Employer
Expectations for
Legal Research
Skills
Elaine M. Egan, Manager Information Center
Shearman & Sterling
February 18, 2014
Challenges
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


3/6/2014
Development of countless electronic content resources
Unprecedented pressure to run a law firm like a business
Complex global markets
Higher levels of service, efficiency, and cost containment
2
Effective Approach to Legal Research – the basics


ASK QUESTIONS - understand your assignment
Ask about specific resources (not all sources are equal)
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If you must GOOGLE

10 minute rule
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Validate results
Valid sources
 effective, legally binding or able to withstand objection
Yahoo Finance
2/14/14
Close: 79.23
Volume: 7,001.100
Bloomberg
2/14/14
3/6/2014
Close: 79.23
Volume: 7.003
3
Business Acumen and Knowledge Management
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

3/6/2014
Understanding of the financial, accounting, marketing and operational
functions of an organization
Understand your client and their industry
Organizations generate value from their intellectual and knowledge-based
assets

Share

Innovate

Reuse

Collaborate

Learn
4
Efficiency
Legal Project Management

Project management approach

3/6/2014
the process and activity of planning, organizing, motivating, and controlling
resources to achieve specific outcomes
 Scope
 Deadlines
 Project team
 Costs
5
FFF
Faculty Webcast - Employer Expectations for Legal Research Skills
Faculty Update
Lexis Advance® New Enhancements
Guest Speakers
Sally Wise, Library Director, University of Miami
School of Law
Elaine Egan, Manager, Department of Information
& Knowledge Services, Shearman & Sterling
Julie Jones, Branch Librarian, United States
Courts Library, Second Circuit
Agenda
• AALL Principles & Standards for Research
Competencies
• Employer Expectations - Large Law Firm
perspective
• Employer Expectations – Federal Court
perspective
• LexisNexis Law Schools- “prepare to practice”
resources
• Q&A
LexisNexis® Think Like a Lawyer Resources
• On Demand Learning tools
- Law School You Tube channel
- Reference pieces
• Rebooting Legal Research in a Digital
Age, by Steve Lastres
• Professional Research Certification
• Cost Effective Research classes
• Think Like a Lawyer (TLAL) Microsite
LexisNexis® Faculty Home page – www.lexisnexis.com/lawschool
Think Like a Lawyer – www.lexisnexis.com/tlal
Think Like a Lawyer – www.lexisnexis.com/tlal
QUESTIONS
Employer Expectations for Legal
Research Skills:
Working in the Federal Courts
Julie M. Jones
U.S. Courts Library, Second Circuit
Hartford, CT
julie_jones@ca2.uscourts.gov
Primary Tasks of Law Clerks
•
•
•
•
•
•
Critical thinking
Case law research
Statutory and rule based research
Jury instructions
Sentencing
Drafting court memoranda and opinions
Case Law
• Advanced search techniques
– Boolean queries
– Field/Segment searching
• Leverage the full power of Westlaw Next and
Lexis Advance filters
• Finesse Keycite and Shepard results
Statutes and Rules
• Advanced filtering of citations to statutes and
use of annotated codes
• Federal Rules of Civil & Criminal Procedure
• Local Court Rules
• Judge Rules
Jury Instructions
• Sand’s Modern Federal Jury Instructions
preferred in the Second Circuit
• What is the difference between Sand’s or
O’Malley’s and pattern jury instructions?
• How current are pattern jury instructions?
Federal Sentencing Guidelines
• What are they?
• How are sentences calculated?
• What about crack cocaine?
Format: Print or Online?
• Content matters, not form
Questions?
Thank you!
AALL PRINCIPLES AND
STANDARDS FOR LEGAL
RESEARCH
COMPETENCY
Promoting the
AALL Principles
and Standards
for Legal
Research
Competency
Task Force
Sally Wise, University of Miami
School of Law
Mary Jenkins, Hamilton County
Law Library
Catherine Lemann, Alaska
Supreme Court Librarian,
Retired
Gail Partin, Dickinson School of
Law, Pennsylvania State
University
Linda-Jean Schneider, Morgan
Lewis & Bockius LLP
Jean Wenger, Cook County Law
Library
AALL Principles And Standards For Legal
Research Competency
will provide value to the
legal profession
Value to the Legal Profession
• To foster best practices in
law school curriculum
development and design;
• To inform law firm planning,
training, evaluation, and
articulation of core
competencies;
• To encourage bar admission
committee evaluation of
applicants' research skills;
