THE PROCESS OF LEGAL RESEARCH

INSTRUCTIONAL AID SERIES

Contents

• Introduction

• From Facts to Issue

• Controlling Statute

• Expanding Research

• Identifying Cases to Cite

• Ensuring Currency and Validity of Law

• Conclusion

Introduction

Introduction

(R)esearch requires the poetic quality of the imagination that sees significance and relation where others are indifferent or find unrelatedness; the synthetic quality of fusing items theretofore in isolation; above all the prophetic quality of piercing the future by knowing what questions to put and what direction to give inquiry.

Frankfurter, “The Conditions for, and the Aims and Methods of, Legal Research,”: 15 Iowa L.Rev. 129, 134 (1930).

• Legal research is an art as well as a skill. It calls for judgment and creativity along with mastery of a set of tools and techniques.

• Each research question will have a different starting point, process, and conclusion.

• Every research project will include false starts, dead ends, and revisions.

• There is never one “right” path. Researchers choosing different paths for the same research question may be equally successful.

• Legal research is never “finished,” but the experienced researcher recognizes when to stop.

Introduction

Introduction

• The starting point of research depends on the nature of the issue, how it is presented to the researcher, and the researcher’s experience.

• The starting point for research may be a fact pattern, a subject, an issue, a case, or a statute.

• At the outset, determine if your research will be exclusively in case law or if there are statutes or regulations that should be explored.

• Determine whether your research will be primarily in federal law or state law, or both.

Introduction

Introduction

• Research often begins with a fact pattern. You might be given an “on-point” case or statute, but seldom will the facts of your research question fit squarely with the facts of other cases or the language of the statute.

• A client relates a narrative for which he feels “wronged” but has no legal theory to justify or deny compensation.

• This is when your legal training will come into play. It is extremely difficult for someone untrained in the law to translate a fact pattern into a legal theory of recovery or defense.

Introduction

Introduction

State ISSUE Federal

FACTS

THEORY OF RECOVERYOR DEFENSE

CASE LAWSTATUTORY LAW

REGULATIONS

CONSTITUTIONS

SECONDARY SOURCES

DigestsKey Numbers Annotations

Introduction

From Facts to Issue

Ronnie, a salaried driver for the Acme Corporation, was unloading goods at a customer’s loading dock. Ronnie and the customer began to argue about whose duty it was to move the goods into the store. Ronnie shoved the customer. The customer fell and was injured. The customer is suing Acme for compensation for his injuries. Acme employs you to represent the corporation in the upcoming negotiations or litigation.

The case is filed within the jurisdiction of the state courts of Louisiana.

Facts to Issue

Facts to Issue

• These facts must be translated into a legal issue(s).

• This is one of the hardest part of legal research for the beginning researcher. Legal resources are seldom organized by facts; they are organized by legal theory.

• You will need to identify terms of art that might apply to this situation.

• You will need to learn the “black letter” law – statements of principles that govern the particular area of the law. Black letter law will give shape

and limits to your research.

Facts to Issue

Facts to Issue

• The parameters of your research may later have to be broadened, tightened, or shifted, but it is reassuring to start out with a map of the area you will be exploring.

• Your thinking about the legal issues presented by a particular set of facts is likely to change as you learn more about an area of the law. Remain flexible.

• Once you are familiar with the relevant terms of art and black letter law, you should be able to articulate your issue more precisely.

Facts to Issue

Facts to Issue

Research: In Print or Online?

• There is no right or wrong way to begin your research.

• In the past, researchers had no choice but to conduct legal research in print resources. The last few years have witnessed the introduction and tremendous growth of a powerful alternative, online legal research.

• Neither is the “better” method. One might work better than the other in this situation. You won’t know until you get started.

• In all likelihood, you will move back and forth between print and online resources during the research process.

Facts to Issue

• When confronted with an unfamiliar area of the law, many researchers find it easier to use print resources (such as legal encyclopedias, restatements, and practice guides) to get an overview, set parameters, learn the terms of art and black-letter law.

• Book materials have a satisfying way of organizing and limiting research. They naturally set boundaries within the law that the seemingly endless and seamless materials of online legal materials cannot provide.

• Book materials can impart a sense of orientation, the feeling that you have found what you need to get started.

Facts to Issue

Research: In Print or Online?

One exception to the generalization that print resources are often the best place to start research is when the case is dependent on a particular detail.

