INTERNATIONAL AND FOREIGN LEGAL RESEARCH



INTERNATIONAL AND FOREIGN LEGAL RESEARCH

Spring 2011 – Tom Kimbrough

Legal Research Guide: An analytical description of the key sources of legal information for a specialized topic of international or foreign legal research.

Deadlines

Legal Research Guide Topic Selection Due: February 15; send me an e-mail by the end of that day that provides a description of your topic.

Legal Research Guide “Guiding Hypothetical Fact Scenario” Paragraph Due: March 3; send me an e-mail by the end of that day that contains your guiding hypothetical fact scenario paragraph.

Legal Research Guide Due: March 24; turn in a hard copy at the beginning of class; 36% of final grade.

Length / Quality/ Quantity of the main body of the research guide

The research guide may not exceed seven pages. But you might be able to do an excellent guide in six pages. Quality, particularly your ability to demonstrate by your unique descriptions of the sources and of their relevance to the specific issues raised by your guiding hypothetical fact scenario is much more important to me than the quantity that you write or the number of sources that you list. Demonstrate by your legal research guide that you have mastered the nuances of a narrow, well-defined topic rather than submit a long list of sources that are “about” a topic with perfunctory descriptions of them.

Worksheet

You do not need to keep a “research log” per se – but you should compile a list of sources you examined but excluded from your guide, as well as any materials that you would have liked to have seen but could not access. You might note materials that have great sounding titles but upon inspection aren’t suitable. Please indicate why you excluded the source: “too old”, “too general”, “other material better”, etc. The research guide should conform as closely as possible to Bluebook rules, but I will not nitpick this (i.e., don’t worry about precision if the Bluebook rule is unclear). The worksheet is informal (not in Bluebook form). There is no limit to the length of your worksheet.

Elements of the Legal Research Guide

Please include the following elements in your research guide:

1. Define the scope of the topic and the jurisdiction. Indicate the intended audience.

2. Create a guiding hypothetical fact scenario that gives a specific example of a person or entity with one or more difficult legal issues to resolve for whom your research guide would be useful.

3. Identify 3-5 sources for basic background information; print or online research guides and secondary sources that provide an overview of your topic, historical or comparative perspective, etc. Give a brief description of each source and analyze the relevance of each source to the issue(s) raised by your guiding hypothetical fact scenario.

4. Identify primary law sources: statutes, treaties, constitutions, administrative/regulatory materials, as relevant; compiled legislative histories or travaux preparatoires, if any; key cases, if relevant. Direct the reader to the core authorities for your topic. Give a brief description of each source and analyze the relevance of each source to the issue(s) raised by your guiding hypothetical fact scenario.

5. Identify specialized secondary sources. These are analytical materials like treatises, databases that provide critical commentary, law journal articles or symposiums, government reports, expert analyses, etc. This is the heart of the guide. Give a brief description of each source and analyze the relevance of each source to the issue(s) raised by your guiding hypothetical fact scenario. In this section, you must designate two sources as key or significant.

6. Identify major online sources. Direct the researcher to specific free websites or specific databases within WESTLAW, LEXIS, HEIN, BNA, CCH, RIA or OTHER publishers of legal information; these may include e-journals. If subscription databases or free Internet sources are not useful tools for your topic, please indicate that. The majority of your online resources will most likely be Internet-based. Give a brief description of each source and analyze the relevance of each source to the issue(s) raised by your guiding hypothetical fact scenario.

7. Provide contact information for at least three individuals that specialize in the area of law relevant to your guide. Include mailing address, phone number and e-mail address. Indicate why you selected such individuals.

8. Attach a separate worksheet (not included in the 7-page limit) that lists sources you either examined and excluded, or materials identified but not located and thus not cited in your guide.

Turn in a hard copy of your Legal Research Guide to me at the beginning of class on March 24. Late guides will lose 5% credit per day. Please also e-mail an electronic copy of your guide to me (just to make it easier for me to access your electronic sources once I start grading the guides).

I will be evaluating the guide’s overall organization, presentation, and depth of coverage in thoroughly covering a narrow, well-defined topic. The guide should be helpful to resolve the legal issue(s) raised in your guiding hypothetical fact scenario. Topics must have a component of international or foreign law.

I will distribute in class three sample guides. Please note: Use any sample guides as a model to give you a general idea of the nature of the assignment, not a rigid form to follow. Your guide will be different from the samples. For example, the samples may be shorter than your guide as I have somewhat expanded the required elements and the length limitation from earlier semesters.

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