Legal Research and Writing for Paralegals

Overview Section I. Legal Research: Primary Authorities Chapter 1. Finding the Law Chapter 2. The Federal and State Court Systems Chapter 3. Statutory Law Chapter 4. Case Law and Judicial Opinions Chapter 5. The Use of Digests, Annotated Law Reports, and Words and Phrases Section II. Legal Research: Secondary Authorities and Other Research Aids Chapter 6. Encyclopedias, Periodicals, Treatises, and Restatements Chapter 7. Miscellaneous Secondary Authorities Chapter 8. Legal Citation Form Chapter 9. Updating and Validating Your Research Chapter 10. Special Research Issues Chapter 11. New Technology in Legal Research Chapter 12. Legal Research Using the Internet Chapter 13. Overview of the Research Process Section III. Legal Writing Chapter 14. Back to Basics Chapter 15. Strategies for Effective Writing Chapter 16. Legal Correspondence Chapter 17. Legal Memoranda Chapter 18. Legal Briefs Chapter 19. Postwriting Steps Appendix A. Sample Legal Memorandum Appendix B. Sample Brief for Court Appendix C. Sample Appellate Brief Appendix D. Sample Table of Authorities