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General Information

Course ID (CB01A and CB01B)
PARAD096A
Course Title (CB02)
Introduction to Legal Research and Writing
Course Credit Status
Credit - Degree Applicable
Effective Term
Fall 2024
Course Description
Organization and publication of American and California law; using print and online legal resources to find the law; using the law to analyze legal issues arising from factual disputes; writing a memorandum of law utilizing acceptable legal citation format.
Faculty Requirements
Course Family
Not Applicable

Course Justification

This course is in a CTE program and is CSU transferable. This course was developed to help students learn the skills to successfully conduct legal research on legal questions using both print and electronic media resources. This course belongs on the certificate and degree programs in Paralegal Studies. This course prepares students to perform one of the essential roles of a paralegal within the modern law office as the paralegals are increasingly being asked to research issues and prepare acceptable legal memoranda.

Foothill Equivalency

Does the course have a Foothill equivalent?
No
Foothill Course ID

Course Philosophy

Formerly Statement

Course Development Options

Basic Skill Status (CB08)
Course is not a basic skills course.
Grade Options
  • Letter Grade
  • Pass/No Pass
Repeat Limit
0

Transferability & Gen. Ed. Options

Transferability
Transferable to CSU only

Units and Hours

Summary

Minimum Credit Units
4.0
Maximum Credit Units
4.0

Weekly Student Hours

TypeIn ClassOut of Class
Lecture Hours4.08.0
Laboratory Hours0.00.0

Course Student Hours

Course Duration (Weeks)
12.0
Hours per unit divisor
36.0
Course In-Class (Contact) Hours
Lecture
48.0
Laboratory
0.0
Total
48.0
Course Out-of-Class Hours
Lecture
96.0
Laboratory
0.0
NA
0.0
Total
96.0

Prerequisite(s)

ADMJ D009. or PARA D009. or POLI D009. or PARA D086. or PARA D094. (either course may be taken concurrently) or professional experience appropriate to the topic

Corequisite(s)

Advisory(ies)

ESL D272. and ESL D273., or ESL D472. and ESL D473., or eligibility for EWRT D001A or EWRT D01AH or ESL D005.

Limitation(s) on Enrollment

Entrance Skill(s)

General Course Statement(s)

Methods of Instruction

Lecture and visual aids

Discussion of assigned reading

Discussion and problem solving performed in class

Quiz and examination review performed in class

Homework and extended projects

Collaborative learning and small group exercises

Assignments

  1. Oral
    1. Small group discussions of course content
    2. Class discussions
  2. Written
    1. Prepare reports of research assignments using cases, constitutions, codes and secondary sources
    2. Draft a case brief
    3. Draft a memorandum of law
    4. Objective and essay midterm and final examinations
  3. Reading
    1. Assigned readings from text and other references
    2. Library research
    3. Online research

Methods of Evaluation

  1. Oral and written assignments where students will demonstrate their ability to find the law using on-line and print resources and analyze it
  2. Written quizzes and final examination testing student knowledge of the various types of legal resources available for use in finding and analyzing law
  3. Participation in class discussions where students will demonstrate an understanding of course content
  4. Review memorandum of law to determine if it conforms to legal form and content

Essential Student Materials/Essential College Facilities

Essential Student Materials: 
  • None
Essential College Facilities:
  • None

Examples of Primary Texts and References

AuthorTitlePublisherDate/EditionISBN
Hames, Joanne & Ekern, Yvonne, "Legal Research, Analysis, and Writing" 6th ed. New York: Pearson, 2018.

Examples of Supporting Texts and References

AuthorTitlePublisher
Mersky, Roy & Dunn, Donald. "Fundamentals of Legal Research" 9th ed. New York: Foundation Press, 2009.
Putman, William H., & Albright, Jennifer R."Legal Research, Analysis and Writing", New York: Cengage Learning; 4th Edition, 2018.
Bouchoux, Deborah E., "Cite-Mate Citation Guide", New York: Delmar, Cengage, 3rd Edition, 2006.
Edwards, Linda H., "Legal Writing and Analysis". 4th ed. New York: Wolters Kluwer Publications, 2015.
"The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation" 20th ed. Massachusetts.: The Harvard Law Review 2015.
Wydick, Richard, "Plain English for Lawyers" 5th ed. North Carolina: Carolina Academic Press, 2005
Jessen, Edward, "California Style Manual", 4th Ed. San Francisco: West 2001

Learning Outcomes and Objectives

Course Objectives

  • Explain the organization of published state, federal and international legal materials
  • Identify the types and characteristics of published legal materials including electronic publications
  • Locate reported case law in print and online
  • Analyze case law and prepare a case brief
  • Describe constitutional and statutory law
  • Compare constitutional and statutory law
  • Collect and use secondary sources
  • Locate and use foreign treaties and laws of foreign nations
  • Assess and update legal research
  • Create a legal research plan
  • Construct a Memorandum of Law analyzing hypothetical facts in light of case law, statutory law and constitutional law
  • Employ proper citation form for cases, codes, constitutions and secondary sources

CSLOs

  • Demonstrate an understanding of the organization and heirarchy of published legal materials.