– If the case rests on the fact that the vehicle involved was a farm tractor, standard print indexes and table of contents will not be organized around farm tractor cases. A full text online search for farm tractors and injuries may retrieve cases that can be the starting point for research.

Facts to Issue

Research: In Print or Online?

Starting Research in Print Secondary Sources

• You might start with a well respected secondary source, such as:

– a treatise

– West’s Nutshell Series

– West’s Black Letter Series

– American Law Reports (ALR)

– a legal encyclopedia, such as American Jurisprudence (AMJUR) or Corpus Juris Secundum (CJS)

• Law school casebooks, with their emphasis on related but seemingly contradictory cases are designed for instructional purposes. They are not efficient research tools.

• Published study outlines often do not contain the clear analysis of contradictory outcomes needed for a full understanding of the issue.

Facts to Issue

• All of the print products listed on the previous screen are secondary sources.

• Secondary sources

– are written by legal experts.

– lay out general principles of law along with exceptions and variations to that law.

– are a source of citations to primary law (cases, statutes, and regulations).

– may be cited to support a legal theory, especially in an emerging or rapidly changing area of the law where there is no primary law available.

Facts to Issue

Starting Research in Print Secondary Sources

• Once you have found a secondary source or two that you trust, check the index and table of contents.

– Many indexes are designed with entry words that allow a researcher unfamiliar with an area of the law to find the appropriate sections.

– The hierarchy of the materials listed in the table of contents will help you move from general to specific issues.

• What you are looking for:

– Terms of art that apply to the facts

– A statement of the generally accepted principles of law, often called “black letter” law

– Enough understanding of the broader aspects of the issue to set parameters for your research

Facts to Issue

Starting Research in Print Secondary Sources

• The Table of Contents of Torts in the Nutshell Series has a section titled, Employers, Employees and Contractors.

• This section introduces and defines the following terms:

– Vicarious liability

– Scope of employment or course of employment

Employers, Employees and Contractors

Facts to Issue

Vicarious liability is a form of strict liabilityby which A is held liable to another for the tort of B for no reason other than that thereexists some relationship between A and Band B was acting within the scope of that relationship when he committed the tort. Theoverwhelming number of vicarious liabilitycases arise from the employer-employeerelationship.

…(S)cope (or sometimes “course” or “scopeand course”) of his employment … is a questionof fact which considers the employee’s jobdescription or assigned duties, the time, place,and purpose of employee’s act, the similarity of his conduct to the things he was hired or authorized to do or which are commonly doneby such employees, and the foreseeability ofhis act.

Facts to Issue

• Torts in the Nutshell Series discusses the general black letter law that applies to the vicarious liability of employers for the acts of their employees.– Once it is determined that the tortfeasor was an employee at

the time he committed the tort, his employer is vicariously liable if his conduct is within the scope of his employment.

• Torts, in the Black Letter Series, describes the liability of an employer for the intentional torts of employees:– An employer is vicariously liable for his employee’s

intentional torts committed in the scope of his employment and in furtherance of his employer’s business, at least if the employee’s act was foreseeable.

Facts to Issue

Black letter statements of the law from Torts in the Black LetterSeries

Facts to Issue

• You have found relevant terms of art and black letter statements of the issue which enables you to determine the focus of your research.

• The fact that the assault was an intentional act and whether the act was in furtherance of Acme’s business and foreseeable will be important considerations.

• You can now lay out the broad parameters of the issue and state the issue using appropriate legal terminology.

• You must persuade the court that Ronnie’s intentional act was outside the scope of his employment.

• You must also anticipate the arguments of your opponent.

Facts to Issue

When Ronnie assaulted the plaintiff, was he acting within the scope of his employment with Acme?

Two Step Determination

• Torts in a Nutshell lays out two questions that will help you determine if Acme is liable for Ronnie’s actions.

– Was Ronnie an employee at the time of the accident?

– Was Ronnie’s conduct within the scope of his employment?

• The second step will be the focus of your research, as there is no issue as to Ronnie’s employee status.

Facts to Issue

Issue

Controlling Statute

Controlling Statute

• Now you are ready to explore employer vicarious liability in more detail and retrieve relevant primary law.

• The next step is often searching more detailed secondary sources or case law, but another option is to see if there is a controlling Louisiana statute.

• Because you have learned the terms of art that are often used when referring to this issue, a Natural Language search in the Louisiana Statutes Annotated database (LA-ST-ANN) on Westlaw may be a good way to find relevant statutory law.

