SLR: Business Resources

Students will learn—

• To locate and use sources of case law, legislation, regulations, and international law, especially as it relates to the business arena
• To locate information in business-related sources to supplement legal research
• To use both print and online resources of U.S. and international law, especially as they relate to the field of business

I earned my J.D. from Temple University (https://www.law.temple.edu/ ) & my M.S. in Library Science from the Catholic University of America (https://lis.catholic.edu/ ). Prior to law school, I earned a Certificate of Completion of the Corporate Finance and Business Law program at the Institute for Paralegal Training in Philadelphia. From 1987-1988, I worked as a real estate and tax paralegal for Charles Jones, Inc.. (https://
www.charlesjones.com/ ) in Trenton, NJ. Since Oct. 1997, I have been a reference librarian at CWSL. 

Individual take-home assignments

Part of your grade will be based on your performance on 5 assignments you will do individually (doing your own work). They are due at various dates throughout the term. Each of these assignments is worth 16 points. For each week an assignment is late, you will receive a 4 point penalty. If you have an unexpected issue arise that would reasonably delay your submitting an assignment on time, please contact me as soon as possible so we can make alternative arrangements

Group in-class assignments In-class group assignments

There will be 8 group assignments worth 2 points each. You have the option of working with your assigned group or submitting the assignment on your own. Similarly, if you miss a class where there is a group assignment, you can submit it on your own, provided you do so within the time constraints of the assignment

For individual assignments, I will not answer questions after 5 pm on the Tuesday when the assignment is due.  Please plan your time accordingly

Watch your class absences.  You cannot miss more than 20 percent of your classes.  For this one-credit class, that comes out to 3 absences.  

Jan. 22: Legal Research Review: Secondary Sources
CALI Lessons:

• Intro to Secondary Sources:
• Subject Specific Treatises
• Periodicals & Periodical Indexes
• American Law Reports

READINGS:

• UC Davis Law Library, An Introduction to the Bluebook, https://libguides.law.ucdavis.edu/bluebookintro
  --Click on all tabs in the left frame and review the information provided therein
• UCLA Law Library, Legal Research: An Overview, https://libguides.law.ucla.edu/researchoverview
  --Click all of the tabs and review the material therein.
• Harvard Law Library, California Legal Research, California Legal Research - California Legal Research - Research Guides at Harvard Library
• Janet Lindenmuth (Widener Law Library), Getting started - Delaware Legal Research - LibGuides at Widener Law Library
• Catherine Biondo, Secondary Sources, https://guides.library.harvard.edu/c.php?g=309942&p=2070275
  --Click on all the tabs in the left frame and review the information provided therein

Jan. 29: Legal Research Review: Primary Sources
CALI Lessons

• Primary vs. Secondary Sources
• Finding Statutes
• Researching Federal Administrative Regulations

Video: BC Law Library, Case Research on Westlaw Using West's Topic & Key Number

In-class Group Exercise 1

Feb. 5—Business Formation & Dissolution

READINGS

• Introduction to Business (ebook)
  —Chapter 4: Forms of Business Ownership
• Christine Mathias (Nolo.com), How to Start a Business in California
• Nolo.com, How to form a corporation in Nevada
• David M. Steingold (Nolo.com), How to Start a Business in Delaware
• Cal. Franchise Tax Bd, Closing a California Business Entity
• Nev. Secy. State, Close a Business
• David M. Steingold (Nolo.com), How to Dissolve a Corporation in Delaware

VIDEO
Lexis & Westlaw Practical Law & Guidance (2022)

In-class Group Exercise 2

Assignment 1 Due

Feb. 12--Directories

READINGS
• Pace Law School Library, Research Company Information
• DePaul University Library, Companies & Industries Research Guide

CALI LESSON:
Company Research, https://www.cali.org/lesson/578

In-class Group Exercise 3

Feb. 19--Bloomberg Law

READING:
Bloomberg Law, Business Intelligence Center

VIDEOS:

Univ. of Chicago Law Library, Bloomberg Law Database Tutorials
—Watch videos imbedded in the research guide

Bloomberg Training Videos: https://www.bloomberglaw.com/help/training-videos
Watch the following videos:
—Dockets, Part 1
—Dockets, Part 2
—Chartbuilder

In-Class Group Exercise 4

Feb. 26--Researching Financial Information

READINGS
• Introduction to Business (ebook)
—Chapter 14: Using Financial Information & Accounting
• Business Law Essentials (ebook)
—Chapter 14: Securities Regulations
• SEC, About EDGAR
—Click on all the tabs on the left frame and read the material therein.

ASSIGNMENT 2 DUE
In-Class Group Exercise 5

READINGS:
• Business Law I Essentials
—Chapter 13: International Law
• Introduction to Business
—Chapter 3: Competing in the Global Marketplace
• Library of Congress, U.S. Trade Policy: A Research Guide

In-Class Group Exercise 6

March 12--Statistical Information

READINGS:

• Douglas Olsen, Business Statistics: Statistical Compendiums, https:// libguides.bc.edu/businessstatistics
• Billie Joe Kaufman, Finding and Using Statistics in Legal Research & Writing, 14 Persp: Teaching Legal Res. & Writing 150 (2006) AND
• Sarah E. Ryan, Data, Statistics or Secondary Statistical Analysis, etc., 22 Persp: Teaching Legal Res. & Writing 30 (2013)
—The journal title is covered on Westlaw
• Georgetown Law Library, Statistics and Empirical Legal Studies Research Guide, https://guides.ll.georgetown.edu/EmpiricalLegalStudies
—Click on the tabs in the left frame and read the material therein.

VIDEOS
Getting Started with Your Search on data.census.gov (2022)
DATA GEMS: How to Navigate data.census.gov (2019)

In-Class Group Exercise 7

Assignment 3 due

March 19--Antitrust

READINGS:
• Business Law 1 Essentials (ebook)
—Chapter 11: Antitrust Law
• Georgetown Law Library, Antitrust Law Research Guide
—Click on all the tabs at the left frame and read the material on each page

March 26--Human Resources Research

READING
Business Law I Essentials (ebook)
—Chapter 9: Employment & Labor Law

VIDEOS
CEB OnLaw Video Tutorials
—View the first three tutorials (Browse, Search, Review Results)

ASSIGNMENT 4 DUE

In-Class Exercise 8

April 2--Intellectual Property Research
READINGS
Introduction to Intellectual Property (ebook)
—Chapter 1: Patent Basics
—Chapter 3: Copyright Basics
—Chapter 4: Trademark Basics

CALI LESSON
How to Research U.S. Patent Law, https://www.cali.org/lesson/16085

VIDEOS
Searching U.S. Copyright Office (2021)
Trademark Searches USPTO Using TESS Free Form (2021)
New US Patent Office Search Tool (2022)

April 9--Business Tax Research

READING:
Georgetown Law Library, Tax Policy Research Guide,

ASSIGNMENT 5 DUE

April 16--Review Game