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• Title:Legal reasoning, research, and writing for international graduate students / Nadia E. Nedzel.
  
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• Author/Creator:Nedzel, Nadia E., 1954-
  
• Published/Created:New York : Wolters Kluwer Law & Business, ©2012.
  

• Holdings

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  • Location: c.1  Temporarily shelved at LAW LIBRARY reference room (level 2)Where is this?
    
  • Call Number: KF240 .N43 2012
    
  • Number of Items:1
    
  • Status:Available
    

   
• Library of Congress Subjects:Legal research--United States.
  Law--United States--Methodology.
  Legal composition.
  
• Edition:3rd ed.
  
• Description:xxv, 421 pages : maps, illustrations ; 26 cm
  
• Series:Aspen coursebook series.
  
• Notes:Includes bibliographical references and index.
  
• ISBN:9781454805502 (pbk.)
  1454805501 (pbk.)
  
• Contents:Machine generated contents note: I. Preparing for and Participating in U.S. Law School Classes
  II. Active Reading and a Study Plan
  III. Briefing a Case
  A. Components of a Case Brief
  Exercise
  Supplementary Exercise
  ch. 1 United States Common Law
  Introduction
  I. Nature of U.S. Common Law, as Compared to other Legal Systems
  A. U.S. Common Law Contrasted with Civilian Jurisdictions
  B. Background Norms of United States Law
  1. United States Law as Compared to Shar'ia (Islamic) Law
  2. United States Law as Compared to Asian Legal Traditions
  3. United States Legal Philosophy as Compared to Marxist/Leninist Theories
  II. Comparative Development of Western Legal Systems
  A. Civil Law Tradition
  B. Anglo-American Development of Common Law
  1. Founding of Circuit Courts, Separation of Law and Religion, and Stare Decisis
  2. Role of Scholars
  3. Jury System
  4. Common Law Civil Procedure: Writ Pleading, the Distinction between Law and Equity, and Its Effect on the Jury System
  5. Legal Education
  III. Study of Law in the United States: The Case Method
  Discussion Notes
  Bibliography
  ch. 2 Introduction to American Legal Research and the Federal System
  I. United States Legal Resources
  A. Types of Legal Resources
  B. Advantages and Disadvantages of Various Research Media
  II. Research Techniques and Interpretive Skills
  III. First Research & Interpretive Skills: Finding a Given Legal Authority & Understanding Its Relative Weight
  A. Primary Authority and Citation Forms
  1. Constitutions
  2. Statutes
  3. Regulations
  4. Case Law
  a. Role of Judicial Review
  b. Official and Unofficial Versions
  c. Commercial Versions versus Official Versions
  d. Federal Court Reporters
  e. Regional Reporters
  5. International and Foreign Law
  B. Secondary Sources
  IV. First Interpretive Skill: Relative Weight of Authority
  A. Primary versus Secondary Authority (i.e., law and not-law)
  B. Primary Authority: the Three-Tier Court System
  C. Primary Authority: Mandatory versus Persuasive
  D. Federalism, Subject Matter Jurisdiction, and the Preemption Doctrine
  E. Timeliness
  Discussion Notes
  Exercise
  Exercise Hints for Various Media
  ch. 3 Legal Reasoning and Objective Legal Writing
  Introduction
  I. Deductive Reasoning and the Syllogism
  II. IRAC and CRAC Reasoning
  A. I: Identification of an Issue
  B. R: Analysis of a Legal Rule
  1. Types of Legal Rules
  a. Elemental or Conjunctive Rules
  b. Disjunctive Rules
  c. Exceptions
  d. Factors and Balancing Tests
  e. Totality-of-the-Circumstances Rules
  2. Difficulties in Stating Common Law Rules
  3. Inductive Reasoning: Incorporating Case Law into the Rule Analysis
  4. Incorporating Policy Concerns
  5. Considering Relative Weight of Authority
  C. and C: Application and Conclusion
  III. Example of IRAC Analysis: The Gun-in-the-Boot Problem
  A. Facts and Basic Rule Analysis
  B. Case Law
  C. Issue Identification
  D. Example of a Case Law Chart
  E. Factual Comparisons to the Harris Problem
  F. Policy Analysis
  G. Summary
  IV. Interoffice Memo
  A. Assignment: Interviewing the Employer
  B. Interoffice Memo Form
  C. Discussion Section
  1. Two-Issue Discussion Sections
  a. Rule Section (major premise)
