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What is Legal Research?

Alexis W.
Alexis W.

Legal research refers to the process of searching reference material to find the answer to a given legal question. Legal research is routinely conducted by paralegals, attorneys and other legal professionals. It can be conducted electronically or through the use of book materials, and it plays a vital role in the preparation of a legal case.

In the United States and in many other case law systems, the law is a complex and vast field made up of legislation on the state and federal level, judicial opinions, and agency decisions. While the statutes and formal bills are codified in code books, case law — or law made by judges — is found in the context of legal case transcripts that are published in numerous court reports. The body of law is constantly evolving and changing, as judges decide new cases — setting new precedent — and legislatures pass new laws.

Legal research requires reviewing reference materials.
Legal research requires reviewing reference materials.

When a legal issue arises, such as a lawsuit or an accusation of a crime or a family court dispute, it is important to understand the state of the law on that given issue. For example, if a person was having a dispute over whether his signature on a contract was enough to bind him to comply with the contract, it would be important to conduct legal research to uncover the laws regarding what constitutes a legally binding contract. The applicable rule of law that determined whether his signature was enough to bind him might be found in a state or federal court's ruling on a similar issue, or might be found in state or federal legislation dealing with contracts and signatures on contracts. All of these sources of law would have to be examined to predict how the court would be likely to rule in the client's situation.

A court researchers may research court cases, law or find specific documents for a judge.
A court researchers may research court cases, law or find specific documents for a judge.

To conduct legal research, an individual can refer to primary or secondary sources. Primary sources are those sources that will be binding in a court, such as references to case law or to a statute. Secondary sources are resources that are not binding and that cannot be referenced in court documents, but which provide a person with a good idea of where to look to find binding sources. A secondary source might be a Restatement of the Law, which is a book published by legal experts that collects all the important decisions and rules on a given legal issue, or might be a law review article, which is an article published in a scholarly journal.

Legal research can be a time-consuming process involving combing through hundreds of legal documents.
Legal research can be a time-consuming process involving combing through hundreds of legal documents.

Legal research can be a time-consuming process involving combing through hundreds of legal documents. Online databases have made it simpler and faster to conduct research by allowing an individual to generate searches and tailor the results to their specific location and field of interest. The trade-off to using an online legal database is that such databases often charge a hefty fee for the convenience they offer.

Discussion Comments

Markerrag

@Logicfest -- I think things have gotten easier, too. An attorney friend of mine was showing the service he uses. "Plain English" search terms, the ability to scan through hundreds of cases with ease and everything else means that legal research is not as time consuming as it once was.

That should come as good news to clients. Less time spent research should mean less billable hours and less money spent by clients to be represented in course. Of course, Internet legal research tools aren't cheap and the cost of them might be passed on to clients. There are some free legal research tools available online, but I doubt they are very comprehensive.

Logicfest

Legal research isn't exactly easy, but it is not the nightmare it used to be, either. That is because most attorneys subscribe to online databases that make researching a heck of a lot more efficient.

I say "efficient" because finding answers to legal questions in books was never that hard. The hard part was determining if the law you found still applied or not. That task is a lot easier with online databases.

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    • Legal research requires reviewing reference materials.
      By: George Wada
      Legal research requires reviewing reference materials.
    • A court researchers may research court cases, law or find specific documents for a judge.
      By: Andrey Burmakin
      A court researchers may research court cases, law or find specific documents for a judge.
    • Legal research can be a time-consuming process involving combing through hundreds of legal documents.
      By: jeremias münch
      Legal research can be a time-consuming process involving combing through hundreds of legal documents.
    • Legal research can include looking up legislation passed by Congress to deal with contracts and signatures on contracts.
      By: Zap Ichigo
      Legal research can include looking up legislation passed by Congress to deal with contracts and signatures on contracts.
    • Legal researcher may look up background information online to help their client build a case.
      By: Rido
      Legal researcher may look up background information online to help their client build a case.