Lawyering Fundamentals: Research

SyllabusFall 2019

“Lawyer competence, in most if not all areas of legal practice, demands a wide range of fundamental skills including the ability to … perform legal research … .”

In re Brooks, 11 S.W.3d 25, 29 (Ky. 2000).

Professor Stacey Gordon Sterling Office: 167 Phone: 243-6808 (w), 239-9024 (h) Email: stacey.gordon@umontana.edu

Course DescriptionIn this course, students develop the specialized skills and knowledge required to be excellent legal researchers. This course provides an active, collaborative, safe, and participatory environment in which students approach research as a fundamental lawyering skill and a value of the legal profession. This is a 2-credit course that meets twice each week: on Mondays in a flipped class setting in which you will be working on research exercises, and on Fridays in your law firms when you will be learning legal citation.

Learning Outcomes1 During the semester students will:

1. Develop foundational knowledge of the legal system and legal information sources.

2. Apply effective and efficient research strategies to locate relevant legal authority to resolve a legal issue.

3. Critically analyze research results.

4. Distinguish between ethical and unethical research practices.

1 These outcomes are adapted from Am. Ass’n of Law Libraries, Principles and Standards for Legal Research Competency, AALLNET.ORG (2013), https://www.aallnet.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/AALL2013PrinciplesStandardsLegalResearchCompetencyFull.pdf.

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5. Apply citation rules to appropriately and correctly cite the primary and secondary legal sources that state the law and support legal arguments.

Required TextALWD & Colleen M. Barger, ALWD Guide to Legal Citation (6th ed. 2017). You will also use this book in your Lawyering Fundamentals: Analysis course this semester and you will need it throughout your law school career. Because the rules have changed with the new edition, you should not use an earlier edition.

Grading & Assignment DescriptionsEXCEPT IN CASES OF LEGITIMATE EMERGENCY, LATE ASSIGNMENTS MAY BE PENALIZED UNLESS YOU RECEIVE PRIOR DISPENSATION FROM PROF. GORDON STERLING.

1. Weekly Research LessonsThis is a “flipped class.” For your class preparation, you will complete online lessons designed to teach and reinforce research skills, and prepare you for research exercises we will be doing in class. These lessons will not be graded, but it is required that you complete them before class. Failure to substantially complete them may be considered in your Professionalism grade. You may work with other students to complete the lessons, but each student must submit them individually.

2. Citation Exercises Careful citation is an extremely important aspect of legal research and writing. Good citation allows your readers (law firm partners and judges) to easily locate the authority you cite, shows the weight of your authority and that your research is thorough, and ensures you have not plagiarized. You will learn how to correctly cite each of the tools you use, and you will be graded on correct citation in your Client Research Assignments. Most weeks you will complete a set of citation exercises designed to give you practice with the fundamentals of legal citation. These exercises will not be graded and you do not have to turn them in, but you will discuss them in your law firms and they will help you prepare for the graded citation test. Failure to complete all the assigned citation exercises will be considered in your Professionalism grade. You may work with other students on the citation exercises.

3. Research Exercises(20% of grade). In class, we will be working on research exercises that you will then complete outside of class and submit. These exercises will be graded on a pass/fail basis; they must be substantially completed and submitted on time to pass. I will provide comments and suggestions on exercises that are submitted on time. These exercises will not be submitted anonymously. Each exercise is worth 5% of the course grade. You may work on these exercises with other students, but each student must submit them individually to receive credit.

Due: Monday, October 7; Monday, October 14; Monday, October 21; Monday, October 28. All exercises are due at 9:00am. Submit on the course Moodle page in Word format (I will not

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comment on pdf documents). I will not comment on late exercises unless you receive prior dispensation.

4. Take-Home Citation Test (25% of grade). The take-home citation test will test your ability to use the ALWD Guide to Legal Citation, and to correctly cite cases, constitutions, statutes, and administrative regulations– the primary sources you will most often be citing to the court throughout your career. There will be a review before the test and previous years’ citation tests will be available on the course Moodle page. The citation test will be graded according to a grading rubric that you will be given before the exam. Because grading the citation exam is entirely objective, it will not be graded anonymously.

