1. Chapter 1 Legal Research and Syllabus Review

2. This Lecture Read pages 1-11 Mostly follow the lecture
See attachments on MyCourses on Legal Research
See there also for examples
Briefly review the syllabus (now)

3. The bluebook
This is my copy of the Bluebook from when I was in law school
It is how nearly every court will require any legal document to be cited
The different editions will not vary that much
One can find it online, but one might find a paper copy helpful, especially in law school

4. How to properly cite a case
You can find how to properly cite any case or document within the bluebook
Different courts will require either for a case to be italicized or underlined
The key is to be consistent in a document
Also to read the rules for which one to use
When referring to a specific Court with only using the word “Court”, it should be capitalized
Case citations follow this order:
Moving party v. responding party
Followed always by a comma
The location in the reporting book (the first page of which the opinion starts)
Followed by a comma if it is a pinpoint cite
In parenthesis- the Court and year of the decision
The Supreme Court is different in that one never has to list it for a case, so only use the year- this is the only Court that only lists a year
This may also be followed by other things we will also cover

5. More on citing a case Let’s start with the U.S. Supreme Court
Since 1875, all cases have been published in the United States Reports
Before that there were other Reports
See your Bluebook for these
Also, since 1882, all these cases are also published in the Supreme Court Reporter
However, it is preferable to cite to the U.S. Reports if possible
Here is an example of a case citation:
Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533 (1964).
However, it takes cases a few years to be published in a report
Generally, they will be available in the Supreme Court Reporter first
When they are available in the Supreme Court Reporter, but not the U.S. Reports, you can use the Supreme Court Reporter
But sometimes, neither will have a formal page number assigned, so use this format:
Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U.S. ___ (2013).

6. Even more on citations
When the Supreme Court announces decisions, they are posted on the Court’s website immediately
These are known as slip opinions
There will be a number at the top of the page, which will be the same as what I mentioned earlier as the way to cite:
Green v. Brennan, 578 U. S. ____ (2016).
Your pinpoint cite will be
Green v. Brennan, 578 U. S. ____, 5 (2016).
If you are citing to anything other than the majority opinion, that should be noted after the citation
So, a concurring or dissenting opinion should be noted if that is what you are citing
Davis v. Bandemer, 478 U.S. 109, 144 (1986), (Burger, J. concurring).
Shaw v. Reno, 509 U.S. 630, 660 (1993), (White, J. dissenting).

7. Citations, again Some opinions are unsigned Other Federal Courts
They are known as per curiam opinions
That should be noted in your citation as well
Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98 (2000) (per curiam).
However, there were dissents in that case as well
Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98, 130 (2000), (Souter, J. dissenting).
Other Federal Courts
Circuit Courts
Found in Federal Reporter (currently in 3rd edition)
The circuit comes before the date in parenthesis
432 F.3d. 382 (2nd Cir. 2005)
District Courts
Found in Federal Supplement (currently in 2nd edition)
The bluebook will tell how to cite the district
219 F.2d 821 (S.D.N.Y. 2012).

8. State courts All states have a highest court of last resort
In most states it is called the Supreme Court
In New York, it is the Court of Appeals
States appellate cases are found in different reporters
These are Atlantic (A.2d), Northeastern (N.E.2d), Northwestern (N.W.2d), Pacific (P.2d), Southern (So. 2d), Southeastern (S.E.2d), Southwestern (S.W.2d)
These are for the 2nd editions. Most are currently in the 2nd editions
When you are using the highest appellate court in the state, simply use the state’s abbreviation in the bluebook
(N.Y. 2016) (Mass. 2015) (Mich. 2014)
For intermediate appeals courts, look to the bluebook
Generally (but not always!), they will be something like this
(Tenn. Ct. App. 2013) (Wash. Ct. App )
In states with different appeals districts, if found in these reports, it is not necessary to use the districts
However, some courts have different names, so check the bluebook!
(Okla. Crim. App. 2011) (Pa. Super. Ct )

9. statutes Federal statutes are known as the U.S. Code
Title U.S.C. § Section (year).
18 U.S.C. § 1983 (2009).
States vary pretty widely in how they are cited.
You will have to check the bluebook for these
Also, if you use an annotated statute book, the citations will be different
Ind. Code § (2008).
Ind. Code Ann. § (West 2007).

10. Miscellaneous Some words in a case should be abbreviated
These can be found in Section T.6 in the bluebook
Pretty much any other type of citation style can also be found in the Bluebook.

