ResearchMethodologyHarvardLawSchool.docx

ResearchMethodologyHarvardLawSchool.docx

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ResearchMethodologyHarvardLawSchool

Research-Methodology-Harvard-Law-School

ResearchMethodology:

ExplanationofTermsAnnotatedcode:

Aversionofacode（asubjectcompilationoflaws）whichinadditiontothelanguageofthelawalsocontainsreferencestolawreviewarticles,otherrelevantregulationsorstatutes,and,mostimportantly,summariesofcaseswhichdiscussorinterprettheparticularcodesection.Theannotationsareprovidedbytheeditorsandarenotapartoftheofficiallanguageofthecode.UnitedStatesCodeAnnotated,publishedbyWest,isanannotatedversionoftheofficialUnitedStatesCodepublishedbythefederalgovernment.Mostannotatedcodesarestatutory.Thereareveryfewannotatedregulatorycodes.

Authority:

Primaryauthorityisthelaw--whetheritisfoundincases,statutes,regulations,ordecisionsofadministrativebodies.Secondaryauthorityaresourceswhichexplainthelaw.Thesemaybelawreviewarticles,scholarlytreatises,barjournals,encyclopediasorpractitionerbooks.

Mandatoryauthorityormandatoryprecedent:

Bindingauthorityintheparticularjurisdiction,whichmustbefollowed.Whetherastatuteorregulationismandatoryauthoritymaydependonthefactsinvolved.Mandatorycaselawmayalsodependontheidenticalnatureofthefactsandlegalissuesinvolvedaswellasthelevelofthecourtwhichissuedtheopinion.Alowercourtisrequiredtofollowahighercourt'srulingonanissue.Ahighercourtisnotrequiredtofollowtherulingorreasoningofalowercourtopinion,althoughthatopinionmaybepersuasiveauthority.

Persuasiveauthority:

Allauthoritywhichmaybeusedtoconvinceacourttoapplythelawinacertaindirection.Elementstoconsiderarethesimilarityofkeyfactsandlegalissues,thereasoningofthecourt,andtheauthorityoftheissuingbody.Decisionsofhighcourtsaremorepersuasivethandecisionsoflowercourts.Argumentssetforthinmajorlawreviewsaremorepersuasivethanthosesetforthinbarjournals.

Blackletterlaw:

Thisphrasereferstothebasicstandardelementsforaparticularfieldoflaw,whetheritis,forexample,thestandardelementsforacontractorthetechnicaldefinitionofbattery.Blackletterlawisnotrecordedinanyoneplaceorresearchsource,noris"blackletter"atermyouwillfindinmostindices.Instead,youwillneedtoresearchthespecificareaoflawtodeterminethestandardelements.Secondarysourcesareyourbestsourceforthese.

Corelegaltheory:

Thecorelegaltheoryofyourcasetheoryencompassesboththekeyfactssupportingyourcaseandthevariouslegaltheorieswhichyoubelievesupportyourposition.Itisboththedrivingforcebehindtheyourconceptualizationofthecaseandtheartofmakingyourpointandfindingtheresourcestosupportthatposition.Yourcorelegaltheoryisthestoryyoupresentwhichpredisposesthefinderoftruth,beitajuryorajudge,tobelievethataninjusticehasbeendone.Itdictatesthepresentationofyourcase.Itallowsyoutotietogethertheapplicablelegalruleswiththeemotionalsideofyourcaseandthesenseofjustice.

Itisimportanttonotetheinteractionbetweenyourcorelegaltheoryandyourlegalresearch.Theactivitiesyouwillundertakeduringaresearchprojectfromthetimeyoureceivetheassignmentuntilyoucompleteyourwrittenproduct,willinvolvemanysteps.Youwillperformapreliminaryanalysisoftheproblem,conductlegalresearch,analyzetheresultsofyourresearch,developacorelegaltheory,andusethattheorytoapplythelawyoufoundinyourresearchtothefactsofyourparticularproblem.Althoughyouwillgothroughseveralsteps,thisisnotalinearprocess.Aproblemofanylengthorcomplexitywillrequireyoutoevaluateandmodifyatseveralstagesyouranalysisoftheproblem.Mostlikelyyouwillgothroughacircularprocessofanalysis,research,andevaluationofyouranalysisfollowedbymoreresearch.Initialtheoriesmayhavetobechangedorevenabandoned.Seeminglyimportantfactsmaynotinthefinalanalysisprovetobeimportantwhileothersmaydeterminewhetherparticularlegalprinciplesareapplicable.Duringthecourseofthisprocessofanalysisandresearch,youwilldevelopthecorelegaltheoryofyourcasewhichinturnwillguideyouinthepresentationofyourfinalarguments.

Legaldictionaries:

Alegaldictionarydefinestermsrelevanttolaw.Whilethereareseveraldictionariestochoosefrom,Black'sLawDictionary（KF156.B53）andBallentine'sLegalDictionaryandThesaurus（KF156.L95）arethetwomostpopular.TheseareavailableintheReferenceareaofLangdell.Also,notethatBlack'sisavailableinWestlaw（databaseidentifierisDI）.Whichlegaldictionaryyouuseisamatterofpersonalpreference.Youmayalsofind,however,thatafterthefirstfewweeksofschool,youhaveonlyisolatedoccasionstorefertoone.

