ResearchMethodologyHarvardLawSchoolWord文档格式.docx
- 文档编号:20654468
- 上传时间:2023-01-24
- 格式:DOCX
- 页数:6
- 大小:19.92KB
ResearchMethodologyHarvardLawSchoolWord文档格式.docx
《ResearchMethodologyHarvardLawSchoolWord文档格式.docx》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《ResearchMethodologyHarvardLawSchoolWord文档格式.docx(6页珍藏版)》请在冰豆网上搜索。
Authority:
Primaryauthorityisthelaw--whetheritisfoundincases,statutes,regulations,ordecisionsofadministrativebodies.Secondaryauthorityaresourceswhichexplainthelaw.Thesemaybelawreviewarticles,scholarlytreatises,barjournals,encyclopediasorpractitionerbooks.
Mandatoryauthorityormandatoryprecedent:
Bindingauthorityintheparticularjurisdiction,whichmustbefollowed.Whetherastatuteorregulationismandatoryauthoritymaydependonthefactsinvolved.Mandatorycaselawmayalsodependontheidenticalnatureofthefactsandlegalissuesinvolvedaswellasthelevelofthecourtwhichissuedtheopinion.Alowercourtisrequiredtofollowahighercourt'
srulingonanissue.Ahighercourtisnotrequiredtofollowtherulingorreasoningofalowercourtopinion,althoughthatopinionmaybepersuasiveauthority.
Persuasiveauthority:
Allauthoritywhichmaybeusedtoconvinceacourttoapplythelawinacertaindirection.Elementstoconsiderarethesimilarityofkeyfactsandlegalissues,thereasoningofthecourt,andtheauthorityoftheissuingbody.Decisionsofhighcourtsaremorepersuasivethandecisionsoflowercourts.Argumentssetforthinmajorlawreviewsaremorepersuasivethanthosesetforthinbarjournals.
Blackletterlaw:
Thisphrasereferstothebasicstandardelementsforaparticularfieldoflaw,whetheritis,forexample,thestandardelementsforacontractorthetechnicaldefinitionofbattery.Blackletterlawisnotrecordedinanyoneplaceorresearchsource,noris"
blackletter"
atermyouwillfindinmostindices.Instead,youwillneedtoresearchthespecificareaoflawtodeterminethestandardelements.Secondarysourcesareyourbestsourceforthese.
Corelegaltheory:
Thecorelegaltheoryofyourcasetheoryencompassesboththekeyfactssupportingyourcaseandthevariouslegaltheorieswhichyoubelievesupportyourposition.Itisboththedrivingforcebehindtheyourconceptualizationofthecaseandtheartofmakingyourpointandfindingtheresourcestosupportthatposition.Yourcorelegaltheoryisthestoryyoupresentwhichpredisposesthefinderoftruth,beitajuryorajudge,tobelievethataninjusticehasbeendone.Itdictatesthepresentationofyourcase.Itallowsyoutotietogethertheapplicablelegalruleswiththeemotionalsideofyourcaseandthesenseofjustice.
Itisimportanttonotetheinteractionbetweenyourcorelegaltheoryandyourlegalresearch.Theactivitiesyouwillundertakeduringaresearchprojectfromthetimeyoureceivetheassignmentuntilyoucompleteyourwrittenproduct,willinvolvemanysteps.Youwillperformapreliminaryanalysisoftheproblem,conductlegalresearch,analyzetheresultsofyourresearch,developacorelegaltheory,andusethattheorytoapplythelawyoufoundinyourresearchtothefactsofyourparticularproblem.Althoughyouwillgothroughseveralsteps,thisisnotalinearprocess.Aproblemofanylengthorcomplexitywillrequireyoutoevaluateandmodifyatseveralstagesyouranalysisoftheproblem.Mostlikelyyouwillgothroughacircularprocessofanalysis,research,andevaluationofyouranalysisfollowedbymoreresearch.Initialtheoriesmayhavetobechangedorevenabandoned.Seeminglyimportantfactsmaynotinthefinalanalysisprovetobeimportantwhileothersmaydeterminewhetherparticularlegalprinciplesareapplicable.Duringthecourseofthisprocessofanalysisandresearch,youwilldevelopthecorelegaltheoryofyourcasewhichinturnwillguideyouinthepresentationofyourfinalarguments.
Legaldictionaries:
Alegaldictionarydefinestermsrelevanttolaw.Whilethereareseveraldictionariestochoosefrom,Black'
sLawDictionary(KF156.B53)andBallentine'
sLegalDictionaryandThesaurus(KF156.L95)arethetwomostpopular.TheseareavailableintheReferenceareaofLangdell.Also,notethatBlack'
sisavailableinWestlaw(databaseidentifierisDI).Whichlegaldictionaryyouuseisamatterofpersonalpreference.Youmayalsofind,however,thatafterthefirstfewweeksofschool,youhaveonlyisolatedoccasionstorefertoone.
Digests:
Providesubjectaccesstocaseswhicharepublishedchronologicallyincasereporters.Withoutdigests,therewouldbenoefficientwayoflocatingallthecasesonaparticularsubject.Digestsprovidebriefsummariesofcasesorganizedbysubject.TheWestdigestsystemisonemajorsystemwhichcanservetoillustratehowadigestisstructured.
