Law 3920.03: Intensive Legal Research & Writing

Schedule of Classes and Topics

Last updated: October 13, 2011

Index by Week:    01  02  03  04  05  06  07  08  09  10  11  12  13  14          Duplicate this page

Week 01: September 2

• Topic 1: The Seminar and the Assignments
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • state, in general terms, what the objectives of the seminar are, and how students' work will be evaluated; and
  • organize their schedules to complete work assignments to meet deadlines; and
  • obtain passwords in order to access QuickLaw/LexisNexis, Westlaw Canada, and CCH Online.
• Preparation and Readings:
  • http://osgoode.yorku.ca/johndavis  •  Seminar Outline  •  Assignment Information and Schedule
  • Schedule of Classes and Topics  •  Miscellaneous
• Some Frequently Accessed Links:
  • QuickLaw/LexisNexis  • Westlaw Canada  • CCH (IE only)  • BestCase  • Hein Online  • CanLII  • e-laws  • Justice Laws  • Google  • Wikipedia  • Law Library  • Osgoode/York Catalogue  • Home Access 1  • Home Access 2  • York Computing Accounts

• Topic 2: Research Refresher and Overview
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • demonstrate familiarity with the major principles and techniques of legal research; and
  • identify topics where their knowledge and skills might be enhanced.
• Preparation and Readings:
  • Click here.

Index by Week:    01  02  03  04  05  06  07  08  09  10  11  12  13  14

Week 02: September 9

• Topic 1: What Has Been Written about Legal Research and Writing
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • identify the leading books on research and writing for Canada and other common law jurisdictions;
  • identify the leading websites on research and writing for Canada and other common law jurisdictions; and
  • identify journals in which articles on research and writing regularly appear.
• Preparation and Readings:
  • Click here.

• Topic 2: Database and Search Engine Basics
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • identify the leading internet search engines, and sources of information about them; and
  • demonstrate familiarity with concepts and techniques including boolean operators, proximity operators, truncation, wild cards, field or segment searching, saved searches, and metadata; and
  • distinguish full-text searching, abstract or summary searching, and index searching.
• Preparation and Readings:
  • Click here.

• Topic 3: Internet Basics
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • identify the leading browsers, and sources of information about them;
  • demonstrate familiarity with hypertext links, URLs, and markup (sgml, html, xhtml, xml) and a miscellany of related things (css, javascript, plug-ins, MIME types);
  • demonstrate familiarity with IP numbers and domain names, the agencies that assign these, and their registries;
  • demonstrate familiarity with internet protocols including http, https, mailto, news, ftp, telnet, and ssh;
  • demonstrate familiarity with blogs, e-mail, e-mail distribution lists, and usenet newsgroups.
• Preparation and Readings:
  • Click here.

• Topic 4: The Surface Web
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • demonstrate familiarity with major web sites with legal content (e.g. CanLII).
• Preparation and Readings:
  • Click here.

• Topic 5: The Deep Web (aka the Invisible or Hidden Web)
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • demonstrate an awareness that there is a deep web;
  • demonstrate a general awareness of the web offerings of the leading Canadian and multi-national database vendors, including QuickLaw/Lexis-Nexis, Westlaw Canada, and CCH Online; and
  • demonstrate an appreciation that the cost implications of dealing with these vendors are not the same in practise as while a student.
• Preparation and Readings:
  • Click here.

• REMINDER: Assignment Due September 15 (Note Indicating the Topic Chosen)

Index by Week:    01  02  03  04  05  06  07  08  09  10  11  12  13  14

Week 03: September 16

• Topic 1: Descriptive Bibliography
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • identify the basic elements of a bibliographic description (author, title, place of publication, publisher, and date of publication, etc.);
  • demonstrate a basic awareness of standards used for bibliographic description in libraries and publishing (Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, the MARC format, standard numbers, Dublin Core, etc.)
  • demonstrate some awareness of the concept of name authorities, in the context of bibliographic control; and
  • demonstrate some awareness of the concept of analytics, or bibliographic works within other bibliographic works (e.g. an article within a journal, or an essay within an anthology).
• Preparation and Readings:
  • Click here.