  b. Application Section (minor premise)
  2. Concluding Sentence
  D. Other Information about the Interoffice Memo
  1. Tone and Style
  2. Citations
  3. Plagiarism
  4. Revising
  V. Sample Interoffice Memo
  VI. Open Research Memo
  A. Definition of an Open Research Memo
  B. Similarities and Differences between Closed and Open Memos
  C. Checklist: Researching and Writing the Open Memo
  Discussion Notes
  Exercise
  ch. 4 Legal Process
  Introduction to Civil and Administrative Procedure
  I. U.S. Civil Trial Procedure
  A. Summary of Civil Trial Sequence
  B. Documents and Details of Civil Trials
  C. Pretrial Procedure and Documents
  1. Preliminary Documents
  2. Discovery
  a. Policy Reasons for Broad Powers of Discovery
  b. Types of Discovery
  D. Trial
  E. Levels of Proof and Standards of Review
  1. Level of Proof at Trial
  2. Standards of Review
  II. Administrative Process
  A. Rulemaking Processes
  B. Adjudication Processes
  C. Judicial Review of Agency Decisions and the Chevron of Standard Review
  Discussion Notes
  ch. 5 Research Process
  Introduction
  I. Ethical and Practical Demands
  II. Research Process
  III. Research Advice
  A. Media Choices
  1. Comparison of Fee-Based Computer Databases
  2. "Free" Legal Research: Noncommercial, Non-Fee Computer Databases and Crawlers
  3. Microforms
  B. Finding Tools
  C. Keeping on Track, Saving Citations
  D. Preserving Research Results
  E. Reading for Research
  F. Planning Project Time
  G. Determining When Research Is Complete
  IV. Stage 1: Background Research and Preparation
  A. Facts: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How
  B. Jurisdiction, Area of Law, and Issue or Search Terms
  C. Research Media Choice
  D. Initial Research Plan
  E. Research in Secondary Sources
  1. Get an Overview of Area of Law and Underlying Policy Considerations
  2. Identify Probable Source or Sources of Law
  3. Revise List of Search Terms or Issue Statement
  4. Locate Applicable Legal Principle
  5. Scavenge Secondary Sources for Citations to Mandatory Authority
  F. Issue Statement Refinement
  G. Research Plan Refinement
  H. Sample Research Log
  V. Purpose and Importance of Secondary Research
  A. Secondary Sources: Hard Copy or Online?
  B. Types of Secondary Sources
  1. Restatements
  a. Media Choices
  b. How to Cite Restatements
  c. Updating Restatements and Scavenging for Primary Authority
  2. Treatises and Hornbooks
  a. Research Methods for Treatises
  b. Media Choices
  c. How to Cite Treatises
  d. Updating Treatises
  3. Legal Periodicals
  a. Finding an Appropriate Article
  b. Citing Law Review Articles
  c. Updating Law Review Articles
  4. American Law Reports
  a. How to Find A.L.R. Annotations
  b. Updating A.L.R. Annotations
  c. Citing A.L.R. Annotations
  5. Legal Encyclopedias
  6. Digests
  Discussion Notes
  Exercise
  ch. 6 Researching and Updating Case Law
  Introduction
  I. Finding and Verifying Case Law
  A. Scavenging from Secondary Sources
  B. Using Citators to Verify, Update, and Broaden Research
  1. Scavenging Cases from Citations Given in a Case
  2. Citators
  3. Using Citators to Verify Case Law
  4. Using Citators to Locate Case Law and Secondary Authority
  5. Importance of Citators
  C. Locating Case Law Using Subject Indexes
  D. Term and Full-Sentence Searches on Internet Databases
  1. Choosing the Appropriate Database
  2. Choosing between Boolean and Full-Sentence Searches
  3. Avoid Boolean and Full-Sentence Searches until You Have Used Other Methods
  4. Tailoring Boolean Searches for Accuracy
  II. Citing Cases
  A. Case Name
  1. Short-Form Case Names
  B. Reporter Information, Volume and Page Numbers
  1. Parallel Citations
  2. Pinpoint Citations
  a. Locating Page Numbers
  b. Citing Multiple Pages
  C. Court and Year
  D. Subsequent History
  E. Short Citation Forms
  Discussion Notes or Exercises: Finding and Citing Case Law
  ch. 7 Researching and Interpreting Constitutions, Statutes, Regulations, and International Law
  I. Statute, Regulation, or Case Law: Which is it?
  II. Researching Constitutions
  III. Researching Statutes
  A. Locating Statutes
