Legal research is the process of identifying and retrieving information necessary to support legal decision-making. In its broadest sense, legal research includes each step of a course of action that begins with an analysis of the facts of a problem and concludes with the application and communication of the results of the investigation.

Legal Research

There is no one right way to perform legal research. There are practices that have proven to be more efficient and cost effective however. There is an overall "game plan" that is taught in the first year of Law school. The details vary according to the textbook, but a general search strategy might be:

• try to frame the Issue (try to figure out what the case is about/ what legal issue or issues you will need to research)
• brainstorm search terms (think up synonyms - assisted suicide? right to die? euthanasia?)
• determine jurisdiction and time frame (do you have a lot of time to research this? Usually not. You may have to make due with a quick and dirty resource instead of an in-depth, ever so scholarly one)
• decide which format to use (print or electronic- this often just depends on what you have access to)
• locate, read, and update secondary sources
• locate read and update primary authority (cases, statutes, and regulations)
• lookup rules of procedure, ethics, non-legal and other materials if needed
• repeat the above steps, as needed, depending on your search results.

Legal Research Texts to Consider:

• Berring, Robert C. and Elizabeth A. Edinger. Finding the Law.(West Group).
• Roy M. Mersky and Donald J. Dunn. Fundamentals of Legal Research. (Foundation Press).
• Morris L. Cohen & Kent C. Olson, Legal Research in a Nutshell. (Thomson West).
• Morris L. Cohen, Robert C. Berring, and Kent C. Olson, How to find the law. (West Publishing, 1989).
• Elias, Stephen and Susan Levinkind. Legal Research: How to Find and Understand the Law.