• Topic 2: How To Locate Cited Authorities
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • take the bibliographic information in a citation, and use it to locate the item cited in a database or library;
  • expand an abbreviation found in a citation into a full bibliographic description of the work cited;
  • use a library catalogue to find the location and call number of a cited work;
  • demonstrate some awareness of the Z-39.50 standard, and of RACER (as implemented by the Ontario Council of University Libraries) in particular;
  • demonstrate some basic knowledge of the major legal publishers and aggregators, of their web sites, and of the contents of their database systems;
  • demonstrate some basic knowledge of OpenURLs and link resolvers in general, and SFX (as implemented by the Ontario Council of University Libraries) in particular;
  • demonstrate some awareness of the availability of bibliography software, and of RefWorks (as implemented by the Ontario Council of University Libraries) in particular.
• Preparation and Readings:
  • Click here.

• Topic 3: How To Cite Authorities
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • cite authorities in a manner consistent with the practice of reputable Canadian legal publishers;
  • demonstrate some familiarity with the major style guides;
  • demonstrate an appreciation that the purpose of citing properly is to facilitate the work of one's readers, and that one may adapt citation styles for particular audiences or purposes.
  • demonstrate an understanding of the practice of giving parallel citations, and of the difference between full case reports and mere summaries in this regard;
  • demonstrate an understanding of vendor-neutral citations, and format-independent citations;
  • make intelligent choices about whether to cite authorities in the main text, in footnotes, or in endnotes.
• Preparation and Readings:
  • Click here.

Index by Week:    01  02  03  04  05  06  07  08  09  10  11  12  13  14

Week 04: September 23

• Topic 1: Indexing and Classification
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • demonstrate familiarity with the concept of a controlled vocabulary, and with related concepts, including cross-referencing and subject authorities;
  • demonstrate familiarity with the Library of Congress Subject Headings, used in most libraries and the major legal periodical indexes;
  • demonstrate familiarity with the concept of a subject classification, and with the major classifications used in libraries (Library of Congress, KF Modified, Moys, Dewey);
  • demonstrate familiarity with the major families of classifications and controlled index vocabularies developed by legal publishers, especially Carswell (Canadian Abridgment, subject reporters), Maritime Law Book (law reports), Canada Law Book (law reports), and West Group (key numbers);
  • demonstrate familiarity with the sorts of indexes and tables typically found in legal monographs; and
  • demonstrate some appreciation of the relationship between the subject classification of authorities and the organization of a research paper.
• Preparation and Readings:
  • Click here.

• Topic 2: Citation Indexes (including Things Judicially Considered)
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • demonstrate familiarity with the general concept of subject searching using citation indexes of cases, statutes, words-and-phrases, and secondary authorities either judicially considered, or cited in law journals;
  • demonstrate familiarity with the major cases-judicially-considered tools (QuickLaw/LexisNexis, including, for the U.S., Shepards; and Westlaw Canada);
  • demonstrate familiarity with the major statutes-judicially-considered tool (Carswell), and with some of the many published annotations of statutes and court rules (looseleaf and annual);
  • demonstrate familiarity with the major words-and-phrases-judicially-considered tool (Carswell), and the similarity of this to legal dictionaries;
  • demonstrate familiarity with the tables of cases, statutes, words-and-phrases, and secondary-authorities judicially considered published with the leading law reports (Carswell, Maritime Law Book);
  • demonstrate familiarity with the leading tool for locating citations of law journal articles in other law journal articles (Social Science Citation Index, part of ISI's Web of Science); and
  • demonstrate an appreciation that judicial considerations and law journal citations can also be located using full-text search techniques.
• Preparation and Readings:
  • Click here.

• Topic 3: Student Presentations of Paper Topics
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • refine their chosen topics on the basis of classroom feedback from other students; and
  • receive suggestions as to the sources and methodology to be used in carrying out their research.

Index by Week:    01  02  03  04  05  06  07  08  09  10  11  12  13  14

Week 05: September 30

• Topic 1: Legal Subjects
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • demonstrate familiarity with the major attempts to comprehensively classify the universe of legal subjects (legal encyclopedias and digests, law school course calendars, major legal treatises, library classifications, legal bibliographies and periodical indexes, bar association sub-sections and interest groups, legal institutions and forms of action); and
  • demonstrate an appreciation that the manner of classifying legal subjects has changed greatly over the past five hundred years; and of how an awareness of this can assist legal research.
• Preparation and Readings:
  • Click here.

• Topic 2: Student Presentations of Paper Topics
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • refine their chosen topics on the basis of classroom feedback from other students; and
  • receive suggestions as to the sources and methodology to be used in carrying out their research.

