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Thurgood Marshall Law Library Guide to Legal Research

Updated in 2021 by the Thurgood Marshall Law Library Instructional Group. All rights reserved. For permission to reprint any part of this work, contact the administration of the Thurgood Marshall Law Library.

CHAPTER 1 (TMLL Guide Chapter 1)

INTRODUCTION TO LEGAL AUTHORITIES AND LEGAL RESEARCH

  1. Introduction
  2. How Does Legal Research Differ From Research in Other Contexts?
  3. Types of Legal Authorities
  4. Relationship Between Statutory Law and Case Law
  5. The Universe of Choices for Legal Research
  6. The Legal Research Process
  7. Understanding Citations to Basic Primary Authorities

CHAPTER 2 (TMLL Guide Chapter 2)

ELECTRONIC RESEARCH TECHNIQUES

  1. Electronic Research Basics
  2. Boolean Searching
  3. Field and Segment Searching
  4. Bloomberg Law, Lexis, and Westlaw
  5. Composing Searches
  6. Lowcost Subscription Databases for Legal Research
  7. Cost Effective Research Using Institutional Repositories
  8. Internet Research

CHAPTER 3 (TMLL Guide Chapter 3)

BACKGROUND RESEARCH USING SECONDARY SOURCES

  1. Secondary Sources: Background
  2. Using Legal Periodicals
  3. Using Legal Encyclopedias
  4. Using Treatises, Hornbooks, and Nutshells
  5. Using Restatements
  6. Using American Law Reports
  7. Using Litigation Sources
  8. Tips for Using Secondary Sources
  9. Practice Materials and Form Books
  10. Highlights of Bluebook Form for Secondary Sources

CHAPTER 4 (TMLL Guide Chapter 4)

STATUTORY AND CONSTITUTIONAL LAW RESEARCH

  1. Statutory and Constitutional Law: Background
  2. Terminology Used in Statutory and Constitutional Research
  3. Sources for Statutory and Constitutional Research
  4. Highlights of Bluebook Form for Statutes and Constitutions

CHAPTER 5 (TMLL Guide Chapter 5)

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY RESEARCH

  1. Getting Started
  2. Researching Federal Legislative History
  3. Researching Maryland Legislative History

CHAPTER 6 (TMLL Guide Chapter 6)

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW RESEARCH

  1. Introduction
  2. Background Research on Agencies
  3. Sources of Administrative Law
  4. Executive Orders and Other Presidential Documents
  5. Strategies for Researching Administrative Materials
  6. Using Looseleaf Services: Basic Pointers
  7. Topical Databases and Online Looseleafs

CHAPTER 7 (TMLL Guide Chapter 7)

CASE LAW RESEARCH

  1. Case Law: Background
  2. Court Hierarchies and the Appellate Process
  3. Print Sources for Case Law Research
  4. Electronic Sources for Case Law Research
  5. Citators: Function and Formats
  6. Print Citators
  7. Electronic Citators
  8. Citation Format for Cases
  9. Highlights of Bluebook Form for Cases

CHAPTER 8 (TMLL Guide Chapter 8)

RESEARCHING A STATE LAW PROBLEM

  1. The Legal Research Process: State Law Sources
  2. Identifying State Court Structure and Reporters
  3. Using Secondary Sources for State Law Problems
  4. Using State Annotated Codes in Print
  5. State and Regional Case Law Resources
  6. Using West Digests to Locate State Court Cases
  7. Using American Law Reports to Locate State Court Cases
  8. Tips for Selecting State Law Databases
  9. Strategies for Researching a State Law Problem
  10. Highlights of Bluebook Form for State Law Sources

CHAPTER 9 (TMLL Guide Chapter 9)

RESEARCHING A MARYLAND LAW PROBLEM

  1. Maryland Government
  2. Maryland Constitution
  3. Maryland Legislation
  4. Maryland Courts
  5. Maryland Administrative Materials
  6. Maryland Local Law
  7. Baltimore City Materials
  8. Maryland Practice Materials

CHAPTER 10 (TMLL Guide Chapter 10)

RETROSPECTIVE MARYLAND STATUTE SEARCHING

  1. Explanation
  2. Examples

CHAPTER 11 (TMLL Guide Chapter 11)

RESEARCHING A FEDERAL LAW PROBLEM

  1. Federal Government
  2. U.S. Constitution
  3. Federal Legislation
  4. Federal Courts
  5. Federal Regulations and Other Administrative Materials
  6. Federal Court Rules
  7. Strategies for Researching a Federal Law Problem
  8. Highlights of Bluebook Form for Federal Authorities
  9. Federal Practice Materials
  10. Checklist: Researching a Federal Law Problem

CHAPTER 12 (TMLL Guide Chapter 12)

FOREIGN AND INTERNATIONAL LAW RESEARCH

  1. Terminology Used in Researching International Law
  2. Selected Sources for Researching United States Treaties
  3. Selected Sources for Researching World Treaties
  4. Strategies for Researching International Law
  5. Basic Foreign Law Research
  6. Selected Sources for Researching European Community Law