Researching the Law: Finding What You Need When You Need It (Aspen Coursebook)

Researching the Law: Finding What You Need When You Need It, Third Edition, guides students through a decidedly contemporary approach to legal research. Widely respected author Amy E. Sloan presents legal research as a process of efficiently filtering a vast quantity of available information. Simply put, students learn how to locate and identify the most pertinent and authoritative information available with the greatest possible expedience. Sloan's clear, concise explanations of essential research sources are presented in a context that speaks to the way lawyers do research today, with a flexible approach that works in a rapidly changing research environment. Part I explains how to define a research question; pre-filter content before beginning a search; conduct research using a variety of search techniques; and establish post-search criteria for filtering results. Part II describes essential features of individual sources of authority and search strategies unique to each source. Part III contains research flowcharts to help students plan research strategy for different types of research projects. New to the Third Edition: The material on the weight of court opinions has been redesigned to address jurisdiction before level of court. The discussion of techniques for drafting effective word searches has been expanded and includes sample searches. New resources for evaluating and updating case research, such as visual mapping technologies and document analysis tools, are included. Professors and students will benefit from: Complete coverage of fundamental principles A book that teaches students how to: Define a research question Pre-filter content before beginning a search Search for information using a variety of techniques Create and use post-search filtering criteria to target the most relevant information Learn the essential features of important legal authorities, as well as the research strategies unique to each one Use flowcharts to plan research strategy A concise and practical writing style that appeals to today’s students. An approach to legal research as a filtering process to identify the most pertinent and authoritative information from vast search results Diverse coverage of online sources, not solely emphasizing only one of the prominent ones