Introduction to Legal Research and Writing
| Author | Ted Tjaden |
| Profession | Faculty of Law and Faculty of Information Sciences University of Toronto |
| Pages | 1-27 |
CHAPTER
1
INTRODUCTION TO
LEGAL RESEARCH
AND WRITING
Legal
research
is a
practical skill needed
by
lawyers,
law
students, para-
legals, judges,
law
librarians,
and
members
of the
public
who
must
find
and use
law-related information such
as
court cases, legislation, com-
mentary,
sample court documents,
and
agreements. With
the
advent
of
the
Internet,
online
legal databases,
and
CD-ROMs,
legal research
now
encompasses
the
need
to use and
master both
print
and
online resources.
Computer technology
has in
fact
changed much
in
legal research
in
Canada
with
the
increase
in the
amount
of
law-related information avail-
able online
and
improvements
in
search
and
retrieval
software.
With
these changes comes
the
need
for
many
to
learn
new
techniques
and
new
sources
for
finding
law-related information.
Related
to
legal research
is
legal writing, also
a
practical
skill
that
requires
clarity,
precision,
and an
understanding
of
some basic legal
writing requirements. Legal writing involves
the
drafting
of a
number
of
law-related documents including legal research memos,
opinion
let-
ters,
business
agreements, court
pleadings,
and
factums.
Fortunately,
much
has
been written about legal research
and
writing
in the
past
few
years,
which should assist those teaching
it in law
schools
to
improve
how it is
currently taught.
In
addition,
this
book provides readers with
a
brief
overview
of
effective
legal writing.
For
many lawyers
and law
students, legal research
and
writing
is a
bad
memory
of
first-year
law
school library exercises that
did not
always
make sense
and
were easily
forgotten.
For
first-time legal
researchers, finding relevant cases
and
legislation
can be
difficult;
1
2
LEGAL
RESEARCH
AND
WRITING
ensuring that
a
particular case
or
statute
has not
been reversed
or
amended
can be
seemingly impossible
for the
uninitiated
(it is
not).
Finding
and
drafting
relevant
and
effective
court documents
and
other
law-related
documents poses
its own
challenges. While
the
introduc-
tion
of
computer technology
has in
many cases improved access
to
legal
information, computer technology also introduces
the
spectre
of
"information
overload"
and the
danger
of
being bogged down with
too
much information.
The
need
now is to be
able
to
sift
effectively
through
this
mass
of
information
to
distill
the
particular information
relevant
to the
question being researched.
This book
—
aimed
at
lawyers,
law
students, paralegals, judges,
law
librarians,
and
members
of the
public
—
seeks
to
explain
the
prac-
tical
skills needed
for
print
and
online legal research,
as
well
as for
legal
writing.
It
provides
a
current
and
comprehensive look
at the
topic, con-
solidating information
on
legal research
and
writing into
one
handy,
easy-to-use resource. This chapter introduces legal research
and
writ-
ing by
(1)
arguing
its
importance
to the
legal profession;
(2)
discussing
some basic legal research techniques
and
resources;
(3)
introducing
legal citation;
and (4)
discussing some basic copyright
issues.
A.
THE
IMPORTANCE
OF
LEGAL
RESEARCH
There should
be no
need
to
argue
the
importance
of
legal research
and
writing,
but
given
the
short
shrift
it is
often
given
in law
school,
it is
understandable that some lawyers
may not
regard legal research
as
important
as
other skills, such
as
advocacy
and
negotiation,
for
example.
In
fact,
much
has
been written
on the
reasons
why law
schools graduate
students with such poor legal research
and
writing
skills.1
Many
law
stu-
1 See
Emily Grant, "Toward
a
Deeper Understanding
of
Legal
Research
and
Writ-
ing as a
Developing Profession" (2003)
27 Vt. L.
Rev. 371; Maureen
E
Fitzger-
ald,
"What's
Wrong with
Legal
Research
and
Writing? Problems
and
Solutions"
(L996)
88 Law
Libr.
J.
247; Donald
J.
Dunn, "Why
Legal
Research Skills
Declined,
or
When
Two
Rights
Make
a
Wrong" (1993)
85 Law
Libr.
J. 49; Ron
M.
Mersky,
"Rx
for
Legal Research
and
Writing:
A New
Langdell"
(1991)
11
Legal
Ref.
Serv.
Q.
201; Joan
S.
Rowland
&
Nancy
J.
Lewis, "The
Effectiveness
of
Law
School
Legal
Research Training Programs" (1990)
40 J.
Legal
Educ. 381;
Christopher
G.
Wren
&
Jill Robinson Wren, "The Teaching
of
Legal Research"
(L988)
80 Law
Libr.
J. 7;
Helene
S.
Shapo, "The Frontiers
of
Legal Writing:
Challenges
for
Teaching Research"
(1986)
78 Law
Libr.
J.
719; Leonard
L.
Baird,
"A
Survey
of the
Relevance
of
Legal Training
to Law
School Graduates"
(1987)
29 J.
Legal Educ.
264 at
273, Table
3;
Robin
K.
Mills, "Legal Research Instruc-
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