Due: Monday, November 4, 9:00am. Submit on Moodle in Word format and put your name on your paper.

5. Capstone Research Assignment(45% of grade). The Capstone Research Assignment will give you the opportunity to work with the research skills and sources you have learned in this class to research a legal issue. You will work with your law firm to develop a research plan, but after that, each student must work on the assignment individually.

Due: Monday, November 18, 9:00am. Submit on Moodle in Word format (I will not comment on pdf documents). Submissions will be anonymous: identify your paper with Anonymous #1 and do not put any other identifying marks on your paper.

6. Professionalism (10% of grade). Attendance is required in all law school classes but merely attending class will not prepare you to practice law. You must also both prepare for class and actively participate in class.

Your Junior Partner (JP) will assign part of your professionalism grade based on your participation in group discussions and your completion of citation exercises.

Quality of Work GradeExcellent Law Firm Work AGood Law Firm Work B+Fair Law Firm Work B-Poor Law Firm Work CUnacceptable Law Firm Work F

Under the law school attendance policy, if you miss more than 6 hours (whether they are regular classes or law firms) for any reason, you MUST withdraw from this course. See the Law Student Handbook for more details regarding the law school attendance policy.

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Participation in class discussions and exercises is essential to this course. Each student is expected to come to class prepared and to contribute to classroom discussions on a regular basis.

I expect that your class participation will reflect the type of professionalism expected of law practitioners. This includes limiting your use of laptops and other technologies in the classroom to class and law firm related activities. Repeated failure to adhere to this standard may result in the lowering of your professionalism grade.

Law school is a professional school. All your courses will prepare you for the practice of law in some manner and all are equally important. If you don’t already, you should begin now to adhere to professional standards in your written work. I expect that all your written work will be organized, neat, and carefully proofread. I will read your assignments carefully and mark writing errors such as grammar, spelling, and punctuation but I will not grade off for these types of errors unless your paper contains an unreasonable number of errors or is sloppy.

Grading ScalesThe Citation Test will be graded using a point rubric to determine letter grades. The Capstone assignment will be graded using a rubric to assign letter grades based on the percentage scale below. Final grades will be calculated using the grading scale in the Student Handbook.

Grade Percentage Scale

A+ > 100%A 93-100%A- 90-92%B+ 87-89%B 83-86%B- 80-82%C+ 77-79%C 73-76%C- 70-72%D 60-69%F < 60%

Grade Grade Points

A+, A 4.0A- 3.70B+ 3.30B 3.00B- 2.70C+ 2.30C 2.00C- 1.70D 1.00F 0

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Course Moodle PageThe course Moodle page is an extension of the classroom. The Moodle page will contain course information, and you will receive assignments via the Moodle page. The Moodle page may also contain supplemental reading and other handouts. Announcements will be made in class and via email through the Moodle page to students’ official UM email addresses.

Academic Honesty1. Individual and Group Work.

On one hand, part of good research is your ability to analyze the material you find and use your evolving thinking about the question to lead you to the appropriate sources. On the other hand, when you are first learning legal research techniques and sources, it is often helpful to be able to discuss the research problem with someone. In this course, you will complete both individual and group assignments so you can learn from both experiences.

It is a violation of the Law School Honor Code to collaborate on assignments without permission. Section 2-201(d) of the Honor Code states:

A student may not offer for credit work prepared in collaboration with another person unless the student secures the instructor’s written permission in advance of submission. Unless the instructor so states in a written instruction, a student does not prepare work in collaboration with another person if the student merely discusses with such other person matters relevant to the work in question.

In this course:

You may work with as many people as you like on the weekly lessons, but each student must complete the lesson on Moodle to receive credit for it.

You may work with as many people as you like on citation exercises. You will not be required to turn in citation exercises, but your JP may check that you have completed them before law firm.

You may work on the Research Exercises with 2-3 other people, but you must work on the entire assignment together (i.e., you may not divide the work). Each student must submit a completed assignment to receive credit for it.

You must work on the Citation Test individually. You may not discuss it with anyone except Prof. Gordon Sterling. There will be a mechanism for you to ask questions anonymously.