Digests:

Providesubjectaccesstocaseswhicharepublishedchronologicallyincasereporters.Withoutdigests,therewouldbenoefficientwayoflocatingallthecasesonaparticularsubject.Digestsprovidebriefsummariesofcasesorganizedbysubject.TheWestdigestsystemisonemajorsystemwhichcanservetoillustratehowadigestisstructured.

Westhasorganizedroughly400topicsthattheWesteditorsbelievearethebroadtopicsrepresentingallissuesinAmericancaselaw.Thesetopicsrangefromabandonedpropertytomentalhealthtozoning.Anoutlineforeachtopichasbeendevelopedwhichbreakseachsubjectdownintoitsvariouselements.Thesemaybeonlyafewormaybeseveralhundred.Eachoftheseelementsorsub-topicsisnumbered.EditorsatWestreadeachcasepublished,writingasmanysummariesofthevariouspointsoflawastheeditordeemsnecessary.Eachofthesesummariesisthenassignedatopicandkeynumberaccordingtotheoutlinethathasbeendeveloped.Acasemayhaveonlyafewofthesesummariesoritmayhaveseveraldozen.ThesummariesalongwiththetopicandkeynumberarepublishedasheadnoteswiththecaseinaWestreporter.ThesummariesarealsopublishedintheappropriateWestdigestalongwithalltheothersummariesforeachparticulartopicandkeynumber.

Tolocatecasesusingthedigestsystem,youmustusetheappropriatetopicandkeynumber.Ifyoudonotknowwhattopicandkeynumberhavebeenassignedtotheareaoflawyouareresearching,youshouldusethedigest'sDescriptiveWordIndex.Aswithanyindextoaresearchtool,youmustsearchusingthewordsandsynonymsthatconveyyourfactualorlegalissue.Forexample,assumeyouwishtolocateMassachusettscasesthataddresstheissueoftheliabilityofdoctorsforfailuretodiscloseinformationtoapatient.Tolocatetheappropriatetopicandkeynumber,youwouldturntotheDescriptiveIndexfortheMassachusettsDigestSecondSeries.YoumightlookupseveralwordsorphrasesintheDescriptiveWordIndexsuchas"doctor,""physician"or"disclosure".Eachofthesecaneventuallyleadyoutothetopicandkeynumber"physicians&surgeons15（8）".Youwouldnowwanttoturntotheappropriatevolumeofthedigestwhereyouwillfinelistedunderthattopicandkeynumber,summariesofthecasesforthatjurisdictionandtimeperiodwhichareaboutmentalcapacitytocommitcrimes.AlthoughyouwillnotwanttoguesswhichtopictheWesteditorshaveassignedtoyourissue,onceyouknowarelevanttopic,youmightwishtobrowsethroughitsoutlinetodetermineifkeynumbersotherthantheoneyouhavewillhelp.

Ifyoualreadyhavearelevantcase,whichyoumighthavefoundfromasecondarysource,theheadnoteatthebeginningofthecasewillgiveyouthetopicandkeynumber.

Digestscanalsoprovideyouwiththecitationsforknowncases.Ifyouknowthenameofthecase,theTableofCaseswillgiveyouthecitation.YoushouldusetheDefendant/Plaintiffifyouonlyknowthenameofthedefendant.

AprincipaladvantageoftheWestdigestsystemisthatitisuniformforallstateandfederaljurisdictions.Thus,atopicandkeynumbermeanthesamethingforCaliforniaappellatecourtcasesastheydofortheUnitedStatesSupremeCourt.Inaddition,youmayusethetopicandkeynumbertosearchonWestlaw.

Pleasenotethatmanydigestscoverspecifictimeperiodsanddonotcumulateinformationpublishedinpreviousseries.Thus,youmayhavetocheckthesametopicandkeynumberinseveralvolumesinordertocompleteyourresearch.Aswithalllegalresearch,youmustbesuretocheckanypocketpartsandupdatingpamphletsthatareprovided.

Dispositivequestions:

Manylegalresearchassignmentspresentmultiplequestions:

DotheactionsinvolvedconstituteaharmtoAforwhichhecanrecover?

CanBbeheldliable?

Whatarethedamages?

Hasthestatuteoflimitationsrunsuchthatitistoolatetocommenceanaction?

Answeronequestionatatimetodeterminehowtheanswertothatquestionmightaffectanotherquestion.Youmayfindthattheanswertoonequestionmightmakeanotherquestionmoot

Encyclopedias:

Secondarysourceswhichpresentbackgroundinformationforbroadsubjects.Theydonotpresentthecriticalanalysisthatyouwillfindinscholarlytreatisesorlawreviewarticles.Theyaremorerudimentaryandassuchpresentyouwiththeblackletterlawyoumayneedaswellaskeyreferencestoprimarysourceswhichyoumayneedifyouarejustbeginningtoresearchaproblemwithnosubstantiveknowledgeofthatareaoflaw.TwomajorlegalencyclopediawhicharenationalinscopeareCorpusJurisSecundumknownasCJS（KF154.C56）andAmericanJurisprudence2dknownasAmJur2d（KF154.A42）.BothofthesearelocatedintheLangdellReadingRoom.YouwillalsofindlegalencyclopediaforparticularstatessuchasNewYo