Instructor
Required Texts
Kent C. Olson et al, Legal Research in a Nutshell (15th ed., 2024) OR
Olson, Legal Research in a Nutshell (14th ed. 2021)
—Also available in Kindle format from Amazon
The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (21th ed. 2020)
—Available in print or online format at https:// www.legalbluebook.com/
—You will use the Bluebook to complete your assignments for this class.
Other materials as assigned on the syllabus
ABA Standards
The American Bar Association standards for accrediting law schools contain a formula for calculating the amount of work that constitutes one credit hour. This is a 3-credit class, meaning that, in addition to attending class each week and any out-of-class meetings, the professor has determined that the assigned readings and your preparation of any assignments or papers will require you to spend 432 minutes (or 7.2 hours) each week outside of class preparing for class and completing practicum assignments/papers
My office hours & information
I have been working at CWSL since Oct. 1997. I earned my J.D. from Temple University School of Law and my M.S. in Library Science from The
Catholic University of America. I am active in professional associations, primarily the Special Libraries Association.
My email is baw@cwsl.edu. Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns. I try to answer emails within 24 hours during weekdays. I do not check or answer emails on the weekends
If your questions cannot be answered via email, please schedule an appointment with me. My availability depends upon staffing issues and class responsibilities. However, I will try to find a meeting time agreeable to both of our schedule
Class Schedule: April
Wed. April 2: Interdisciplinary Research
Readings: Olson text, §8-8
Group Exercise 12
Mon. April 7: Statistics
Readings: Olsen text, §8-5
Cody James, What's in a Number?: Basic Statistical Literacy for Lawyers, Mich. Bar J., Dec. 2023
Eric Posner, The Rise in Statistics in Law, EricPosner.com, July 24, 2015
Assignment 9 due on Apr. 16--Interdisciplinary Resources & Statistics
Assignment 8 due
Wed. April 9: Treaties and other international agreement research
Readings: Olson text, §§9-1 to 9-6
CALI Lesson: U.S. Treaty Research
Group Exercise 13
Mon. April 14: International Organizations
CALI Lesson: Intergovernmental Organizations & Nongovernmental Organizations:
Wed. April 16: Foreign law with an emphasis on Mexico and Canada
CALI Lesson: Intro to Foreign Legal Research
Group Exercise 14
Assignment 9 due
Mon. April 21—Review Game
ALL LATE ASSIGNMENTS DUE BY FRI., APRIL 25 AT 5 PM. ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE CLOSED ON THE CANVAS PAGE AT THAT TIME.
Where & When
Mondays & Wednesdays; 1:00-2:30 pm
Rm 2G, 350 Cedar St Bldg
Learning outcomes
Students will learn—
• To find secondary sources and determine how to use them to locate primary sources of law.
• To find sources of law, including case law, legislation, regulations, and international agreements.
• To use and navigate licensed databases for legal research as well as supplementary research in other disciplines.
• To evaluate online sources for accuracy, timeliness and reliability.
• To properly cite to sources using the Bluebook
Grading
Assignments
9 Individual Take Home Assignments worth 9 points each = 81 points
14 Group Assignments worth 1 point each = 14 points
TOTAL = 95 points
Since many of the assignments require the use of databases that change often, I will put the assignments on incrementally. Assignments 1-3 will be on at the beginning of the term. When Assignment 1 is due, the next three assignments will be put on the page. It still may not be foolproof, but we should run into fewer problems than when I load the assignments to the page months before they are due.
Please manage your time. No questions on assignments will be answered after 5 pm on the day before the assignment is due, or Friday at 5 pm if the assignment is due on a Monday.
Curve
Depending upon the size of the class, I will likely need to grade on the curve imposed by the administration. The highest numerical score I can award is a 95. Accordingly, the grades will be curved according to the performance of your classmates. Your raw score may be higher that your final grade.
Class Preparation
Readings will be from the Olson book as well as other supplemental readings that will be available online. Also, CALI assignments will be assigned. Please do the readings and the CALI assignments prior to the lecture as the in-class group exercises will be given after the lectures and you will have a limited amount of time to complete them. The lectures will be more hands-on demonstrations of the resources, so it is good to have a foundation before viewing the lectures.
