Nolfi E. Basic Legal Research for Paralegals

Second Edition. — McGraw-Hill, Irwin, 2008. — 234 p.This book is an insider’s guide to the art of legal research. Using a hands-on approach, BLR provides students with an easy and approachable way to learn about the processes, materials, and background of legal research. It explains the many methods of legal research in a simple and straightforward manner and language. This text is essential for all law office personnel and paralegal professionals.
The book’s text is divided up into 13 chapters. Each includes a systematic approach that introduces legal research through a summar y of the U.S. legal system, law publishing, law books, and law libraries, with a section on the pur pose of legal research and strategies. The Appendix provides the text of the most fundamental document in U.S. legal research, the Constitution of the United States.
The principal sources of the law such as cases, statutes, constitutions, court rules, and administrative regulations are described and their use discussed. Secondary sources of law are explored and their value and use to the researcher are examined. Proper legal citations are described and analyzed. How to use Shephard’s Citators, The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, as well as ALWD are explained. Finally, an overview of how to use computer-assisted legal research is provided along with the most popular and recognized sources. All of the chapters build a systematic base for how to best navigate through the vast amount of legal resources available to the researcher.