You must work on the Capstone Research Assignment individually, except that you will discuss it once during law firm. Outside of that law firm, you may not discuss the Capstone Research Assignment with anyone except Prof. Gordon Sterling. There will be a mechanism for you to ask questions anonymously.

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On all assignments, you may ask questions of your JP or Prof. Gordon Sterling. You may ask directional questions (e.g., “Where is the A.L.R.?” but not, “How do I use A.L.R.?”) of library staff. You may not ask Lexis or Westlaw representatives to help you with your research, but you may ask them to help you with administrative tasks like finding your password or saving, printing and emailing your results.

2. Lexis, Westlaw, Bloomberg Law, and Fastcase Passwords. You will receive Lexis, Westlaw, Bloomberg Law and Fastcase passwords on the first day of class. The use of these passwords is governed by license agreements; when you register your password you will verify that you have read and agree to the license agreements. Westlaw and Lexis passwords are “academic only” passwords and can only be used for law school academic purposes. Bloomberg Law, and Fastcase passwords can be used for research outside of law school.

3. Academic Honesty. All students must practice academic honesty. Academic misconduct is subject to an academic penalty by the course instructor and/or a disciplinary sanction by the University. All students must be familiar with The University of Montana School of Law Honor Code, which is available in the Student Handbook, and The University of Montana Student Conduct Code

Disability ServicesThe University of Montana assures equal access to instruction through collaboration between students with disabilities, instructors, and Disability Services for Students (DSS). If you think you may have a disability adversely affecting your academic performance, and you have not already registered with DSS, please contact Dean of Students, Sally Weaver (Law 311, 243-6622), and DSS (Lommasson 154, 243-2243, http://life.umt.edu/dss/). Dean Wandler and DSS will work with you to provide an appropriate accommodation.

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Course ScheduleThis course meets twice each week. On Mondays, you will meet in sections with Prof. Gordon Sterling, and on Fridays you will meet in your Law Firms with your JPs. You should attend your assigned class section unless you receive prior permission from Prof. Gordon Sterling to attend another section.Monday (Class):

Section 1 (LF 1-4): 1:10-2:10 Section 2 (LF 5-8): 2:20-3:20 Section 3 (LF 9-12): 3:30-4:30

Friday (Law Firms): 12:30pm-2:00pm

Week 1 (August 26, 30) Introduction

In Class (8/26):1. Course introduction.2. Complete and discuss How to Navigate a Case exercise.

Prepare for Class:1. Read the course syllabus (available on the course Moodle page).2. Complete Lesson #1: The U.S. Court System and Publication of Case Law. (On the course

Moodle page.)3. Listen to Leslie Garfield Tenzer, How to Read a Legal Opinion (Law to Fact podcast July

23, 2019), https://www.buzzsprout.com/138309/1390270-how-to-read-a-legal-opinion. 4. Come prepared with questions you have after reading the article and listening to the

podcast.

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This week’s goals: Identify the parts and features of published case law; Determine collaboratively how your law firm will work together; Understand the purpose of legal citation; Understand the structure of the ALWD Citation Manual; Apply basic citation rules.

In Law Firm (8/30):1. Draft law firm constitutions.2. Complete Citation Exercise #1.

Prepare for Class:1. Read Stacey Gordon, Why I Teach Legal Citation (Jameson Law Library Blog Aug. 31,

2013), https://jamesonlawlibrary.wordpress.com/2013/08/31/why-i-teach-legal-citation/.

2. Read ALWD Introductory Material (pages 2-7) and Rules 1-6.

Week 2 (September 2, 6)

In Class (9/2): No Class, Labor Day Holiday

In Law Firm (9/6):1. Discuss Citation Exercise #2.

Prepare for Class: 1. Read ALWD Rules 12.1-12.2.2. Complete Citation Exercise #2.

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This week's goals:

Apply ALWD Rule 12.2 to citing case names.

Week 3 (September 9, 13)Westlaw & Lexis training

In Class (9/9):All sections meet at 1:10 in Room 101.

1. Westlaw training

Prepare for Class:1. Register your Westlaw password before class.

In Law Firm (9/13):All law firms meet at 12:30 in Room 101.

1. Lexis Training.

Prepare for Class:1. Register your Lexis password before class.