Controlling Statute

• The Natural Language search method allows you to use “plain English” to retrieve relevant documents. Just enter a description of your issue and Westlaw will display the documents that best match the concepts in your description.

• Natural Language searching is often an most effective way to search annotated statutory databases because:

– The text of a statute is often obscurely worded by the legislature and the flexible nature of Natural Language can ignore search words that do not appear in the document and focus on the remaining words.

– The annotations (Notes of Decisions) appended to the statute are summaries of case law that have interpreted or applied the statute and discuss the issue in the more foreseeable language of the courts.

Controlling Statute

Controlling Statute

• Database: LA-ST-ANN

• Search: employer “vicariously liable” for assault (“intentional act” “intentional tort”) of employee

• The first statute displayed is Louisiana Civil Code § 2320.

• This statute seems to be addressing employers’ vicarious liability and scope of employment, but it does not include the terms of art you encountered in the print resources.

“Masters and employers are answerable for the damage occasioned by their servants and overseers, in the exercise of the functions in which they are employed.”

§ 2320

Controlling Statute

Click the Best arrow to display the portion of the document that most closely matches your description. In this document, the Best portion of the document is in the annotations where the more foreseeable language of case law is summarized.

Best

Controlling Statute

• The brief wording of the statute does not stand alone but has been interpreted and applied by many courts.

• There are more than one thousand annotations, divided into almost two hundred subtopics appended to § 2320 and many of the subtopics seem relevant to your issue.

Controlling Statute

• It there were fewer relevant annotations, it might be possible to confine your research to the full text of the cases summarized in the annotations.

• The number of annotations makes it difficult to synthesize them into general principals law. You will more help.

• In this case, it may be more efficient to search for relevant secondary sources that synthesize and analyze case law in detail.

Controlling Statute

• You would have had a more difficult time if you had attempted to find the controlling statute in the print statutory index.

• Civil Code § 2320 is indexed under LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT, under the subtopic of Responsibility for acts of employees.

• There is nothing listed under Vicarious liability or Scope of employment in the print Index.

Responsibilityfor acts of employees

Controlling Statute

Expanding Research

Having found the controlling statute, but being unable to efficiently utilize the large number of annotations, you might turn to a secondary source that will analyze and synthesize your issue. At this point you have two choices: you could use the terms of art and language of the black letter law and :

– go to a print secondary source and use the table of contents and index to focus your research.

– go online and search for documents containing the terms of art. (Going on line prematurely can be an expensive choice, especially if you have easy access to the print resources.)

Expanding Research

Expanding Research

• American Law Reports (ALR) articles offer detailed analysis of a narrow issue of law and provide many citations to relevant primary law.

• In the print ALR Index (T-Z) ALR 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, and Federal, under the listing for VICARIOUS LIABILITY

– Assume you looked first for Employer, found Employment, and were referred to Labor and employment under this section

– The Labor and Employment section has a promising entry:• Intentional wrong, employer’s liability for assault, theft, or similar intentional

wrong committed by employee at home or business of customer (13 ALR5th 217)

Expanding Research

Expanding Research

Employment

Labor and employment

VICARIOUS LIABILITY Relevant article

Expanding Research

• In the print ALR Index (O-S) ALR 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, Federal

• Under SCOPE OF EMPLOYMENT AND AUTHORITY, you see

– Assault • Employer’s liability for assault, theft, or similar intentional wrong

committed by employee at home or business of customer (13 ALR 217)

• You found the same article under both VICARIOUS LIABILITY and SCOPE OF EMPLOYMENT AND AUTHORITY in the ALR Index.

SCOPE OF EMPLOYMENT AND AUTHORITY Assault

Expanding Research

• Be sure to check in the ALR Indexes’ pocket parts for recent ALR articles.

• There are three recent articles listed in the pocket part of the O-S Index under SCOPE OF EMPLOYMENT AND AUTHORITY, but none deal with the specific issue of an intentional act of an employee within the scope of employment.

Expanding Research

SCOPE OF EMPLOYMENT AND AUTHORITY

• This is the first page of the article found in the ALR Index that seems most relevant.

• It is a summary of the issue, with reference to the lead case that initiated the article.

• The full text of the lead case can be found at the end of the volume.

• The cite for the article is 13 ALR 5th 217. The case is reported at 540 So. 2d 363. The full text of the case is also available in the ALR, at 13 ALR5th 962.

Smith v. Orkin Exterminating Co. isfully reported at page 962, infra.

