
Flowchart for office memo on Williams Brothers
519(2)
Sample outline for office memo
521(35)
APPENDIX B Citation Rules
556(5)
General citation tips
556(1)
United States Supreme Court cases
557(1)
United States courts of appeals
557(1)
United States district courts
557(1)
Citations for constitutions
558(1)
Citations for statutes
558(1)
Citations for court rules
558(1)
Citations for administrative law
559(1)
Citations to legal encyclopedias
559(1)
Citations to American Law Reports
559(1)
Citations to attorneys general opinions
559(1)
Citations to restatements
559(1)
Citation to a treatise
560(1)
Citation to a legal dictionary
560(1)
Citation to a law review article
560(1)
Citation to Internet material
560(1)
Cyber citations
560(1)
APPENDIX C Rules for Quotations and Short Form Citations
561(7)
Introduction
561(1)
Quotations
561(5)
Short form citations
566(1)
Short form citations for statutes
566(1)
Exercises on short form citations
567(1)
APPENDIX D Mechanical Errors
568(13)
Introduction
568(1)
Excess words
568(2)
Use of apostrophes
570(1)
Sentence fragments
570(3)
Run-on sentences
573(1)
Parallel construction
574(2)
Antecedents
576(1)
Active versus passive voice
577(2)
Change in tenses
579(1)
Combination of errors
580(1)
APPENDIX E Problems
581(5)
Was swimming pool an attractive nuisance?
581(1)
Defamation
582(1)
The nightmare property
583(1)
I wonder what is in the package
584(2)
APPENDIX F Web Bibliography: Company Information on the Internet
586(2)
APPENDIX G Internet Terminology
588(3)
APPENDIX H Bibliography of Evaluative Criteria Web Sites
591(1)
APPENDIX I Legal Research ``Starting Points''
592(2)
APPENDIX J Federal Law Resources
594(3)
APPENDIX K State and Local Resources
597(1)
Appendix L International Law Resources
598(1)
APPENDIX M Commercial Legal Information Web Sites
599(1)
APPENDIX N Topical Index of Legal and Government Web Sites
600(4)
APPENDIX O Law-Related Internet Discussion Groups (Lists)
604(1)
Glossary 605(10)
Index 615

An electronic version of this book is available through VitalSource.

This book is viewable on PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and most smartphones.

By purchasing, you will be able to view this book online, as well as download it, for the chosen number of days.

Digital License

You are licensing a digital product for a set duration. Durations are set forth in the product description, with "Lifetime" typically meaning five (5) years of online access and permanent download to a supported device. All licenses are non-transferable.

More details can be found here.

A downloadable version of this book is available through the eCampus Reader or compatible Adobe readers.

Applications are available on iOS, Android, PC, Mac, and Windows Mobile platforms.

Please view the compatibility matrix prior to purchase.