Chapter 7
Legal Research and Analysis
Chapter Outline
1. Introduction
2. Researching Case Law—The Preliminary Steps
3. Finding Relevant Cases
4. The Case Reporting System
5. Analyzing Case Law
6. Researching Constitutional and Statutory Law
7. Analyzing Statutory Law
8. Researching Administrative Law
Chapter Objectives
After completing this chapter, you will know:
 How primary and secondary sources of law differ and how to use each of these
types of sources in the research process
 How court decisions are published and how to read case citations
 How to analyze case law and summarize, or brief, cases
 How federal statutes and regulations are published and the major sources of
statutory and administrative law
 How to interpret statutory law and understand what kinds of resources are
available for researching the legislative history of a statute
Chapter Outline
I.
INTRODUCTION
A. For many paralegals, legal research is a fascinating part of their jobs
B. Many paralegals now use the Internet for most of their legal research
II. RESEARCHING CASE LAW—THE PRELIMINARY STEPS
A. Defining the Issue
1. Examine the facts of the case to determine the legal issues involved
2. Rarely will just one issue be researched
B. Determining Your Research Goals
1. Overall goal is to find legal support for the client’s claim
2. You are looking for cases on point and cases that are binding authority
a) Cases on Point—a previous case involving facts and issues similar to the
case you are researching
(1) The best is a case on “all fours,” a case where the parties,
circumstances, issues and remedy sought are very similar to your
case
b) Binding Authority—any authority that the court must follow in reaching its
decision
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(1) This can be a statute, regulation or provision in the constitution
(2) For a case to be a binding authority it must:
(a) Be on point
(b) Have been decided by a superior court in the same jurisdiction as
the trial court
c) Persuasive Authorities
(1) A persuasive authority is not binding on the court
(2) The following are persuasive authorities
(a) Persuasive precedents—previous court opinions from other
jurisdictions
(b) Legal Periodicals
(c) Legal Encyclopedias
(d) Legal Dictionaries
III. FINDING RELEVANT CASES
A. Legal Encyclopedias
1. The two major legal encyclopedias are American Jurisprudence, Second
Edition, and Corpus Juris Secundum
2. Topics are organized alphabetically
3. These encyclopedias are valuable because they provide both broad
statements of accepted law and footnotes to other legal sources
4. American Jurisprudence, Second Edition
a) This encyclopedia is commonly referred to as Am. Jur. 2d. and is
published by West Group
b) Am. Jur. 2d offers a detailed discussion of virtually every area of
American law
5. Corpus Juris Secundum
a) C.J.S. is published by West Group
b) This encyclopedia also provides detailed information on almost every
area of the law
6. Words and Phrases
a) Words and Phrases is a 46-volume encyclopedia of definitions and
interpretations of legal terms and phrases, published by West Group
b) Each definition is followed by abstracts from federal or state court
decisions in which the word or phrase has been interpreted or defined
B. Case Digests
1. Case digests are compilations in which brief statements regarding court
cases are arranged by subject and subdivided by jurisdiction and court
2. The West Key-Number System
a) West’s key-number system has simplified the task of researching case
law
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b) The system divides all American law into specific categories, or topics,
arranged in alphabetical order
c) The topics are further divided into many specific subtopics, each
designated by a key number
3. Types of Digests
a) West’s digest system also provides digests for state and federal court
opinions
b) West’s federal digests cover cases from the United States Supreme
Court, the U.S. courts of appeals, the U.S. district courts, and various
specialized federal courts, such as bankruptcy courts
c) West also publishes state digests for the cases of state courts
C. Annotations: American Law Reports
1. The American Law Reports (A.L.R.) is a multi-volume set that presents the
full text of selected cases in numerous areas of the law
2. This set is helpful in finding cases from jurisdictions throughout the country
with similar factual and legal issues
3. There are five different series of American Law Reports covering case law
since 1919
4. The annotations are updated by the A.L.R. Blue Book of Supplemental
Decisions, and the A.L.R. Later Case Service
D. Other Secondary Sources
1. Treatises
a) A treatise is a formal, scholarly work that treats a given subject
systematically and in detail
b) Treatises are written by law professors, legal scholars, and practicing
attorneys
2. Restatements of the Law
a) Restatements are highly respected scholarly compilations of the common
law that are published by the American Law Institute (ALI)
3. Legal Periodicals
a) Legal periodicals are a source of secondary authority
b) Legal periodicals contain thoroughly researched information on a specific
area of the law
IV. THE CASE REPORTING SYSTEM
A. State Court Decisions
1. State Reporters
a) State appellate court decisions are usually published in both official and
unofficial reporters
b) A few states, including New York and California, publish more than one
official state reporter
c) Many states have eliminated their own official reporters and use the West
