5 Online Guides to Learning Legal Research for Paralegals
One of the core skills a good paralegal will possess is the ability to perform proper legal research. Legal research can include traditional research methods as well as using the internet to find the information for which you are looking. If your legal research skills could use some brushing up, here are some online resources to help you perfect your legal research skills.
Basic Legal Research – By Cornell University Law Library
This online guide is designed to help beginners with everything from definitions of basic legal research terms, as well as how to get started with actual investigations. This document is very well written with phrases linked to other areas of the guide that give further explanations of key points.
How to Do Legal Research in Law School – By Lexis Nexis
While aimed at law students, this guide is for all legal professionals who want to know more about how to perform proper legal research. The guide starts with the basics of legal research, then moves on to the actual processes that can be used to begin your research.
The Law Students Guide to Free Legal Research on the Internet – Research Primer
If you’re looking for a step-by-step breakdown of legal research, this tutorial is for you. The process of legal research is broken down into 10 easy steps designed to help you begin, even if you’ve never done investigations of this type before.
Basic Legal Research Techniques
This PDF is Chapter 3 of the ebook “Locating the Law.” This instructional document goes beyond the basics and digs into more details such as the TARP method of approaching legal research. There is also a list of free online resources that can be a good reference for you as you begin your investigations.
Basic Legal Research – Mini Research Class – By the Council of California County Law Librarians
Although this is put out by a California organization, most of the material is not state-specific. If you are new to legal research, this class teaches you methods such a looking for administrative law, finding codes and constitutions, and much more.
Legal research may not be the most glamorous aspect of a paralegal position. However, being capable of conducting good thorough research can make you an invaluable member of any litigation team. Legal research is a skill that can help grow as a legal professional.
If you found this article interesting, you might also like “8 Legal News Websites for Legal Professionals.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jane Jones is a court reporter, Co-Founder and Co-Owner of Brown & Jones Reporting, Inc. Connect with her on LinkedIn and Google+.
Tags: Legal Research for Paralegals, Paralegals, tips for paralegals
March 31st, 2014 at 4:07 pm
With the current economic climate and the over abundance of lawyers, the paralegal profession is hurting right now, but I think it’s because the field is about to explode. Once all of these new attorneys start filling their own shoes instead of doing the jobs meant for paralegals, it’s going to create a demand greater than ever before. I hope the court reporting industry can keep up!