Week 4 (September 16, 20)Researching cases I: American Law Reports, West Key Number System

In Class (9/16): 1. Complete and discuss the Topic & Key Number Research Exercise.

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This week's goals:

Become proficient with basic Westlaw search, navigation, and document delivery features;

Become proficient with basic Lexis Advance search, navigation, and document delivery features.

This week's goals:

Understand and be able to use the West key number system when it is the appropriate research method;

Understand and be able to use American Law Reports when it is the appropriate research method;

Apply ALWD Rule 12 to full case citations.

Prepare for Class:1. Listen to Adam Carolla & Mark Garagos, Reasonable Doubt: Jussie Smollett’s Lawyer Tina

Glandian (Adam Carolla Digital podcast Apr. 6, 2019), https://reasonabledoubtpodcast.com/2019/04/jussie-smolletts-lawyer-tina-glandian/.

2. Read “Nigerian Brothers” Sue Smollett Attorneys for Defamation, CWB Chicago, Apr. 23, 2019, http://www.cwbchicago.com/2019/04/nigerian-brothers-sue-smollett.html.

3. Complete Lesson #2: Researching Cases I. (On the course Moodle page.)

In Law Firm (9/20):1. Discuss Citation Exercise #3.

Prepare for Class:1. Read ALWD Citation Rules 12.3-12.7.2. Complete Citation Exercise #3.

Week 5 (September 23, 27) Researching Case Law II: Keywords

In Class (9/23): 1. Complete the Constructing a Keyword Search Exercise.

Prepare for Class:1. Complete Lesson #3: Researching Cases II. (On the course Moodle page.)

In Law Firm (9/27):1. Review Citation Exercise #4.

Prepare for Class:1. Read Montana Local Rule examples.2. Complete Citation Exercise #4.

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This week's goals:

Distinguish between basic (natural language) and advanced (terms & connectors) keyword searches;

Determine when each is the appropriate method; Apply the Montana Supreme Court local citation rule for citing Montana cases to a

Montana court.

Week 6 (September 30, October 4) Researching case law III: Citators

In Class (9/30): 1. Begin working on Research Exercise #1. This assignment is due Monday, October 7,

9:00am. Upload on the moodle course page.

Prepare for Class:1. Complete Lesson #4: Using Citators. (On the course Moodle page.)

In Law Firm (10/4): 1. Discuss Citation Exercise #5.

Prepare for Class:1. Read ALWD Rules 11.1-11.1, 12.16, 34.2. Complete Citation Exercise #5.

Week 7 (October 7, 11): Researching statutes and constitutions: Annotated codes

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This week's goals:

Verify the validity of cases used as authority to support an argument; Use citators to conduct additional research. Apply ALWD rules to citing cases within the text of a document.

This week's goals:

Distinguish between federal and state codes and select the correct one for the research task;

Locate relevant statutes and constitutional provisions using both print and online versions of codes;

Know how to use annotated codes to find relevant cases and additional sources; Apply ALWD Rules 13, 14 to citing constitutions and statutory codes.

In Class (10/7):1. Begin working on Research Exercise #2. This assignment is due Monday, October 14,

9:00am. Upload on the moodle course page.

Prepare for Class:1. Listen to Nora Saks, Richest Hill: Butte’s Precarious Arrangement (Mont. Pub. Radio

podcast Mar. 5, 2019), https://www.mtpr.org/post/richest-hill-episode-01-buttes-precarious-arrangement.

2. Complete Lesson #5: Researching Annotated Codes. (On the course Moodle page.)

In Law Firm (10/11): 1. Discuss Citation Exercise #6.

Prepare for Class:1. Read ALWD Rules 13, 14. 2. Complete Citation Exercise #6.

Week 8 (October 14, 18) Researching administrative regulations

In Class (10/14):1. Begin working on Research Exercise #3. This assignment is due Monday, October 21,

9:00am. Upload on the moodle course page.

Prepare for Class:1. Complete Lesson #6: Researching Administrative Regulations. (On the course Moodle

page.)

In Law Firm (10/18): 1. Discuss Citation Exercise #7.

Prepare for Class:1. Read ALWD Rules 18.1, 18.3, 18.13-18.142. Complete Citation Exercise #7.

