Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xv
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
Overview of Organization 2
Organization Within Chapters 3
How to Use This Book 4
The Variables 5
In Conclusion 6
Chapter 2 Weight of Authority 7
The Basics You Need to Know 11
How It Works: An Example 15
Writing About Authorities 22
Examples and Explanations 25
Chapter 3 Identifying, Reading, Understanding, and Writing About Legislation 29
You Need to Know How It's Made to Understand What You Are Seeing 30
The Basics You Need to Know 33
How It Works: An Example 35
Writing About Statutes 36
Examples and Explanations 38
Chapter 4 Legislation in Action 43
The Preliminaries 44
Task 1 What's the California Statute of Limitations for Burglary? 45
Task 2 Can My Employer Enforce Mandatory Retirement at a Certain Age? 47
Task 3 Can I Sell Stock in my Company on a Crowdfunding Site? 49
Examples and Explanations 52
Chapter 5 Identifying, Reading, Understanding, and Writing About Judicial Opinions 57
You Need to Know How It's Made to Understand What You Are Seeing 59
The Basics You Need to Know 61
How It Works: Reading Cases and Formulating Rules from Them 62
Writing About Cases 65
Examples and Explanations 67
Chapter 6 Judicial Opinions in Action 71
The Preliminaries 72
Task 1 What's the Rule for the Tort of Battery in Wyoming? 74
Task 2 Are Newspaper Stringers "Employees" Under the ADEA in the Third Circuit? 76
Examples and Explanations 78
Chapter 7 Identifying, Reading, Understanding, and Writing About Regulations 81
You Need to Know How It's Made to Understand What You Are Seeing 83
The Basics You Need to Know 86
How It Works: An Example 88
Writing About Regulations 91
Examples and Explanations 92
Chapter 8 Regulations (and Other Administrative Law Authorities) in Action 97
The Preliminaries 98
Task 1 Can I Prevent My Client from Being Deported? 101
Task 2 How Can Enid Sell Shares of Her Company's Stock? 104
Examples and Explanations 108
Chapter 9 Ethos, Credibility, and Legal Research 113
The Model Rules of Professional Conduct and Legal Research 114
Updating 115
Court Rules 116
Writing Ethically: Using Sources to Promote Credibility 118
Examples and Explanations 120
Chapter 10 Secondary Sources 123
The Basics You Need to Know 127
How It Works: An Example 131
Writing About Secondary Authorities 133
Examples and Explanations 134
Chapter 11 Conclusion 141
We've Only Scratched the Surface 141
Practice, Practice, Practice 143
Research: It's Not a Laundry List, It's a Network 144
Use Your Imagination 145
Appendix A Finding Sources 147
A Note on Paper Sources vs. Online Research 148
Algorithms 148
Searches 149
Sorting: Factors as Filters 150
Updating 152
Principles to Keep in Mind 152
Appendix B Some Citation Basics 157
Why We Cite 157
Many Sets of Rules Govern Citation: Your Task Is to Learn to Use Any of the Many Citation Rules 158
Principles to Keep in Mind 159
A Beginner's Guide to Creating Full Citations to Statutes, Cases, and Regulations 161
Short Form 166
A List of the Most Common Errors Beginners Make When Citing These Sources 167
There Is So Much More: Learn to Use a Citation Manual 167
Index 169