Index by Week:    01  02  03  04  05  06  07  08  09  10  11  12  13  14

Week 06: October 7

• Topic 1: Language
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • demonstrate familiarity with the leading legal dictionaries, thesauri, and works on legal usage;
  • demonstrate familiarity with the Oxford English Dictionary, and the leading Canadian dictionaries;
  • demonstrate familiarity with some of the leading English grammars organized on historical principles, and with other books on English usage and style;
  • demonstrate a basic knowledge of the terminology used to describe English grammar and usage; and
  • demonstrate some awareness of language issues specific to law, such as plain language, inclusivity, and the principles of interpretation or construction for statutes and other documents.
• Preparation and Readings:
  • Click here.

• Topic 2: Student Presentations of Paper Topics
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • refine their chosen topics on the basis of classroom feedback from other students; and
  • receive suggestions as to the sources and methodology to be used in carrying out their research.

• REMINDER: Assignment Due October 13 (Discussion of an Authority)

Index by Week:    01  02  03  04  05  06  07  08  09  10  11  12  13  14

Week 07: October 14

• Topic 1: What to Say About Cases
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • demonstrate an appreciation of the significance of the remedies sought, granted and refused in a case, when reading it;
  • distinguish ratio from obiter, and decide when the distinction matters;
  • demonstrate an appreciation of the significance of who were the parties, interveners, judges and counsel in a case;
  • demonstrate familiarity with the standard forms of case reasoning; and
  • discuss cases effectively.
• Preparation and Readings:
  • Click here.

• Topic 2: Student Presentations of Paper Topics
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • refine their chosen topics on the basis of classroom feedback from other students; and
  • receive suggestions as to the sources and methodology to be used in carrying out their research.

Index by Week:    01  02  03  04  05  06  07  08  09  10  11  12  13  14

Week 08: October 21

• Topic 1: Understanding Cases
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • demonstrate a general familiarity with the history and characteristics of English case reporting;
  • demonstrate a general familiarity with the history and characteristics of Canadian case reporting, with particular emphasis on the effect of changing technologies;
  • demonstrate an awareness of the differences among court cases, administrative board decisions, and arbitral awards in a domestic context; and
  • demonstrate a knowledge of the publications in which court cases, arbitral awards, and administrative board decisions can be found (especially law society discipline decisions);
  • demonstrate some awareness of a number of international tribunals, and of the reports of their decisions.
• Preparation and Readings:
  • Click here.

• Topic 3: Student Presentations of Authorities Important to their Papers
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • refine their thoughts concerning the authority on the basis of classroom feedback from other students; and
  • receive suggestions as to how their paragraph or paragraphs might be improved.

Index by Week:    01  02  03  04  05  06  07  08  09  10  11  12  13  14

Week 09: October 28

• Topic 1: What to Say About Legislation
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • demonstrate familiarity with the general principles of statutory construction;
  • demonstrate a basic knowledge of when statutes or regulations might be ultra vires, or unconstitutional, or in need of reading down, etc.
  • demonstrate familiarity with the standard forms of statute reasoning; and
  • discuss statutes and regulations effectively.
• Preparation and Readings:
  • Click here.

• Topic 2: Understanding Legislation
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • demonstate a knowledge of the distinction between regnal years and common years;
  • demonstrate a knowledge of the distinction between sessional volumes and annual volumes;
  • demonstrate a general familiarity with the process and effect of statute revision, and distinguish revisions and office consolidations;
  • demonstrate familiarity with the various online consolidations of legislation, looseleaf editions, and annual consolidations;
  • demonstrate familiarity with the legislative process and related publications, including journals, debates, and committee proceedings;
  • demonstrate familiarity with the rules governing the coming into force of legislation;
  • demonstrate knowledge of the major tools used to track the progress of bills and the coming into force of legislation;
  • demonstrate familiarity with the concept of delegated legislation, and the system of registration and publication of regulations;
  • demonstrate some knowledge of regulations enacted other than under statutory authority, of regulations exempted from publication, and, federally, the distinction between an SI and an SOR;
  • distinguish regulations, orders-in-council, and ministerial orders; and
  • demonstrate familiarity with publications and repositories where regulations, orders-in-council, etc., are published or can be found.
• Preparation and Readings:
  • Click here.

• Topic 3: Student Presentations of Authorities Important to their Papers
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • refine their thoughts concerning the authority on the basis of classroom feedback from other students; and
  • receive suggestions as to how their paragraph or paragraphs might be improved.

