Advanced Legal Research: General

1 unit

Prerequisite: Legal Research Methodologies (LRM I & II), Introduction to U.S. Law and Methods I, or similar course at a previous institution if a transfer student. This course aims to deepen students' legal research skills by exploring complex and specialized sources essential for legal practice. It provides a refresher and expansion of the core concepts learned in introductory legal research courses. Additionally, it covers advanced topics such as constitutional interpretation through case law and historical documents, legislative history, federal administrative law, presidential/executive documents, and foreign, comparative, and international law (FCIL). Students will become adept at using advanced practitioner tools such as Practical Law (Westlaw), Practical Guidance (Lexis+), and transactional resources on Bloomberg Law. Students may take multiple advanced legal research (ALR) courses-either in succession or concurrently. This course, ALI: General, is for those students who want additional practice with and a deeper understanding of traditional legal research sources. By contrast, ALR: Analytics, is for those students who want to use analytical concepts for advocacy and to take a deep dive into litigation analytics. The student's final grade in the course will be based on an anonymously graded final exam. However, poor attendance and unsatisfactory completion of ungraded in-class and out-of-class assignments may result in a reduced grade.