LAW 667LEC - Federal Legal Research

Have you ever wondered why one person can complete a research project in a matter of hours while another takes days or even weeks to do so? Often, the difference is how each thinks about the project. In addition to mastering search mechanics, this course will give you supervised experience in planning and executing a sophisticated research initiative on a legal issue of your choosing. There is no textbook for the course. Rather, students will explore a variety of sources each week and critique those sources and their own methodology. Most Federal litigation - civil rights, copyright, environmental law - focuses on the interpretation of a statute. Whether you are a litigator, judicial clerk or academic, you will need to be adept at the variety of ways that a statute can be interpreted: - based on its construction by courts or enforcing agencies, legislative history, or textual scrutiny. The goal is to empower you to do effective in support of any of these approaches.

Credits: 3