11. How to brief a case
One of the more of basic things that one might have to do in law school is to brief a case that you might be required to read
Here are the parts of a short brief that I would ask of you in this class.
Remember, that a brief involving putting interpretation of case in your own words, not copying and pasting parts of a case.
Doing so without proper attribution is plagiarism
Procedural History: What path did this case take to get to the Supreme Court?
Facts: What are the facts of the case?
Issue: What was the question that the Court was considering?
Holding:/Judgment How did the Court rule?
Reasoning: Why did the Court rule the way that they did (this will be the larger part of your assignment)? What prior cases and precedent did they use to come to their decision
Also, describe the reasoning for any concurrences or dissents as well. Why did they concur or dissent?
Policy: What are the future policy or legal implications of further cases that might reach the Court?

12. LEGAL WRITING Generally, you will have two types of writing Analytical
Generally, these type of questions will involve something to start such as “you are a junior partner in a law firm” or “you are a clerk for a judge”
The goal here is to analyze the question to present arguments and the law for both sides
You are not taking sides, you are looking at what the state of the law is
You may be asked in the conclusion to state what you think the correct answer is based on the law
Persuasive
This is more likely to be a person drafting a legal argument either in favor or in opposition of a position
You have to find the law most persuasive to the position of your client
You cannot ignore precedent that goes against you
But you can try to distinguish why it may not apply to your case
Remember that in the real world when you are writing a legal brief to be filed in a court, it is for a client who has retained your services- your goal is to win the case

13. Citing cases (sorry- again)
There are some points on how to cite your cases within a legal document
Whenever you directly quote specific language within a case, you need a pinpoint citation to where you cited it
Whenever you may be indirectly quoting a part of a case, you may have a pinpoint cite that spans a few pages, rather than just one.
Citations will generally be at the end of a quote
However, sometimes when you are speaking directly about the case, they may go in the sentence or split
In Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 530 (1964), the Court stated that state legislative districts must be of equal size.
In Reynolds v. Sims, the Court stated that state legislative districts must be of equal size. 377 U.S (1964).
After you have cited a case once, there are some shortcuts to use later.
If you are quoting from the case you have just cited, you can use the word Id.
This is only for citing the same case you previously cited
So Id. at 121.
If you have previously quoted the case and you have cited other cases in between, the shortened version would look like this:
Reynolds, 377 U.S. at 546.
Unless a citation is in the center or beginning of a sentence, citations should end with a period, as if a sentence.
Whether you choose to italicize or underline a case, be sure NOT to do the same with the rest of the citation.

14. Legal writing organization- Memo
Any legal memorandum should include a TO, FROM, DATE, RE at the top
Then a title of some kind
It should generally include the following:
Question presented
This should be a few sentences that spell out the question to which you are seeking to answer within your memo
Short answer (helpful, but not required- generally)
This is a one paragraph summation of the answer to the question presented
Facts of the case
Lay out the facts of the case in the way that most accurately describes them
Discussion
This is the critical part of any memo
This is finding the law and applying it to the facts of the case
Conclusion
Briefly in a paragraph state how you think the Court would rule and why

15. IRAC
For your discussion, a suggested way of organization for each point of law is IRAC
If there are multiple questions you seek to answer, you may want to put them in different sections
Issue
You should have covered this before
Rule
This is the law that you have found
Don’t say “the rule is”, but state what the cases on point to the question say
Application
Apply the law that you found to the facts of the question before you
You may want to address any counter arguments here as well
But when writing a memo, you address both sides
This is more for an argument
Conclusion
How does the application of the law to the facts answer the question

16. Writing a legal argument
This is where you are attempting to persuade
Generally, you are wanting to persuade the trial court or an appellate court
You want to make your point and potentially refute arguments against your position
You are not being even handed!
You want the judge(s) to rule in your favor
But a critical difference for your sections between a memo and an argument
A memo should be a question
III. Does the Texas Voter ID law violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act?
An argument should be an affirmative statement
III. The Texas Voter ID law violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

17. Finding legal cases
More recent Supreme Court cases can be found at their website:
Most state courts also post recent decisions
For others
Google Scholar
Lexis
Your BU Library account can be of great use as well
We have access to West Law

18. Resources for legal writing
CUNY Law School Writing:
writing/students.html
WikiHow
Legal-Brief
You can also search google for examples
Many law schools provide examples of these
Don’t fret too much.
I am not grading you as if you would be taking a first year Con Law class in law school
But I do expect you to try your best

19. Next Lecture
We will talk about the Court system
Read pages 11-22