Class Schedule
Wed. Jan. 22: Introduction; Sources of Law
Reading: Olson text, §§1-1 to 1-3
Mon. Jan. 27: Legal Citation
Reading: Olson text, §§1-4 to 1-5
Videos: University of Georgia Law Library, Bluebooking the 1L Brief Series (2021)
- Part 1: Intro to Bluebook and Case Citation
- Part 2: Case Citation and Case Names
- Part 3: Case and Statute Short Forms and Signals
Group Exercise 1
Wed. Jan. 29: Online Research & Citators
Reading: Olson text, §§1-6 & 1-7
Video: Navigating Westlaw Edge and Lexis + (2021)
Mon. Feb. 3: Legal Encyclopedias & American Law Reports
Reading: Olson text, §§2-1 to 2-3 AND 3-6
CALI Lessons:
Group Exercise 2
Assignment 1 due on Feb. 10: Sources of Law, Legal Encyclopedias & ALRs
Wed. Feb. 5: Restatements, Treatises & Texts
Reading: Olson text, §§2-4 & 2-5
CALI LESSONS:
Group Exercise 3
Mon. Feb. 10: Legal Periodicals
Video: https://guides.ll.georgetown.edu/secondary/periodicals
—scroll down the page to watch the video
—NOTE: CWSL Library only has Legal Trac & the retrospective Index to Legal Periodicals
Assignment 2 due Feb. 18: Legal Texts, Treatises & Periodicals
Assignment 1 due
Wed. Feb. 12: Federal Court Cases
Reading: Olson text, §§3-1 & 3-2
Group Exercise 4
Tue. Feb. 18: California Court Cases
Reading: UCLA Law Library, California Case Materials Checklist
Assignment 3 due on Feb. 24: Case Law
Assignment 2 due
Wed. Feb. 19: West's topic and key number system
Reading: Olson text, §3-5
Video: Topic & Key Number System (2022)
—Access to Topic & Key Number searching is now accessed by Content Types—>Key
Group Exercise 5
Mon. Feb. 24: Dockets
Videos: BL Using Dockets, Pt. 1 AND Pt. 2; Lexis CourtLink Overview
Assignment 3 due
Wed. Feb. 26: Federal & California Statutes & Constitutions
Readings: Olson text, §§4-1 to 4-3; 4-6 to 4-7
CALI Lesson: Finding Statutes
Group Exercise 6
Mon. March 3: Federal & State Session Laws
Readings: Olson text, §§4-4 & 4-5
Univ of Cincinnati, Bluebook Citation 101: Constitutions, Statutes & Legislative Materials
CALI Lesson: Forms of Federal Statutory Publication:
Assignment 4 due on Mar. 10—Codes and Session Laws
Wed. March 5: Federal Legislative Histories
Reading: Olson text, §§5-1 to 5-3
Group Exercise 7
Mon. March 10: California Legislative Histories & Ballot Measures
Reading: Olson text, §5-4
Loyola Law School, California Legislative History
—Click all tabs at the top of the page & read associated text
Assignment 5 due on Mar. 17: Federal & California Legislative Histories
Assignment 4 due
Wed. March 12: Federal Regulations & Agency Decisions
Reading: Olson text, §§6-1 to 6-6
CALI Lessons:
Researching federal administrative regulations
Agency Decisions & Orders
Group Exercise 8
Mon. March 17: State Regulations & Agency Decisions
Reading: UCLA Law Lib., Cal. Administrative Law
—Click on all tabs (left frame) and read content on each page
Assignment 6 due on Mar. 24—Federal & California Administrative Law
Assignment 5 due
Wed. March 19: Municipal Law
Reading: Olson text, §6-8
Univ. of Cincinnati Law Library, Municipal Codes
Group Exercise 9
Mon. March 24: News Research
Reading: Olsen text, §8-7
Georgetown Law Lib., News Research Guide
—Click on all tabs (left frame) & read content
Assignment 7 due on Mar. 31: Municipal law & news research
Assignment 6 due
Wed. March 26: Practice Guides
Reading: Olsen text, §§8-1 to 8-3
Group Exercise 10
Mon. March 31: Directories & Formbooks
Reading: Georgetown Law Lib., Legal Forms
Group Exercise 11
Assignment 8 due Apr. 7—Practice Guides, Directories & Formbooks
Assignment 7 due