School
Business, Entrepreneurship, and Professional Development
Division
Business & Economics
Department
Legal Studies
Academic Level
Undergraduate
Course Subject
Legal Studies
Course Number
126
Course Title
Legal Research
Cross-Referenced Course
Credit Hours
4.00
Instructor Contact Hours Per Semester
62.00 (for 15-week classes)
Student Contact Hours Per Semester
62.00 (for 15-week classes)
Grading Method
A-E
Pre-requisites
ENG-131 with a C grade or better, or Instructor permission
Catalog Course Description
Examines the structure of the court systems and sources of law in the context of conducting legal research; covers how to locate and understand statutory, regulatory, and common law; examines how to identify real or hypothetical legal issues and then develop a research plan. Covers how to perform legal research using Westlaw® and other Internet-based research databases.
Goals, Topics, and Objectives
Core Course Topics
- Sources of Law
- Identify sources of law in the context of legal research.
- Structure of Federal and State Court Systems
- Explain the structure of federal and state court systems, and the manner in which civil and criminal cases progress through these court systems.
- Identify proper jurisdictional authority.
- Locate of the Law
- Locate the law using primary and secondary resources.
- Distinguish between mandatory and persuasive authorities.
- Identify Legal Issues
- Identify legal issues from real or hypothetical scenarios.*
- Research Plan
- Develop strategies for researching complex legal issues.
- Create appropriate and cost-effective research plan.
- Westlaw® and Online Research
- Generate search terms and apply basic Boolean research techniques.
- Perform basic legal research using computer-assisted research tools.
- Properly use private, government and education websites as sources for researching legal issues.
- Memoranda of Law
- Brief legal cases, properly identifying all relevant parts.
- Draft written research memoranda incorporating sound research and analytical techniques, proper legal citation, proper grammar, and present written memoranda in an appropriate format.
- Properly validate and cite findings.
- Ethics
- Evaluate the ethical considerations of the paralegal in the legal research process.
Assessment and Requirements
Assessment of Academic Achievement
Students will be assessed through:
- Quizzes
- Tests
- In-class and out-of-class assignments
- Drafting assignments
- And/or class participation.
Outcomes
Satisfies Wellness Requirement
No
Effective Term
Fall 2019