Resources for First Year Law Students: Legal Research & Writing

A favorite among successful students, and often recommended by professors, Examples & Explanations series gives you extremely clear introductions to concepts followed by realistic examples that mirror those presented in the classroom. Use at the beginning and midway through the semester to deepen your understanding through clear explanations, corresponding fact patterns, and analysis. Then use to study for finals by reviewing the hypotheticals as well as the structure and reasoning behind the accompanying analysis.

A favorite among successful students, and often recommended by professors, Examples & Explanations series gives you extremely clear introductions to concepts followed by realistic examples that mirror those presented in the classroom. Use at the beginning and midway through the semester to deepen your understanding through clear explanations, corresponding fact patterns, and analysis. Then use to study for finals by reviewing the hypotheticals as well as the structure and reasoning behind the accompanying analysis.

Skills & Values: Lawyering Process, Legal Writing and Advocacy consists of 14 chapters that provide students with an introduction to the key aspects of the lawyering process, from understanding what lawyers do, to research, writing, citation, writing style, drafting, persuasion, and oral arguments.

Written by UT Law Professors Kuney and Looper, Legal Drafting in a Nutshell, 4th Edition, provides guidance on producing transactional documents, contracts, instruments, legislation, and regulations that solve existing problems and prevent future problems.

This outline covers court systems, precedent, case reporting system (including regional and state reporters, headnotes and the West Key Number System®, citations, and case finding), statutes, constitutions, and legislative history, and secondary sources (including treatises, law reviews, digests, and restatements).

Finding and using legal resources effectively is an essential skill for lawyers. This comprehensive but succinct guide covers research procedures using major online services, free Internet resources, and library materials. Several hundred websites are discussed and placed in context for effective and productive use in research.

Principles of Legal Research provides encyclopedic yet concise coverage of research methods and resources using both free and commercial websites as well as printed publications. It has been thoroughly updated to provide coverage of WestlawNext, Lexis Advance, Bloomberg Law, and other new resources.