Legal research is "the process of identifying and retrieving information necessary to support legal decision-making. In its broadest sense, legal research includes each step of a course of action that begins with an analysis of the facts of a problem and concludes with the application and communication of the results of the investigation."

Legal research is performed by anyone with a need for legal information, including lawyers, law librarians, and paralegals. Sources of legal information range from printed books, to free legal research websites (like Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute, Findlaw.com, Martindale Hubbell, Casetext, Lawyers.com, HG.org and CanLII) and information portals to fee database vendors such as Wolters Kluwer, Chancery Law Chronicles,[2] LexisNexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg Law. Law libraries around the world provide research services to help their patrons find the legal information they need in law schools, law firms and other research environments. Many law libraries and institutions provide free access to legal information on the web, either individually or via collective action, such as with the Free Access to Law Movement.

Legal research and writing is a time consuming component of practicing law necessary to draft memoranda and briefs, and prepare for court hearings, negotiations and other matters requiring the attorney’s personal time and attention. Legal research requires the use of special tools and publications.

Some of these resources include:

Factual Research

Case Law

Statutory Law

Regulatory Law

State Law

Foreign Law

International Law

Civil Court Records

Court Dockets

Criminal RecordsIncreasingly, legal professionals are conducting legal research electronically, through the use of the Internet and specialized legal research services such as Lexis and Westlaw.

LEGAL RESEARCH: AN OVERVIEW

The purpose of legal research is to find "authority" that will aid in finding a solution to a legal problem. Primary authorities are the rules of law that are binding upon the courts, government, and individuals. Examples are statutes, regulations, court orders, and court decisions. They are generated by legislatures, courts, and administrative agencies. Secondary authorities are commentaries on the law that do not have binding effect but aid in explaining what the law is or should be. The resources available to find legal authority are vast and complicated leading many law schools to require students to take a class in legal research. See Legal education

Finding tools enable a researcher to find and interpret legal authority. Initially, many researchers turn to tools that provide summaries of a particular area of the law. Some examples are legal encyclopedias, treatises, and the American Law Reports (ALR). Law reviews and legal periodical articles provide interpretation of the law as well as detailed articles on particular legal topics. These interpretations may be found through indexes such as the Index to Legal Periodicals. Restatements provide detailed summaries of what the law generally is or what the restatement writers believe the law should be. The citations to other authorities and annotations provided in legal encyclopedias, treatises, American Law Reports, law reviews, and legal periodicals are an important element of their value in the research process.

There are also a number of specialized finding tools that enable one to search for relevant materials in primary authorities. The index volumes for statutes and regulations compilations provide a quick guide to relevant rules and regulations. There are also privately published version of statutes that are annotated. Case reporters contain the decisions in cases that have been deemed important enough to publish. Case digests enable a researcher to look up a particular area of the law and find a list of case decisions that are "reported" in relevant case reporters. If one has the common name of a law (e.g.,The Lanham Act), a popular name table can provide a quick reference to where the law can be found in the statute compilation. There are also conversion tables that allow one to link a statute to the bill from which it developed and the commentary surrounding it's approval. Shepard's Citations provides references to when cases and law review articles were cited by another source.

Computer databanks have provided the legal profession with quick and efficient tools to do research. LEXIS and WESTLAW, two prominent legal search engines, provide databases that have case reporters, statutes, legal periodicals, law reviews and various secondary authorities. State and specialty law collections pulling together diverse types of authority are now appearing on CD-ROM and the Internet.

Lawyering, by its very nature, largely entails researching the law, communicating the results, and determining the best course of action for the client. This training begins in law school as one might expect, but the importance of developing these skills cannot be overstated. Legal research and writing has been called the “bread and butter” of any successful lawyer. No matter the area of practice, new lawyers will spend the bulk of their time researching and writing about the law.

Barry Law recognizes the importance of developing research and writing skills from the very beginning. The Legal Research and Writing Program for first year students involves two courses for a total of six credits: LRW I and LRW II. Taught in sections of approximately 20 students, these courses challenge students by presenting rigorous writing, editing, and rewriting experiences. Associated research projects designed to interlace with the writing lessons bring the experience full circle. By the end of the second semester, all students complete the requirement to become certified researchers using two of the major legal research portals, Westlaw and Lexis. As part of the coursework in the second semester, students prepare an appellate brief and participate in oral arguments in a moot court setting. After the first year, students can extend their training in this area. For upper level students, Barry Law offers Advanced Legal Research, Advanced Legal Writing, and Advanced Appellate Advocacy.

Students also benefit from the faculty members chosen to direct these courses thanks to Barry Law’s unique tenure-track system for Legal Research and Writing. A tenure-track program in this area assures the highest quality of teaching in these invaluable courses and insures continuity of excellence in teaching and the development of scholarship in legal research and writing.