Foundations of Legal Research Course Curriculum

Unit 1: Skills for Success

• Discover How You Learn
• Find a Place to Study
• Learn How to Study

Unit 2: Legal Research & Writing — Part 1

• The Law and the U.S. Legal System
• Primary Sources
• Secondary Sources
• Computer-Assisted Legal Research
• Conducting Legal Research
• Updating and Verifying Legal Research
• Legal Analysis

Graded Assignment: Shepardizing

Unit 3: Legal Research and Writing — Part 2

• Legal Writing
• Writing Legal Letters
• Legal Research Memorandums
• Trial Court Legal Memorandums
• Appellate Briefs

Graded Assignment: Demand Letter
Graded Assignment: Legal Research Memorandum
Graded Assignment: Q & A Appellate

Unit 4: English Usage and Written Communication

• Parts of Speech
• Parts of a Sentence
• Pronouns, Verbs, and Agreement
• Sentence Types and Punctuation
• Written Communications

Unit 5: Effective Legal Research Using LexisNexis®

• Online tutorial
• Individual search assistance available 24×7 by LexisNexis® support personnel
• Training Session 1—Introduction to Lexis.com
• Training Session 2—Using Secondary Sources for Initial Case Analysis
• Training Session 3—Researching Statutes and Regulations
• Training Session 4—Case Law Research
• Training Session 5—Cite Checking with Shepard’s® Citation Services

Graded Assignment: Effective Legal Research Using LexisNexis®