The purpose of this course is to acquaint students with the fundamentals of legal research and writing. Students will learn to use and locate primary and secondary authorities. The course will include a general overview of the federal and state court systems. Students will learn the elements of a court decision, how to locate cases through the use of digests, and how to brief a case. The course reviews the techniques of legal writing customarily taught in law school; citation form; cite checking; the methods of compiling legislative histories; administrative and international legal research; and the writing of letters, law office memoranda, and court briefs.
LEGL320 is a 3 credit course.