Monograph No. 1
An Introduction to Legal Research
MMXXV
In Press
An Introduction to Legal Research
The hierarchy of authority and the discipline of citation.
Faculty of the School of Legal Research
← The Academy
A School of the Academy
School of Legal Research
Department of Legal Research & Bibliography
Method, citation, and the discipline of finding what governs.
§ 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.
§ 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.
- 01
The hierarchy of authority and the architecture of a citation
- 02
The reading of statutes, regulations, and case law on their own terms
- 03
The methods of legislative and regulatory history
- 04
The instruments of updating and verification
- 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
- 01
Primary authority, secondary authority, and persuasive material
- 02
The parts of a statutory citation and the parts of a case citation
- 03
Reading a regulation against its enabling statute
Intermediate Study
- 01
Legislative history: bills, committee reports, and floor debate
- 02
Regulatory history: the rulemaking docket and the Federal Register
- 03
Updating: citators, parallel cites, and subsequent history
Advanced Study
- 01
Tracing a doctrine through reception and modification
- 02
Comparative state research and the survey
- 03
Free-tier and open-access verification methods
Research & Method
- 01
Producing a research memorandum with verified citations
- 02
Assembling a chronological record of an enacted statute
- 03
Compiling a bibliography for a doctrinal question
Reference Materials
- 01
United States Code and Code of Federal Regulations
- 02
Official reporters of the federal and state courts
- 03
The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation
Suggested Reading
- 01
Sloan, Basic Legal Research
- 02
Mersky & Dunn, Fundamentals of Legal Research
§ 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.
- 01
Locate and verify primary authority for a stated proposition
- 02
Construct a citation that a reader can independently confirm
- 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.
Vol. III
The Architecture of Civil Procedure
MMXXVI
Forthcoming
The Architecture of Civil Procedure
Pleadings, motions, and the path of a case.
Faculty of the School of Civil Procedure
Vol. II
Consumer Credit Authority
MMXXVI
Forthcoming
Consumer Credit Authority
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act, read as written.
Faculty of the School of Consumer Credit
The Society Press
All publications →§ 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.
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.
The Real Law Society · Est. MMXXVRead Law. Not Lore.Vol. I — Folio I