Part A—Analyze the Assignment

A. Assignment

1. Is the assignment clearly understood?

2. What type of legal writing (document) is required?

a. Law office legal research and analysis memorandums

b. Correspondence

c. Court briefs

(1). Trial court briefs

(2). Appellate court briefs

B. Constraints

1. Time

2. Length

3. Format

C. Organization—Research Outline 

1. Value of an outline

●    The act of creating an outline causes you to organize ideas and prepare an approach to the assignment at the beginning of the process.

●    The use of an outline saves time.

●    An outline provides an organized framework for the structure of the assignment and for conducting research and analysis.

●    An outline breaks complex problems into manageable components.

2. Creation of an outline

a.   Keep the facts and issues of the assignment in mind while developing the outline.

b.   Be flexible when creating and working with an outline.

c.   Do not be surprised if it is necessary to reorganize the outline as a result of your research.

d.   If the research assignment involves presenting the result in a written document such as a memo, the basic organizational approach for most legal writing is the IRAC format.

3. Use of an outline

Step 1: Convert the outline to a usable form—an expanded outline.

Step 2: Integrate all research, analysis, and ideas into the outline while conducting the research and analysis.

Ideas

Research

 Part B—Conduct Research

A. Step 1: Preliminary Preparation

Part 1—Gather information about the case.

1.   Be sure you have all the facts. Ask yourself whether you have all the interviews, files, statements, and other information that have been gathered concerning the case.

2.   Study the available facts to see whether additional information should be gathered before legal analysis can properly begin.

3.   Organize the facts. Group all related facts. Place the facts in a logical order, such as in the sequence in which they occurred (chronological) or according to topic (topical).

4.   Weigh the facts. The value of some factual information, such as hearsay, may be questionable.

Part 2—Identify the key terms and key facts.

Part 3—Preliminary research.

B. Step 2: Issue 

C. Step 3: Rule

Part 1—Locate the general law (primary authority) that governs the issue 

a. Enacted law

b. Common/case law

Part 2—Locate the law (primary authority if possible) that interprets how the general law applies to the specific fact situation of the issue.

Role of secondary authority.

Part 3—Update research.

VI. When to Stop

A. When to Stop Researching when You Find Nothing

1. Look to another source of law.

2. Reconsider the issue and search terms.

3. Reconsider the legal theory.

4. Matters of first impression.

B. When to Stop Researching after Finding Several Legal Sources

1. When you have found the answer

2. Several authorities on the research topic

a. Primary authority (constitutions, statutes, cases)

b. Secondary authority 

3. Other factors governing when to stop  

VII. General Considerations

A. Focus

B. Ethics—Intellectual Honesty