  1. Scavenge from Secondary Sources
  2. Use Subject Indexes to Locate Controlling Statute
  3. Analyze Associated Statutes
  4. Locate and Analyze Noted Cases in Annotations
  5. Use Citators to Update and Broaden Case Research
  6. Use Term and Sentence-Form Searches
  7. Research Legislative History If Needed
  B. Congressional Powers and the Legislative Process
  1. Structure and Functions of Congress
  2. How a Bill Becomes Law
  3. Researching New Statutes
  IV. Researching and Updating Administrative Regulations
  V. Interpreting Statutes
  A. Plain Language
  B. Textualist Approach
  C. Purposive Interpretation
  1. Documents Generated During the Legislative Process
  2. Weight of Authority in Legislative History
  3. How to Find Legislative History Documents
  4. Controversies Surrounding Legislative History
  5. Interpretations Based on Public Policy
  VI. International Law and Treaties
  A. Researching International Law Online
  B. U.S. Interpretations of International Law
  Exercises
  Bibliography
  ch. 8 Rewriting and Style
  I. United States Legal Writing Rhetoric
  A. Ideal
  B. Reality
  II. Rewriting
  III. Reorganization
  A. Macro-Organization of an Objective Memo
  B. Reorganization of the Discussion
  C. Small-Scale Organization of the Rule Section
  1. Use of Case Law and Avoidance of Laundry Lists
  2. More Than One Problematic Component
  3. Sequence of Cases
  4. Paragraphs Discussing Cases
  5. Incorporating Secondary Authority
  D. Small-Scale Organization of an Application Section
  1. Structure of the Application Section
  2. Fact-to-Fact Analogy
  Contents note continued: E. Reorganization of the Facts
  F. Reorganization of the Conclusion
  G. Picturing How Sections of a Law Firm Memo Work Together
  IV. Editing
  A. Paragraphs
  1. Paragraph Structure
  2. Topic Sentences
  3. Transitions
  a. Transitional Sentences
  b. Word or Phrase Transitions
  c. Linking
  4. Paragraph Length
  B. Editing Sentences
  1. Sentence Length
  2. Sentence Structure
  3. Paraphrasing and Using Language Consistently
  C. Editing Details
  1. Paragraph and Sentence Format
  2. Word Choice
  3. Grammar
  a. Verb Tenses
  b. Articles
  c. Possessive Form
  d. Capitalization
  e. Collective Nouns
  f. Punctuation
  g. Issues of Style
  h. Citations
  V. Proofreading
  Exercises
  ch. 9 Technological Revolution in Law
  I. Technology in the Courts
  A. Digitized Court Documents
  B. Digitized Courtrooms
  Discussion Exercises
  II. Virtual Law Practice and Unbundling of Legal Services
  A. Virtual Law Practice
  1. Unbundling
  B. Changes to Traditional Law Firms
  Discussion Questions
  III. Legal Drafting
  A. Document Assembly
  B. Analysis of Existing Documents
  C. Document Management Systems
  Discussion Questions
  IV. "Free" or Non-Fee Internet Legal Research
  A. Research Strategies
  1. Stage 1 Research
  a. Legal Dictionaries
  b. Secondary Sources
  2. Stage 2 Research
  a. Researching Statutes and Treaties
  b. Researching Regulations
  c. Researching and Updating Case Law
  d. Non-U.S. Legal Sources
  e. International Sources
  3. Stage 3: Updating
  B. Research Methodologies: Boolean Searches
  1. and Connector
  2. or Connector
  3. Problems with the Meaning of a Space between Words
  4. Parentheses: Using and and or in the Same Search
  5. Proximity Connectors
  6. Quotations, Pluralization, and Wild Cards
  7. Getting the Most from a Search
  Exercises: Locating Authorities Using Non-Fee CALR
  ch. 10 Advanced Objective Writing
  Introduction
  I. Types of Scholarly Articles
  A. Seminar Papers and Thesis Papers
  B. Law Review Articles
  II. Subject Choice and Development
  A. Identifying a Particular Issue or Narrow Area
  B. Approaches to Articles
  C. Unanticipated Research Problems
  III. Contents of a Scholarly Article
  A. Thesis Statement and Abstract
  B. Basic Organization of a Scholarly Paper
  C. Footnotes
  1. String Citations
  2. Discursive Citations
  D. Plagiarism Warning
  IV. Time Management and Research Strategies
  A. Avoiding Procrastination
  B. Research Strategy
  C. Storing and Organizing Research for Larger Projects
  D. Reorganizing Research: Pre-prewriting
  V. Writing Process
