Legal Writing II
(Legal Research)
Course Objectives
The purpose of this course is to further increase the writing and particularly the research skills of practicing lawyers and advanced law students in preparing law office memoranda, pleadings and other law office documents based on foreign law. Students finishing this course will understand American and European sources of law and be able to research in common law jurisdictions. They will learn the use of the major legal research databases and will be familiarized with American and other Western law reporters, such as those in EU Law, British Law or Canadian Law. This course is especially useful for students who might be seconded to Western offices of their companies or law firms, and for those who want to take an LL.M. or do Ph.D. research at a Western law school.
Prerequisites
This is the second of a two-part course. Before taking this course students should have taken Legal Writing I, or otherwise demonstrated familiarity with legal research and writing in a common law jurisdiction. Legal Writing 2 is designed for students whose English is at the advanced level. Those whose English is not adequate should first take courses in Legal English.
Course Length
30 in-class academic hours (24 clock hours). (The professor spends approximately 10 hours reviewing and commenting in writing on the written course work of each individual student.)
Methodology
The course is partially web based, with short daily research assigments posted on the course web-site, which are designed to build upon one another with progressive difficulty until students can handle even complex legal research tasks with ease. Students will also be asked to write short memos, pleadings and other legal documents. Students should have adequate web access. Passwords to Westlaw will be provided for academic use.