Westhasorganizedroughly400topicsthattheWesteditorsbelievearethebroadtopicsrepresentingallissuesinAmericancaselaw.Thesetopicsrangefromabandonedpropertytomentalhealthtozoning.Anoutlineforeachtopichasbeendevelopedwhichbreakseachsubjectdownintoitsvariouselements.Thesemaybeonlyafewormaybeseveralhundred.Eachoftheseelementsorsub-topicsisnumbered.EditorsatWestreadeachcasepublished,writingasmanysummariesofthevariouspointsoflawastheeditordeemsnecessary.Eachofthesesummariesisthenassignedatopicandkeynumberaccordingtotheoutlinethathasbeendeveloped.Acasemayhaveonlyafewofthesesummariesoritmayhaveseveraldozen.ThesummariesalongwiththetopicandkeynumberarepublishedasheadnoteswiththecaseinaWestreporter.ThesummariesarealsopublishedintheappropriateWestdigestalongwithalltheothersummariesforeachparticulartopicandkeynumber.
Tolocatecasesusingthedigestsystem,youmustusetheappropriatetopicandkeynumber.Ifyoudonotknowwhattopicandkeynumberhavebeenassignedtotheareaoflawyouareresearching,youshouldusethedigest'
sDescriptiveWordIndex.Aswithanyindextoaresearchtool,youmustsearchusingthewordsandsynonymsthatconveyyourfactualorlegalissue.Forexample,assumeyouwishtolocateMassachusettscasesthataddresstheissueoftheliabilityofdoctorsforfailuretodiscloseinformationtoapatient.Tolocatetheappropriatetopicandkeynumber,youwouldturntotheDescriptiveIndexfortheMassachusettsDigestSecondSeries.YoumightlookupseveralwordsorphrasesintheDescriptiveWordIndexsuchas"
doctor,"
"
physician"
or"
disclosure"
.Eachofthesecaneventuallyleadyoutothetopicandkeynumber"
physicians&
surgeons15(8)"
.Youwouldnowwanttoturntotheappropriatevolumeofthedigestwhereyouwillfinelistedunderthattopicandkeynumber,summariesofthecasesforthatjurisdictionandtimeperiodwhichareaboutmentalcapacitytocommitcrimes.AlthoughyouwillnotwanttoguesswhichtopictheWesteditorshaveassignedtoyourissue,onceyouknowarelevanttopic,youmightwishtobrowsethroughitsoutlinetodetermineifkeynumbersotherthantheoneyouhavewillhelp.
Ifyoualreadyhavearelevantcase,whichyoumighthavefoundfromasecondarysource,theheadnoteatthebeginningofthecasewillgiveyouthetopicandkeynumber.
Digestscanalsoprovideyouwiththecitationsforknowncases.Ifyouknowthenameofthecase,theTableofCaseswillgiveyouthecitation.YoushouldusetheDefendant/Plaintiffifyouonlyknowthenameofthedefendant.
AprincipaladvantageoftheWestdigestsystemisthatitisuniformforallstateandfederaljurisdictions.Thus,atopicandkeynumbermeanthesamethingforCaliforniaappellatecourtcasesastheydofortheUnitedStatesSupremeCourt.Inaddition,youmayusethetopicandkeynumbertosearchonWestlaw.
Pleasenotethatmanydigestscoverspecifictimeperiodsanddonotcumulateinformationpublishedinpreviousseries.Thus,youmayhavetocheckthesametopicandkeynumberinseveralvolumesinordertocompleteyourresearch.Aswithalllegalresearch,youmustbesuretocheckanypocketpartsandupdatingpamphletsthatareprovided.
Dispositivequestions:
Manylegalresearchassignmentspresentmultiplequestions:
DotheactionsinvolvedconstituteaharmtoAforwhichhecanrecover?
CanBbeheldliable?
Whatarethedamages?
Hasthestatuteoflimitationsrunsuchthatitistoolatetocommenceanaction?
Answeronequestionatatimetodeterminehowtheanswertothatquestionmightaffectanotherquestion.Youmayfindthattheanswertoonequestionmightmakeanotherquestionmoot
Encyclopedias:
Secondarysourceswhichpresentbackgroundinformationforbroadsubjects.Theydonotpresentthecriticalanalysisthatyouwillfindinscholarlytreatisesorlawreviewarticles.Theyaremorerudimentaryandassuchpresentyouwiththeblackletterlawyoumayneedaswellaskeyreferencestoprimarysourceswhichyoumayneedifyouarejustbeginningtoresearchaproblemwithnosubstantiveknowledgeofthatareaoflaw.TwomajorlegalencyclopediawhicharenationalinscopeareCorpusJurisSecundumknownasCJS(KF154.C56)andAmericanJurisprudence2dknownasAmJur2d(KF154.A42).BothofthesearelocatedintheLangdellReadingRoom.YouwillalsofindlegalencyclopediaforparticularstatessuchasNewYo
- 配套讲稿:
如PPT文件的首页显示word图标,表示该PPT已包含配套word讲稿。双击word图标可打开word文档。
- 特殊限制:
部分文档作品中含有的国旗、国徽等图片,仅作为作品整体效果示例展示,禁止商用。设计者仅对作品中独创性部分享有著作权。
- 关 键 词:
- ResearchMethodologyHarvardLawSchool