  A. Natural Writing Process
  B. Prewriting
  1. Notecards and Preliminary Notes
  2. Outlining
  a. Organizational Paradigms for Comparative Projects
  b. Case Charts and Informal Diagrams
  3. Free-Form Outlining
  4. Dump Drafts
  5. Summary of the Optimal Prewriting Process
  C. Writing
  1. Problematic Sections
  2. Translation Problems with Comparative Topics
  3. Keeping Track of Citations
  D. Rewriting
  1. Organization
  2. Content and Scope
  E. Editing
  1. Signposts and Transitions
  2. Paragraph and Sentence Structure
  3. Style and Tone
  F. Introductions and Conclusions
  G. Polishing and Proofreading
  H. Final Thoughts
  Exercise
  Bibliography
  ch. 11 Persuasive Writing
  Introduction: Objective versus Persuasive Writing
  I. Issues of Form
  II. Descriptions of Filings
  A. Complaint
  B. Answer
  C. Motions to Dismiss
  D. Notice of Appeal and the Appellate Brief
  III. Drafting Memoranda in Support or Appellate Briefs
  A. Prewriting
  B. Format
  C. Drafting Sequence
  D. Introduction and Question Presented
  E. Statement of the Case or Statement of Facts
  1. Be Careful When Incorporating to-Be-Established Factual Assertions
  2. Use of Emotional Language
  3. Balancing Accuracy, Unfavorable Facts, and Organization
  4. Appellate Briefs: The Appellee's Statement of Facts
  F. Statement of Jurisdiction
  G. Standard of Review or Decisional Standard
  H. Argument
  1. Umbrella Paragraph
  2. Point Headings or Issues for Review
  3. Formulate a Favorable Rule
  4. Use the Favorable Rule to Develop Point Headings
  5. Supporting Arguments Using CRAC Analysis
  6. Handling Counterarguments
  7. Organizing Arguments for Factor and Totality-of-the-Circumstances Rules
  8. Prayer
  IV. Cautionary Note: Ethical Rules and Writing Standards Applicable to Advocacy
  Discussion Notes
  Exercise
  Appendix to Chapter 11 Sample Filings
  ch. 12 Drafting Contracts
  I. Nature of Contract Drafting
  II. Background and Preparation
  A. Initial Client Interview
  B. Outline
  C. Term Sheet or Draft Contract
  1. Term Sheet
  2. Letter of Intent
  D. Contract
  1. Pattern or Formbooks and Other Resources
  2. Form of a Contract
  III. Drafting the Contract
  A. Title
  B. Date
  C. Introduction
  D. Recitals
  E. Definitions
  F. Substantive Provisions (Terms)
  1. Operating Clauses
  2. Termination Clauses
  3. Contingency Clauses
  4. Damages and Remedies
  5. Miscellaneous
  a. Housekeeping Provisions
  b. Provisions for Modification
  G. Signatures and Dates
  H. Notarization and Witnesses
  Exercise
  Bibliography
  Appendix A Preparing for and Taking Examinations
  Introduction
  I. Outlining and Studying
  A. Preparing an Outline
  B. Studying and Practicing with Hypothetical Problems
  C. Sample Outline
  II. Taking U.S. Law School Examinations
  A. Plan of Attack
  1. Read the General Directions
  2. Scan the Exam and Allocate Your Time
  3. Apportion One-Third of Your Time for Reading and Outlining Essay Questions
  4. Read Each Essay Question Twice
  5. Highlight Clues and Note Key Concepts
  6. Outline Your Answer
  7. Write Your Essay Answer with an Eye on the Clock
  B. Writing the Exam: IRAC and CRAC
  C. Common Errors
  1. Taking Sides
  2. Failing to Explicitly State Controlling Law
  3. Failing to Note the Relationship between Legal Issues
  4. Mixing Legal Categories
  5. Discussing Irrelevant Legal Principles
  D. Sample Torts Question and Answers
  Exercise
  Comparing the Two Answers
  Bibliography
  Appendix B Drafting Advisory Memoranda for Attorneys in the United States
  I. Visually Approximate the Standard U.S. Office Memo Format
  II. In Presenting the Legal Analysis, Approximate (as much as possible) the IRAC Structure Used in the United States
  III. In Addition to Approximating the Structure of a U.S. Advisory Memorandum, Approximate Common Law Methodology as much as possible as Well
  IV. Add an Explanation of your Legal System's Methodology as needed to help the U.S. Reader Understand the Differences
  V. Remember to use Transitions and to Edit and Carefully Proofread your Memo
  VI. Providing updates on a Number of Topics
  VII. Sample Memorandum: The Wedding Dress in Chile.