Transcript Foreign & Intern’l Legal Research Seminar (Law 623A) Roy L. Sturgeon, J.D., M.L.S., LL.M.

Foreign & Intern’l Legal Research
Seminar (Law 623A)
Roy L. Sturgeon, J.D., M.L.S., LL.M. (Chinese Law)
Foreign & International Law Librarian,
Library Liaison to the Public Advocacy Center, &
Library Faculty
January 22, 2009, 3:30-4:30pm, Rm. L308
Topics to be Discussed Today
• My philosophy of legal research:
“Why Legal Research is the Most
Important Skill You Can Learn in
Law School (& How It Will Make
You Sexier!)”
• Basic research rules
*** Please feel free to ask me questions
anytime. Raise your hand. I will not
be offended. ☺
My Philosophy of Legal
Research
• Serious business & hard work
• Requires intellectual curiosity, critical
thinking, common sense, & patience
• Like many other skills, it can be learned
& mastered with practice. Always
believe in yourself!
My Philosophy (continued)
• Do not think of legal research as a
chore or something that is beneath
your professional status
• Instead, think of it as an opportunity to
learn & discover &, most importantly,
to empower yourself
• “Knowledge is power.” (More on this
later)
My Philosophy (cont.)
• We live in an “information society” or
“information age”
• Become information literate &
proficient—or else you will be left
behind
• Merely using information technology
(print or electronic) is not the same as
information literacy & proficiency
My Philosophy (cont.)
• Even in the USA, which has a long
tradition of sophisticated & abundant
legal research tools, the teaching of
legal research lacks the prestige of socalled “doctrinal” law subjects
• This situation is most unfortunate. Big
law firms are starting to complain.
And law schools & bar examiners are
starting to listen
My Philosophy (cont.)
• Legal research is the most important skill because it
is the foundation upon which the rest of your legal
work is built. It empowers you to find the doctrinal
& other sources you will use to educate yourself as
a practitioner
• If your foundation is weak, then whatever you build
on it will collapse
• So strive ceaselessly to make your legal research
foundation solid & firm
• You owe it to your clients, profession, & self
*** Legal work is not an exercise in creative fiction!
How It Will Make You Sexier!
• Effective legal research is
empowering
• For many persons (♀, ♂), power
is an aphrodisiac ♥
• Still not convinced? Then I dare
you to prove me wrong ☺
Basic Research Rules
1. Plan!
2. Think time, money, & resources
3. When in doubt, get context
4. Find someone who has already done
the work for you
5. Know when to stop!
Basic Research Rules (cont.)
1. Plan!
Saves yourself time & money
Write your plan on paper (or at least think it
through in your mind) before you start
Gives you some idea of where you are going. It is OK to
change your plan later
2. Think time, money, & resources
Be mindful of how much resources cost
Learn which resources are available so you can
exploit them
Basic Research Rules (cont.)
3. When in doubt, get context
Get as much background as possible
Use secondary sources (“context tools”)
4. Find someone who has already done the work for
you
Bibliographies & research guides
Organizations that care about your issue
Never re-do what has already been done
Basic Research Rules (cont.)
5. Know when to stop!
When you run out of time
When you start to circle around
Sometimes there is no definitive answer or
magic case/statute (“revel in the ambiguity!”)
Have confidence in your research skills
Also, Remember These Things
• Physical books are not obsolete because of the
internet. Not everything worth reading (& citing) is
available online
• The internet is great, but relatively few authoritative
& substantive materials are available online for
free
• Quality control is spotty at best on the free or open
internet
• Before searching online for e-books & journals,
assume your library owns in print every book &
journal ever published until you verify on the
library’s Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC)
that it does not
In Conclusion
• Effective attorneys are effective legal
researchers
• Think of legal research as a way of
empowering yourself. The better you
are at researching, the more
empowered you become
• Don’t ever be afraid of asking a
librarian--at Touro or elsewhere--for
help. Most will be glad to help you
because they view it as central to what
librarians do