Introduction to the Process of Legal Research

Introduction ( R)esearch requires the poetic quality of the imagination that sees significance and relation where others are indifferent or find unrelatedness; the synthetic quality of fusing items theretofore in isolation; above all the prophetic quality of piercing the future by knowing what questions to put and what direction to give inquiry. Frankfurter, “The Conditions for, and the Aims and Methods of, Legal Research,”: 15 Iowa L.Rev. 129, 134 (1930).

Legal research is an art as well as a skill Legal research is an art as well as a skill. It calls for judgment and creativity along with mastery of a set of tools and techniques. Each research question will have a different starting point, process, and conclusion. Every research project will include false starts, dead ends, and revisions. There is never one “right” path. Researchers choosing different paths for the same research question may be equally successful. Legal research is never “finished,” but the experienced researcher recognizes when to stop.

The starting point of research depends on the nature of the issue, how it is presented to the researcher, and the researcher’s experience. The starting point for research may be a fact pattern, a subject, an issue, a case, or a statute. At the outset, determine if your research will be exclusively in case law or if there are statutes or regulations that should be explored. Determine whether your research will be primarily in federal law or state law, or both.

Research often begins with a fact pattern Research often begins with a fact pattern. You might be given an “on-point” case or statute, but seldom will the facts of your research question fit squarely with the facts of other cases or the language of the statute. A client relates a narrative for which he feels “wronged” but has no legal theory to justify or deny compensation. This is when your legal training will come into play. It is extremely difficult for someone untrained in the law to translate a fact pattern into a legal theory of recovery or defense.

State ISSUE Federal FACTS SECONDARY SOURCES Digests Key Numbers Annotations CONSTITUTIONS STATUTORY LAW CASE LAW REGULATIONS THEORY OF RECOVERY OR DEFENSE