Index by Week:    01  02  03  04  05  06  07  08  09  10  11  12  13  14

Week 10: November 4

• Topic 1: Government, Organization, Diplomatics, and Drafting
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • demonstrate a familiarity with major categories of published government documents, such as the estimates, sessional papers, departmental annual reports, and royal commission reports;
  • demonstate an awareness of the major bibliographic tools for identifying published government documents;
  • demonstrate some familiarity with the standard forms of some government documents, including commissions, letters patent, and warrants;
  • demonstrate a general familiarity with access to information and privacy legislation with respect to government and private records;
  • demonstrate a general familiarity with government and private archives and record repositories, and their organization;
  • demonstrate a knowledge of the major international treaty series and collections;
  • demonstrate a general familiarity with the document systems of a number of international organizations such as the United Nations;
  • demonstrate some familiarity with corporate, business, land and securities registries and their record keeping practices; and
  • demonstrate familiarity with the major sources of precedents for drafting court, commercial and legal documents of all sorts.
• Preparation and Readings:
  • Click here.

• Topic 2: Student Presentations of Authorities Important to their Papers
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • refine their thoughts concerning the authority on the basis of classroom feedback from other students; and
  • receive suggestions as to how their paragraph or paragraphs might be improved.

Index by Week:    01  02  03  04  05  06  07  08  09  10  11  12  13  14

Week 11: November 11

• READING WEEK -- Class Cancelled

Index by Week:    01  02  03  04  05  06  07  08  09  10  11  12  13  14

Week 12: November 18

• Topic 1: Fact, Opinion, and Advocacy
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • demonstrate familiarity with the major bibliographies of reference sources, and guides to research (not necessarily legal research);
  • demonstrate some familiarity with goverment statistical publications and directories, including social service directories;
  • demonstrate some familiarity with the major almanacs, fact books, and directories of associations;
  • demonstrate some awareness of lawyer-oriented publications dealing with forensic science and medicine;
  • demonstrate some familiarity with lawyers' trade publications, including legal newspapers, legal magazines, and legal directories;
  • demonstrate some familiarity with law society publications, especially the rules of professional conduct.
• Preparation and Readings:
  • Click here.

• Topic 2: Student Presentations of Authorities Important to their Papers
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • refine their thoughts concerning the authority on the basis of classroom feedback from other students; and
  • receive suggestions as to how their paragraph or paragraphs might be improved.

Index by Week:    01  02  03  04  05  06  07  08  09  10  11  12  13  14

Week 13: November 25

• Topic 1: Secondary Legal Literature
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • demonstrate knowledge of the major categories of secondary legal literature (texts or monographs, law journals and articles, periodical indexes, bibliographies, digests, summary services, encyclopedias, law report indexes, annotated statutes, annotated court rules, edited case books, drafting forms and precedents, legal newspapers and newsletters, web sites, e-mail distribution lists, and news groups).
• Preparation and Readings:
  • Click here.

• Topic 2: Legal Publishing
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • demonstrate knowledge of the major categories of legal publisher (commercial publishers, governments, legislatures, courts, administrative tribunals, royal commissions, law reform commissions, bar associations, law societies, law firms, law schools and universities, continguing legal education societies, interest groups and associations).
• Preparation and Readings:
  • Click here.

• Topic 3: Student Presentations of Authorities Important to their Papers
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • refine their thoughts concerning the authority on the basis of classroom feedback from other students; and
  • receive suggestions as to how their paragraph or paragraphs might be improved.

Index by Week:    01  02  03  04  05  06  07  08  09  10  11  12  13  14

Week 14: December 2

• Topic 1: Research in Practice, including the Ethics of Legal Research
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • demonstrate some awareness of the role of research in legal practice;
  • demonstrate knowledge of the obligation to disclose relevant authorities to a court, even if this weakens the client's case;
  • demonstrate knowledge of the obligation to maintain one's professional competence in research techniques when serving clients;
  • demonstrate some awareness of the research lawyer specialty in larger firms, particularly in regard to roles, career prospects, and asssociations;
  • demonstrate some awareness of the reasons for developing memo banks in legal practice, and of issues arising from their use, including the reduction of redundant effort, consistency in opinion writing, and questions of ownership;
  • demonstrate some knowledge of the nature of legal research in academia, including interdisciplinary collaboration, peer review, and sources of funding; and
  • demonstrate some awareness of the issues arising out of the relationship of authors to editors and publishers.
• Preparation and Readings:
  • Click here.

• Topic 2: Student Presentations of Authorities Important to their Papers
• Objectives -- Students will be able to:
  • refine their thoughts concerning the authority on the basis of classroom feedback from other students; and
  • receive suggestions as to how their paragraph or paragraphs might be improved.

• REMINDER: Assignment Due December 5 (The Graded Assignment)

schedule Copyright © 2011 John N. Davis