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Real Law SocietyRead Law. Not Lore.

A School of the Academy

School of Legal Research

Department of Legal Research & Bibliography

Method, citation, and the discipline of finding what governs.

§ 0·a

The Record

Publications
4
Treatises
1
Chapters
1
Articles
2
Certificates
1
Library Divisions
3

§ 0·b

Foundational Treatise

Read Law Not Lore

A series of primers that teach how to read primary legal authority in its own voice.

1 chapter published

Open the treatise in the Press →

§ I

Introduction

Scope of Study

Legal Research

Research is the practice on which every other School depends. We teach how to locate primary authority, how to verify it, and how to cite it so others can verify it too.

§ I·b·2

Subject Navigation

The subject architecture of this School.

Each group below is generated from the Society's own taxonomy — the Parts of the School's treatises, its editorial categories, and its Library divisions.

Editorial Categories

Library Divisions

§ II

Philosophy of the School

On how this School reads.

Legal research is the discipline of locating what governs. The School treats the hierarchy of authority as the first principle, the architecture of a citation as the second, and the patience required to verify before relying as the third. Bluebook conventions are tools, not law.

§ III

What Students Will Study

The commitments of the School.

A School commits to a set of questions and to a method of reading them. The following are the working commitments of this department.

  1. 01

    The hierarchy of authority and the architecture of a citation

  2. 02

    The reading of statutes, regulations, and case law on their own terms

  3. 03

    The methods of legislative and regulatory history

  4. 04

    The instruments of updating and verification

  5. 05

    The conventions of citation as professional craft

§ IV

Curriculum

The syllabus.

The syllabus is read in sequence. Foundations are not optional; advanced study presumes them.

Foundations

  1. 01

    Primary authority, secondary authority, and persuasive material

  2. 02

    The parts of a statutory citation and the parts of a case citation

  3. 03

    Reading a regulation against its enabling statute

Intermediate Study

  1. 01

    Legislative history: bills, committee reports, and floor debate

  2. 02

    Regulatory history: the rulemaking docket and the Federal Register

  3. 03

    Updating: citators, parallel cites, and subsequent history

Advanced Study

  1. 01

    Tracing a doctrine through reception and modification

  2. 02

    Comparative state research and the survey

  3. 03

    Free-tier and open-access verification methods

Research & Method

  1. 01

    Producing a research memorandum with verified citations

  2. 02

    Assembling a chronological record of an enacted statute

  3. 03

    Compiling a bibliography for a doctrinal question

Reference Materials

  1. 01

    United States Code and Code of Federal Regulations

  2. 02

    Official reporters of the federal and state courts

  3. 03

    The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation

Suggested Reading

  1. 01

    Sloan, Basic Legal Research

  2. 02

    Mersky & Dunn, Fundamentals of Legal Research

§ IV·b

Learning Path

A working sequence for the School.

A staged reading order — from institutional introduction through primary authority to advanced research.

  1. 01

    Introduction

    Research is the practice on which every other School depends. We teach how to locate primary authority, how to verify it, and how to cite it so others can verify it too.

  2. 02

    Core Treatise

    The Architecture of Civil Procedure

    Open the treatise →
  3. 03

    Foundational Treatise

    Read Law Not Lore — 1 chapter published in 1 volumes.

    Open the series →
  4. 04

    Working Articles

    Editorial articles for this School.

  5. 05

    Related Schools

    Departments that read alongside this one.

§ V

Learning Outcomes

The capacities a member should leave with.

Outcomes are stated as capacities, not credentials. They describe what a member should be able to do after sustained reading.

  1. 01

    Locate and verify primary authority for a stated proposition

  2. 02

    Construct a citation that a reader can independently confirm

  3. 03

    Produce a research record that survives audit

§ VI

Primary Authorities

The texts the School takes seriously.

Authorities are listed by category. Entries marked in preparation are catalogued and reviewed before they enter the working record.

Statutes

1 entry

  • Authority

    United States Code, official edition

Regulations

2 entries

  • Authority

    Code of Federal Regulations, official edition

  • Authority

    Federal Register, daily edition

Historical Sources

2 entries

  • Authority

    United States Statutes at Large

  • Authority

    Congressional Record

Treatises & Restatements

3 entries

  • Authority

    The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation

  • Authority

    ALWD Guide to Legal Citation

  • Authority

    Sloan, Basic Legal Research

§ VII

Featured Publications

From the press of the institution.

The following volumes are drawn from, or supply, the work of this School. Each is reviewed by faculty before publication.

The Society Press

All publications →

§ VII·b

From the Press

Articles associated with this School.

Editorial articles tagged to the subjects of this School, drawn from the Real Law Society Press.

§ VII·c

Certificates

Programs of study associated with this School.

Certificate programs of the Academy that draw on the reading of this School.

  • Certificate · Foundations

    Certificate in Legal Research

    Disciplined research from primary authority: locating, verifying, and citing statutes, regulations, and the reported record.

§ VII·g

Authors

Contributors to this School.

  • Journal · Author

    Faculty of the School of Legal Research

  • Journal · Author

    The Editorial Committee

§ VII·h

From the Journal

Institutional news associated with this School.

  • Journal

    Primary Authority and the Discipline of Citation

    Citation is not ornament. It is the apparatus by which a reader returns to the source. This article reads the modern citation conventions against the older practice of the bench and the bar, and argues that the discipline of citation is inseparable from the discipline of reading primary authority.

  • Journal

    What the Text Says, and What It Means

    The article distinguishes the question what does the text say from the question what does the text mean, and argues that the first must be answered before the second is asked. It reads the canons of statutory construction as a working apparatus rather than a list of slogans.

§ VIII

Research in the Library

Where this School reads.

The divisions below carry the primary materials this School draws on. The catalogue opens in stages as the index is reviewed.

  • Library Division

    Statutes

    Codified federal and state statutory law, organized by title and chapter.

  • Library Division

    Judicial Opinions

    Selected opinions of the federal and state courts of record.

  • Library Division

    Research Collections

    Curated bodies of authority gathered by subject across the divisions.

Catalogue · XI Divisions

Enter the Research Library →

§ IX

Related Schools

Departments that read alongside this one.

Doctrine does not respect departmental boundaries. The following Schools take up adjacent questions.

§ X

Timeline

Recent activity of this School.

The institutional record — publications, articles, primary authorities, and journal notices — in date order.

  1. 2026

    Press · Article

    Reading the Internal Revenue Manual
  2. 2026

    Press · Article

    Treasury Decisions Family Completed
  3. 2026

    Treatise

    The Architecture of Civil Procedure

  4. 2026

    Practice Manual

    Consumer Credit Authority

  5. 2026

    Educational Guide

    Reading the Statute

  6. 2025

    Educational Guide

    An Introduction to Legal Research

  7. 0000

    Institutional Update

    Primary Authority and the Discipline of Citation
  8. 0000

    Institutional Update

    What the Text Says, and What It Means

§ XI

Continue Research

Next reading for this School.

A short standing recommendation drawn across the institutional record.

Publication

The Architecture of Civil Procedure

§ XI

Browse This Subject

Where to continue in the institution.

Each gateway opens the family surface in which this School's records are catalogued.

Admission

Join the founding cohort of the Legal Research department.

All Founding Members are admitted into every School. Tuition and dues are not yet open.

Submit an ApplicationReturn to the Academy →
The Real Law Society · Est. MMXXVRead Law. Not Lore.Vol. I — Folio I