Smith v. Orkin Exterminating Co.,

540 So. 2d 363 (La Ct.App. 1989).

Expanding Research

ALR article finding aids, such as the Table of Contents, Research References, and Index follow the summary of the article.

Table of Contents

Index

Assaults 3-9, 12, 13

Research References

§ 13

Expanding Research

• In the Article Outline, the phrase respondeat superior is used under the subtopic of NONSEXUAL ASSAULTS under BUSINESS OF CUSTOMER. You have not encountered this phrase before.

• Check Black’s Law Dictionary for a definition of respondeat superior.

Notice that the article uses thephrase Respondeat superior,rather than vicarious liability.

NONSEXUAL ASSAULTS under BUSINESSOF CUSTOMER is the section of the article that seems most relevant to your issue.

Article Outline

Expanding Research

Blacks Law Dictionary

Black’s Law Dictionary contains the follow definition of respondeat superior:

“This maxim means that a master is liable in certain cases for the wrongful acts of his servant, and a principal for those of his agent…”

* You can use Black’s Law Dictionary on lawschool.westlaw.com, Black’s Law Digital or Black’s iPhone application.

Expanding Research

You should consider respondeat superior as an alternative to vicarious liability in your research. (If you had begun looking at RESPONDEAT SUPERIOR in the ALR Index, you would have found the same article under the subheading, Intentional wrong.)

Intentional wrong

RESPONDEAT SUPERIOR

Expanding Research

Several of the ALR article’s finding aids have led to the most relevant section of the article:

III. Business of Customer

B. Nonsexual Assaults

§13 Respondeat superior

(a) Theory established or

supportable

(b) Theory not established

Expanding Research

• The article includes a Jurisdictional Table of Cited Statutes and Cases.

• McDermott v. American Brewing is the only Louisiana case in the table that deals with nonsexual assault of a customer at the place of the customer’s business.

Louisiana cases

Jurisdictional Table

McDermott v. American Brewing Co (1901) 105 La 124, 29 So. 498 - § 13 [b] (reference to the section of the article where McDermott is discussed).

Expanding Research

§ 13(b)

• Be sure to check the pocket part of the ALR volume for recent relevant case law.

• Pocket parts inserted into the back cover periodically supplement the materials in the bound volume.

13 ALR 5th 217

There is a number tocall for very recent

case summaries.

There are no entriesin the pocket part

for § 13.

Expanding Research

Online Research• You could have searched first for the terms of art on Westlaw. In

this session, you might want to supplement and confirm your print product research in the ALR database.

• Whether you look for the relevant article(s) by using the print ALR index or by searching Westlaw is a matter of choice and economics.

• Note: Many people find it difficult to read with total comprehension detailed online articles. If you prefer to look for documents online, you might want to print them and then read, highlight and make notes on the printed document(s).

Expanding Research

• Database: ALR

• Terms and Connectors search: ti(“vicarious liability” “respondeat superior” & employ!)

• Result: seven documents. Two are in ALR INDEX TO ANNOTATIONS (articles). One is under VICARIOUS LIABILITY, the other under RESPONDEAT SUPERIOR. Both lead to the same article you found in the print ALR indexes.

Link to article

Intentional wrong, employer’s liability for assault, theft, or similar intentional wrong committed by employee at home or business of customer

Expanding Research

• This is the same article you found using the ALR print index.

• Note the link to Smith v. Orkin. The full text of the opinion is available in the Louisiana State Cases database (LA-CS).

EMPLOYER’S LIABILITY FOR ASSAULT, THEFT, OR SIMILAR INTENTIONAL WRONGCOMMITTED BY EMPLOYEE AT HOME OR BUSINESS OF CUSTOMER.

Expanding Research

• A Natural Language search is often used as a check against missing relevant articles that were not retrieved by a Terms and Connectors search.

• Database: ALR

• Natural Language search: employer "vicarious liability" (“respondeat superior”) for assault ("intentional act" "intentional tort")

• One of the first documents retrieved is the same document you found using the ALR print index and the Terms and Connectors search.

• You can now proceed with confidence that this article will provide detailed analysis and citations to enable you to efficiently expand your research.

Expanding Research

• The online article has many of the same finding aids and research resources as the print article.

• Document Outline on the Links for tab links to an outline of the article.

• The Document Outline leads you to § 13, dealing with nonsexual assaults by employee in the business of a customer.

Expanding Research

§ 13

• The Citing Reference function of KeyCite is an easy and

effective way of expanding your online research.