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National Reporter System
2. Regional Reporters
a) State appellate court opinions appear in the West Group’s National
Reporter System
b) The National Reporter System divides the states into the following
geographical areas:
(1) Atlantic – A
(2) South Eastern – S.E
(3) South Western – S.W
(4) North Western – N.W
(5) North Eastern – N.E
(6) Pacific – P
c) Each regional report has a second (2d) and third (3d) series
3. Citation Format
a) After an appellate decision has been published, it is normally referred to
by its citation
b) There are five parts to a standard citation:
c) Case Name – Smith v. Jones
d) Volume Number – 207
e) Name of Book
f)
Page number – 158
g) Year (1998)
h) A reference to the other reporter or reporters in which the case can be
found is known as a parallel citation and is listed after the state’s official
reporter, if there is one
i)
When performing legal research, you should include citations to cases or
other legal sources in your notes
j)
The most widely used book on how to cite legal sources is The Bluebook:
A Uniform System of Citation
k) A book that is becoming more popular is the ALWD (Association of Legal
Writing Directors and Darby Dickerson) Citation Manual
B. Federal Court Decisions
1. Federal trial court opinions are published unofficially in West’s Federal
Supplement (F.Supp.)
2. Opinions from the federal circuit court of appeals are published unofficially in
West’s Federal Reporter (F., F2d, or F3d)
3. Both of these are unofficial reporters and there is no official reporter for these
courts
C. United States Supreme Court Decisions
1. The United States Reports
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a) This is the official edition of all decisions of the United States Supreme
Court
2. The Supreme Court Reporter (S.Ct.)
a) The Supreme Court Reporter is an “unofficial reporter.”
b) The opinion is preceded by a brief syllabus and headnotes with key
numbers
3. The Lawyers’ Edition of the Supreme Court Reports (L.Ed. or L.Ed.2d)
a) This unofficial edition of the entire series of the Supreme Court reports
contains many decisions not reported in earlier official volumes
b) The Lawyers’ Edition offers research tools and provides summaries of the
briefs presented by counsel
4. Unofficial Loose-Leaf Services
a) The United States Law Week publishes Supreme Court decisions the day
after a decision is announced
V. ANALYZING CASE LAW
A. The Components of a Case
1. Case Title
a) The title of a case indicates the names of the parties to the lawsuit
2. Case Citation
a) The citation shows the volume and page number where the case is
located in a particular case reporter
3. Docket Number
a) The docket number is assigned by the court clerk where the case is
initially filed
4. Dates Argued and Decided
a) The date the case was decided is an important component of a case
5. Syllabus
a) The syllabus is a brief synopsis of the facts of the case, the issues
analyzed by the court, and the court’s conclusion
b) Reading the syllabus is not a substitute for reading the case
6. Headnotes
a) The headnotes are short paragraphs that serve to highlight and
summarize specific rules of law mentioned in the case. These also are
not a substitute for reading the case
7. Names of Counsel
a) These are the names of the lawyers representing the parties in the case
8. Name of Judge or Justice Authoring the Opinion
a) In some cases, instead of the name of a judge or justice, the decision will
be authored per curiam, which means that the opinion is that of the whole
court
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9. Opinion
a) The formal opinion of the court contains the analysis of the decision of the
judge or judges who heard and decided the case
10. The Court’s Conclusion
a) In the conclusion, the judges indicate their decision on the issue or issues
before the court
B. Analyzing Cases
1. Look for Guideposts in the Opinions
a) It may be necessary to reread a case several times to understand what is
being said
b) Judges often indicate sections and subsections within an opinion by
numbers, letters, or subtitles
2. Distinguish the Court’s Holding from Dicta
a) Only the holding (the legal principle to be drawn from the court’s decision)
is binding
b) Other views expressed in the opinion are referred to as dicta and are not
binding in subsequent cases
C. Summarizing and Briefing Cases
1. Legal professionals often use an analytical technique called case briefing to
reduce the content of the case to its essentials
2. A typical case brief will contain:
(1) Citation—Give the full citation for the case, including the name of the
case, the date it was decided, and the court that decided it
(2) Facts–Briefly indicate (a) the reasons for the lawsuit (who did what to
whom) and (b) the identity and arguments of the plaintiff(s) and
defendant(s)
(3) Procedure—Indicate the procedural history of the case in a sentence
or two, including the lower court’s decision, what the appellate court
did (affirm, reverse, remand) and how the matter arrived before the
present court
(4) Issue—State, in the form of a question, the essential issue before the
court (If more than one issue is involved, you may have two—or even
more—questions)
(5) Decision—Indicate with a “yes” or “no” the court’s answer to the
question (or questions) that noted in the Issue section
(6) Reasoning—Summarize as briefly as possible the reasons given by
the court for its decision (or decisions) and the case or statutory law
relied on by the court in arriving at its decision.