• To inspire continuing
education program
development; and,
• To impact law school
accreditation standards
review.
The Principles
I.
A successful legal researcher possesses foundational
knowledge of the legal system and legal information sources.
II. A successful legal researcher gathers information through
effective and efficient research strategies.
III. A successful legal researcher critically evaluates information.
IV. A successful legal researcher applies information effectively to
resolve a specific issue or need.
V. A successful legal researcher distinguishes between ethical
and unethical uses of information, and understands the legal
issues associated with the discovery, use, or application of
information.
Hierarchy of the PSLRC
Principles
Standards
Competencies
The Concern
Where can
I find the
USC? I
need to
look up a
regulation.
The Response
Principle I: A successful legal
researcher possesses foundational knowledge of
the legal system and legal information sources
Standard B: An information-literate legal
professional understands the similarities,
differences, and interrelationships among and
between United States federal, state, and local
legal systems.
Competency 3: Identifies appropriate resources to
locate the legislative, regulatory, and judicial law
produced by the respective government bodies.
The Concern
Where are
those state
bankruptcy
filings?
The Response
Principle II: A successful legal researcher
gathers information through effective and
efficient research strategies.
Standard A: An information-literate legal
professional selects appropriate research
sources.
Competency 2: Recognizes the authority or
authorities governing particular legal issues.
The Concern
There has to be a better
way to filter these
research results!
The Response
Principle II: A successful legal researcher
gathers information through effective and
efficient research strategies.
Standard C: An information-literate legal
professional confirms and validates research
results, incorporating existing work product and
expertise.
Competency 4: Understands when to stop the
research process.
The Concern
The Response
Principle IV: A successful legal researcher
gathers information through effective and efficient
research strategies.
Standard A: An information-literate legal
professional synthesizes research problems in an
analytical approach to legal research.
Competency 1: Synthesizes legal doctrine by
examining cases similar, but not identical, to cases
that are the current focus of research, in order to
articulate how courts should apply current
authoritative and relevant case law.
AALL – Research Instruction Caucus
AALL Special Committee - Fostering
Legal Research as a Subject Specialty
Boulder Statement : 2009 & 2010
Association of College & Research
Libraries (ACRL)
Value to the Legal Profession
• To foster best practices in
law school curriculum
development and design;
• To inform law firm planning,
training, evaluation, and
articulation of core
competencies;
• To encourage bar admission
committee evaluation of
applicants' research skills;
• To inspire continuing
education program
development; and,
• To impact law school
accreditation standards
review.
PSLRC in instruction & assessment
Instruction
Assessment
Law Schools
ABA Learning
Outcome Standard
Law Firms
Bar Exam
CLE Providers
Performance
Evaluation
SelfAssessment
Standard 302 - Learning Outcomes
(coming soon)
A law school shall establish
learning outcomes that
shall, at a minimum, include
competency in the following:
(b) Legal analysis and
reasoning, legal
research, problem solving, and written and
oral communication in
the legal context;
Research questions on the Bar Exam!
Bar exam questions
• Characteristics of
primary law
• Characteristics of
secondary legal
information
• Primary legal sources
• Secondary legal
sources
• Relative weight of
authority
• Statutory construction
• Citation verification
• Application of ethics
rules to research
• Documenting research
strategies
• Efficiency and cost
• Evaluation of sources
Lawyer performance evaluation
Does the associate consider
costs to the client and the
firm when completing
research assignments?
(Principle III, Standard B.)
Is the associate able to
resolve all questions
posed and provide
sufficient support for
conclusions reached?
(Principle IV, Standard C.)
Your feedback
• AALL Legal Research Competency webpage at
http://www.aallnet.org/mainmenu/Advocacy/legalresearchcompetency
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