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This week's goals:

Understand the relationships between the legislative and executive branches of government and their lawmaking functions;

Locate relevant federal and state administrative rules; Apply ALWD Rule 18 to citing administrative codes.

Week 9 (October 21, 25)Secondary sources I: Law reviews & treatises; Using the Law Library

In Class (10/21): 1. Begin working on Research Exercise #4. This assignment is due Monday, October 28,

9:00am. Upload on the moodle course page.

Prepare for Class:1. Listen to Steven Wise & Richard Cupp, Lawyer 2 Lawyer: Legal Rights of Animals (Legal

Talk Network podcast July 7, 2017), https://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/lawyer-2-lawyer/2017/07/the-legal-rights-of-animals/.

2. Complete Lesson #7: Researching Secondary Sources I: Law Reviews & Treatises. (On the Course Moodle page.)

In Law Firm (10/25): 1. Discuss Citation Exercise #8.

Prepare for Class:1. Read ALWD Rules 20.1, 21.1-21.3.2. Complete Citation Exercise #8.

Week 10 (October 28, November 1) Citation Review

In Class (10/28):1. Citation review.2. Discuss citation test.

Prepare for Class:1. Send citation questions to Prof. Gordon Sterling by Friday, October 28 @ 5:00pm.

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This week's goals:

Review ALWD citation rules covering cases, statutes, constitutions, and administrative regulations in preparation for the citation test.

This week's goals:

Recognize when to use law review articles and treatises in conducting legal research; Locate treatises and law review articles relevant to a research issue; Apply ALWD Rules 20, 21 to citing treatises and law review articles.

In Law Firm (11/1): No law firms

Week 11 (November 4, 8)Secondary Sources II: Practice materials

In Class (11/4):1. Complete and discuss Practice Materials Research Exercise.

Prepare for Class:1. Complete Lesson #8: Researching Secondary Sources II: Practice Materials. (On the

course Moodle page.)

In Law Firm (11/8):1. Develop research plan for Capstone Research Assignment.

Prepare for Class:1. Read the Capstone Research Assignment.

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Citation Take-Home Test: The Citation Test will be available Monday, October 28 at 4:30pm. Due Monday, November 4 at 9:00am. Upload on the course moodle page. This is an individual assignment; you may not discuss this assignment with anyone, except that you may ask questions on the Q&A Forum. Questions may be posted anonymously.

This week's goals:

Become familiar with the Am Jur practice materials library and be able to use it to locate practice-related documents and guidance.

Capstone Research Assignment: The Capstone Research Assignment will be available Monday, November 4 at 4:30pm. Due Monday, November 18 at 9:00am. Upload on the course moodle page. This is an individual assignment; you may not discuss this assignment with anyone, except that you may ask questions on the Q&A Forum. Questions may be posted anonymously.

Week 12 (November 11, 15)Research Ethics

In Class (11/11): No Class, Veterans Day Holiday

In Law Firm (11/15): 1. Discuss research ethics questions.

Prepare for Class:1. Complete Lesson #9: Ethics of Legal Research. (On the course Moodle page.)

Week 13 (November 18, 22)Fastcase & Bloomberg Law Training

In Class (11/18):All law firms meet in at 1:10 in Room 101.

1. Complete course evaluations.2. Complete Fastcase training and exercise.

Prepare for Class:1. Login to Fastcase at least once before class. Your username is the umontana form of

your email address, and your password is ABIII.

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This week's goals:

Be aware of ethical issues encountered in legal research and be able to select the appropriate course of action.

This week's goals:

Become proficient with basic Bloomberg Law sources, search, and navigation features;

Become proficient with basic Fastcase sources, search, and navigation features.

In Law Firm (11/22):All law firms meet at 12:30 in Room 101

1. Bloomberg Law training and exercise.

Prepare for Class:1. Register for Bloomberg Law access before class. (You received an Activation Code

during the first week of class. You do not need it to register, but if you don't have one, you must use a university email address.)

Week 14 (November 25, 26): Lexis/Westlaw CertificationClass will not meet this week. By 5:00pm on November 26, you must submit certify that you have completed Lexis and Westlaw certification.

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