(7) Holding—State the rule of law for which the case stands
D. IRAC: A Method for Briefing Cases
1. IRAC method refers to issue, rule, application and conclusion
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VI. RESEARCHING CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY LAW
A. Finding Constitutional Law
1. Sources—The Constitution of the United States of America, United States
Code Annotated and United States Code Service
B. Finding Statutory Law
1. Sources—Codes, a systematic and topically organized presentation of laws,
rules or regulations
C. Federal Statutes
1. The official compilation of federal statutes is the United States Code or U.S.C
a) The U.S.C. is published by the U.S. government
b) The U.S.C. organizes statutes into fifty subjects, or titles
c) The U.S.C. further subdivides each title into chapters (sections) and
subchapters
d) The researcher can find a statute in the U.S.C. through the following
methods:
(1) Searching through the topical outlines
(2) Looking in the index
(3) Looking under the act’s popular name in the volume entitled Popular
Name Table
2. Unofficial Versions of the Federal Code
a) The United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.)
(1) The U.S.C.A. contains the full text of the U.S.C., the U.S. Constitution,
the Federal Rules of Evidence, and various other rules, including the
Rules of Civil Procedure and the Rules of Criminal Procedure
(2) The U.S.C.A. is more current than the U.S.C. and provides updated
statutory information through supplemental pocket parts and
pamphlets many times a year
b) The United States Code Service (U.S.C.S.)
(1) This code is published by the West Group
(2) The research section of the U.S.C.S. provides references and
citations to some sources that are not contained in the U.S.C.A., such
as American Law Reports, legal periodicals, and American
Jurisprudence
(3) Paralegals can begin statutory research in the U.S.C.S., by reviewing
the Subjects Index or the Popular Names Table
3. State Statutes
a) State Codes follow the U.S.C. pattern of arranging statutes by subject
b) Many states publish annotated codes that provide references to case law,
legislative history sources, and other documents in which the statute has
been considered or discussed
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VII. ANALYZING STATUTORY LAW
A. Some statutes are extremely wordy or lengthy or difficult to understand, but one
can usually determine the reasons for the statute’s enactment, the date on which
it became effective, the class of parties to which the statute applies, the kind of
conduct regulated by the statute, and the circumstances in which that conduct is
prohibited, required, or permitted
B. Interpreting Statutory Law
1. Rules of Construction
a) Certain statutory rules of interpretation, called rules of construction, may
prove helpful in an analysis of the statute’s purpose and intent
2. The Plain Meaning Rule
a) Under the plain meaning rule, the words chosen by the legislature must
be understood according to their common meanings
3. Previous Judicial Interpretation
a) Researching statutory law also involves researching case law to see how
the courts have interpreted and applied statutory provisions
4. Legislative Intent
a) Learning the intent of the legislature is helpful in understanding the
meaning of a statute
b) Sources for reviewing legislative intent are committee reports, The
Congressional Record, and other sources of legislative history
c) Committee reports provide the most important source of legislative history
d) The Congressional Record, which is published daily while Congress is in
session; contains verbatim (word-for-word) transcripts of congressional
debates and proceedings
e) Other Sources of Legislative History—The two tools most frequently used
in conducting research on legislative history are the United States Code
Congressional and Administrative News (U.S.C.C.A.N.) and the
Congressional Information Service (C.I.S.)
VIII.
RESEARCHING ADMINISTRATIVE LAW
A. The Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.)
1. C.F.R. contains all federal administrative agency regulations
2. The regulations in the C.F.R. are compiled from the Federal Register
B. Finding Tools for Administrative Law
1. A good place to start researching administrative regulations is in the index
section of the C.F.R.’s Index and Finding Aids volume
2. The Congressional Information Service (C.I.S.) provides an index to the
C.F.R., which is helpful in locating regulations by subject matter and in
determining the geographical area affected by the regulation
3. The American Digest System provides coverage of court cases dealing with
administrative questions, but does not contain agency rulings
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