  • Demonstrate the ability to locate and analyze various substantative and procedural laws.

  • Prepare and critique various analytical legal memoranda.

Outline

  1. Explain the organization of published state, federal and international legal materials
    1. Difference between primary and secondary sources of law
    2. Types of primary sources
      1. Case Reporters
      2. Statutes
      3. Constitutions
    3. Publication of federal materials
    4. Publication of state materials
    5. Publication of international law
    6. Organization of a law library
  2. Identify the types and characteristics of published legal materials including electronic publications
    1. The difference between official and unofficial publications
    2. Types of publications
      1. Books
      2. Periodicals
      3. Loose Leaf Services
      4. DVD
      5. Electronic/Online
    3. Common publication characteristics
      1. Table of Contents
      2. Index
      3. Table of Abbreviations
      4. Table of Cases Cited
      5. Table of Statutes Cited
    4. Editorial enhancements to unofficial sources
      1. Case Reporters
      2. Codes and Constitutions
    5. Supplementing legal materials
      1. Pocket part supplements
      2. Loose leaf inserts
  3. Locate reported case law in print and online
    1. Federal case reporters
      1. U.S. Supreme Court reporters
      2. Circuit Courts of Appeal and District Court reporters
      3. Special federal court reporters
    2. State case reporters
      1. West's National Reporter System
      2. Official state reports
      3. Unofficial state reports
    3. Topical indexing and finding tools for case law
      1. West's Digest System
      2. Specialized federal digests
      3. American Law Reports
      4. Words and phrases
    4. Finding cases online
      1. Free services such as www.lp.findlaw.com, law.cornell.edu, and Google Scholar
      2. Fee based services including LEXIS and Westlaw
      3. Search methods
  4. Analyze case law and prepare a case brief
    1. Components of a reported case
      1. Judicial history
      2. Facts
      3. Legal Issue or issues
      4. Holding
      5. Rationale
      6. Dicta
    2. Briefing a reported case
    3. Comparing a reported case to a client's case
    4. The rule of stare decisis
  5. Describe constitutional and statutory law
    1. U.S. Constitution
      1. Library of Congress publication
      2. U.S. Code Annotated
      3. U.S. Code Service
    2. State constitutions
      1. Index of State Constitutions
      2. Annotated copies
    3. Federal statutes
      1. Statutes at Large
      2. Unannotated code
      3. USCA and USCS
      4. USCCAN
    4. State statutes
      1. Session laws
      2. Annotated and unannotated copies
      3. Indexes (LARMAC)
    5. Legislative history research
      1. Federal
        1. USCCAN
        2. CIS
        3. Congressional Record
        4. Committee reports and hearings
      2. State
        1. Annotated codes
        2. Legislative journals
    6. Municipal ordinances and rules of court
      1. Municipal and county codes
      2. Federal Rules of Court
      3. State and local rules of court
    7. Finding constitutional and statutory information online
  6. Compare constitutional and statutory law
    1. Identifying the elements of a constitutional provision or statute
    2. Effect of case interpretation
    3. Determining the meaning of individual words or phrases
    4. Applying a constitutional provision or statute to a factual situation
  7. Collect and use secondary sources
    1. Encyclopedias
    2. Digests
    3. Hornbooks and treatises
    4. Looseleaf services
    5. Periodicals
    6. American Law Reports
    7. Form books
    8. The Restatement
    9. Legal dictionaries
  8. Locate and use foreign treaties and laws of foreign nations
    1. Locating treaties
    2. Locating laws of foreign nations
    3. Application of treaties and laws of foreign nations to domestic disputes
  9. Assess and update legal research
    1. Shepards
    2. Key Cite
    3. Pocket part supplements
  10. Create a legal research plan
    1. Obtaining, evaluating and analyzing a client's factual situation
      1. Interviewing clients and witnesses
      2. Reviewing written information
      3. Assessing influences of gender, culture and age on reliability of information
    2. Creating a research vocabulary
    3. Starting point for research
    4. Organizing research findings
    5. Validating research findings
  11. Construct a Memorandum of Law analyzing hypothetical facts in light of case law, statutory law and constitutional law
    1. Purpose of memorandum
    2. Distinguishing a memorandum of law from other legal writings
      1. opinion letters
      2. memo of points and authorities
      3. appellate briefs
    3. Format for memorandum of law
    4. Importance of court rules
    5. Applying law to hypothetical facts
  12. Employ proper citation form for cases, codes, constitutions and secondary sources
    1. Harvard Bluebook
    2. California Style Manual
    3. ALWD Citation Manual
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