• KeyCite Citing References lists cases, administrative materials and secondary sources that have cited a case or statute.

• Citing References for cases can be limited by issue (headnote), locate terms, jurisdiction, date, document type, or depth of treatment.

• Citing References for statutes can be limited by issue (notes of decisions), locate terms, jurisdiction, date, or document type.

Expanding Research

• McDermott v. American Brewing Co. is the only Louisiana case discussed in § 13 of the ALR article. It was decided in 1901 and you would like to check for more recent cases.

• Click KeyCite Citing Reference on the Links for tab.

• McDermott has been cited in twenty-two documents.

Citing References link

Expanding Research

1915

Limit KeyCite Display

• At least 1915 documents have cited Louisiana Statute 2320.

• Click Limit KeyCite Display button to whittle citing documents down to the ones that will be of most use.

• Here we have limited the display to the issue discussed under Topic 29 of the Notes of Decisions for § 2320, Unauthorized acts of employee, course and scope of employment.

Topic 29

Cases

• We have also limited the KeyCite Display to cases.

• Click Apply.

• We have limited the KeyCite Display to the six of the original 1915 documents that will be of most use to us.

Apply

6 of 1915

Identifying Cases to Cite

Section 13 of the ALR article analyzes some of the factors that courts have considered when determining whether an employee acted within the scope of his employment when committing a nonsexual assault at the business of a customer. They include:

– Did the act further the employer’s business in any way, even if not in the manner or method authorized?

– Was the act related to employee’s duties and incident to the performance of the employee’s duties?

– Had the business purpose of the interaction between the employee and customer been completed?

– Did the action arise out of a job dispute, or was the assault in pursuit of private purposes or grievance?

– Did the employee’s duties contemplate the use of force?

Identifying Cases

• You will need to align these factors with the circumstances that surrounded Ronnie’s assault of the customer.

• You could argue that Acme is not liable because

– Ronnie’s job did not contemplate assault.

– Ronnie’s job was over when he unloaded the goods on the loading dock. It was not necessary for him to pursue the argument to complete his delivery.

– Ronnie was pursuing a private grievance.

• But the plaintiff is likely to that Acme is liable because

– the assault arose out a job dispute and was not personal.

– Ronnie’s job was not over, as he remained on the customer’s loading dock.

– the assault furthered Acme’s business in that its purpose was to deliver the goods to a customer.

Identifying Cases

Topic and Key Numbers

• You will want to identify relevant cases through sources other than the ALR article to verify that you are using the most relevant cases and the strongest arguments.

• Key Number Digests are one option of identifying cases with similar issues. The digests organize the law into approximately 400 broad topics divided into approximately 100,000 narrow issues of law, each assigned to a specific key number.

• The McDermott case that is cited in the ALR has only one headnote. That headnote is assigned to 255K302(3) (Assault under Scope of Employment, under Master and Servant topic).

Identifying Cases

Print Digests• If you were to find Louisiana cases by topic and key number in the print Louisiana

Digest you would need to check the digest’s pocket part for the most recent cases.

• Louisiana cases have the most precedential value, but the reasoning of courts in other jurisdictions may be persuasive. Topic and key numbers remain constant across jurisdictions.

Identifying Cases

• Instead of using the print digests, you might go online and search the LA-CS database for relevant key numbers, using the terms of art that we have identified in the print resources and in the ALR database. You might add other terms associated with factors a court considers when determining liability.

• Database: LA-CS

• Digest field search: di(“vicarious liability” “respondeat superior” /p assault! (inten! /3 tort! act!) & “job dispute” “personal grievance” furtherance)

Identifying Cases

• The search retrieved 22 cases in the Louisiana Cases database.

• On the right of the screen are relevant ALR, Am. Jur. 2d, Am. Jur. Proof of Facts, Am. Jur. Trials articles and Key Numbers that could be used to expand your research. These are your ResultsPlus.

ResultsPlus

The search retrieved several relevant key numbers under topic 255 (Master and Servant):

302(2) Acts for Which Master is Liable in General

302(3) Assault and Battery

302(6) Acts of a Servant in His Own Behalf

306 Willful and Malicious Acts of Servant

Identifying Cases

Reference to La. C.C. 2320

255k306

255k302(2)

• We will choose 255k302(3), Assault and Battery, under Scope of Employment as this is the key number assigned to the sole headnote in the McDermott case which was cited in § 13 of the ALR article.

• Click Most Cited Cases.

Assault and Battery Most Cited Cases

Identifying Cases

• Select Louisiana as the jurisdiction.

• The Most Cited Cases feature will retrieve headnotes assigned to key number 255k302(3) in a Custom Digest format. The headnote that has been cited the most will be displayed first, the headnote that has been cited least will be displayed last.

• The Most Cited Case feature helps determine which cases are most authoritative.

Most Cited Cases

Louisiana

255k302(3)

Identifying Cases

• There are over forty headnotes in Louisiana’s Custom Digest for key number 255k302(3).

• LaBrane v. Lewis has been cited more than any other case for this issue, indicating that it is an important case.

• McDermott is also near the top of the list and the ALR article on assault in the home or business of a customer is also referenced.

Identifying Cases

Cited 147 times

• The next step is to read the full text of the cases that seem most relevant.

• The critical and often very subtle factors that influence a decision must be isolated be fully thorough reading of the complete text of the cases.

• Some cases might seem to be contradictory, but you should be able to detect a trail of consistency drawn from subtle factual distinctions among the cases.

• You should read opinions that have imposed liability on the employer and opinions that have not imposed liability on the employer.

Identifying Cases

Several of the cases retrieved set forth factors a Louisiana court should consider when deciding whether to hold an employer vicariously liable for the intentional acts of employees:

“ (1) whether the tortious act was primarily employment rooted,

(2) whether the violence was reasonably incidental to the

performance of the employee's duties,

(3) whether the act occurred on the employer's premises, and

(4) whether it occurred during the hours of employment.”

Identifying Cases

Ensuring Currency and Validity of LawKeyCite History

• Once you have found the relevant cases and statutes, you must determine the current status of the law.

• Check the validity of any relevant case or statute before continuing your research.

• A case may be reversed, vacated, remanded or overruled.

• A statute may be repealed, amended, declared unconstitutional, or preempted.

KeyCite History

KeyCite History

• Online citators have distinct advantages over print citators:

– There is a single source of information. (Checking the validity of a case in print citators involves checking in multiple volumes and updating pamphlets.)

– Online citators are extremely current. (Print citators cannot be as current due to the necessity of printing and mailing updating pamphlets.)

• KeyCite is the citation research service available on Westlaw.

KeyCite History

• One of the cases in the results of your key number search, LaBrane v. Lewis, displays a yellow flag in the upper left corner and on the Links for tab in the left frame.

• The yellow flag indicates the case has some negative history, but hasn’t been reversed, overruled, vacated, or remanded.

• Click either yellow flag to display this negative history.

KC History

KeyCite History

• The negative history includes cases in which factual distinctions led to a different outcome.

• These would be very valuable cases to read as you try to fit the Acme case into the texture of Louisiana cases.

KeyCite History

• Another case retrieved in your key number search, Moore v. Blanchard, is tagged with a red flag on both the case and the Links for tab.

• The KeyCite Direct History of the case indicates that the judgment was reversed by a higher court.

• When you see a red flag on a case, you should investigate before relying on that case to support your argument.

Judgment Reversed

KeyCite History

Conclusionor Knowing When to Stop Research

• You’ve done the research and you feel confident of your understanding of the issue.

• You have isolated the most relevant articles, cases, statutes, and key numbers that were found by different methods of research and which cross reference one another.

• You’ve carefully read and analyzed relevant Louisiana law.

• You’ve ensured the cases you are relying on are good law.

• You can support your position with references to primary law and secondary sources, and counter the arguments likely to be presented by opposing counsel

Conclusion

Knowing When To Stop1

• The Loop Rule

– When you start to see the same documents and citations over and over, you should probably realize you are done, especially if you have used the research products of more than one publisher

• The Economic Analysis or Diminishing Return Rule

– When you are investing more in your research than you are getting in return

• The Zen Rule

– When you have been working in an area of the law for a long time, you will be so familiar with the primary and secondary law you will have become an expert and will know when to stop.

1JOHNSON, ET AL., WINNING RESEARCH SKILLS, West Group, 2002

Conclusion

• Now you can write a persuasive memo or brief.

• This was just one potential path through the legal research process.

• Every research process will differ. You could have competently explored more or less legal resources depending on what is at stake and the time and money available.

• You’ll be a successful researcher if you understand how to use the many resources that are available in a flexible and efficient manner.

Conclusion

We hope that you have found this lesson helpful.

If you have more Westlaw education or training needs, please contact your Academic Account Manager or call the Reference Attorneys at 1-800-WESTLAW.

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