Course Objectives

Within the framework of specific research exercises and brief writing tasks, this course provides guidance in conducting basic legal research and citing legal materials according to conventional protocol. The development of research competencies and the examination of selected forms of law-related writing will develop and enhance students’ understanding of the legal dimensions of social work practice and prepare them to research practice-based legal issues.

Issues of diversity, social and economic justice, or values and ethics are addressed in the context of two areas of the law. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, the welfare-reform legislation, supplies one substantive topic. Enacted in 1996, the Act is a landmark revision of the American welfare state apparatus; it’s built largely around the desire to obtain budget relief while simultaneously extolling the virtues of personal responsibility. The Act is, in effect, a lens through which we can examine the development and impact of law on the poor and marginalized racial groups. Affirmative action is the second substantive topic, and it will afford an opportunity to explore the way our society has chosen to use the law to deal with longstanding issues, such as racial discrimination and class.

Learning Objectives

Overall, the class sessions, readings, and writing assignments are designed to enable students to perform effective legal research, which includes:

1. finding the sources for judicial opinions, legislation, legislative history, regulations, and related legal materials, such as law review journals, legal encyclopedias, and assorted "finding tools;"
2. differentiating among the various types of legal resources, with special attention to articulating the nature and scope of each resource and the implications for legal research;
3. expanding the students’ legal analysis skills through discussion of the scope of legal research resources and the consequences for the development of legal rules;
4. demonstrating skill in developing and criticizing a legal argument;
5. negotiating the World Wide Web and College-based electronic databases in the course of conducting legal research;
6. using standard citation protocols in the course of communicating legal research findings in writing;
7. writing coherently and clearly, with recognizable comprehension, about the development of law; and
8. understanding of the way law is used to reinforce social attitudes about racial groups or about social class arrangements.

Harvard Law Review Editors, A Uniform System of Citation, (Cambridge: Harvard Law Review Association, 1998)
Kunz, Christina, et al, The Process of Legal Research, (New York: Aspen, 2000)

Sources available on the WWW (the GAO web site, among others):

How Our Laws Are Made
The Federal Register: What It Is and How to Use It
A Guide to Federal Agency Rulemaking
Findlaw: http://www.findlaw.com
THOMAS: http://thomas.loc.gov
LEXIS-NEXIS (Comprehensive online database, which includes CIS, Congressional Universe, State Capital Universe, etc.)
Handsnet: http://www.handsnet.org
Electronic Policy Network: http://www.epn.com (source for CLASP, CDF, etc.)

Course Outline

(September 4) Introduction:

(September 25) Legal authority, legal language, and research terms

                    Kunz, Christina, et al, The Process of Legal Research, (New York: Aspen, 2000), chapter 12 and 13

(October 23)  Executive branch materials and resources (regulations)

                Kunz, Christina, et al, The Process of Legal Research, (New York: Aspen, 2000), chapter 14

(October 30) Judicial review and court reporting systems:  working with regional reporters; finding case law; case citators

                Kunz, Christina, et al, The Process of Legal Research, (New York: Aspen, 2000), chapter 10

(November 6) Methods of finding and using court opinions:  annotated codes, loose-leaf services

                Photocopied materials

(November 13) Single case memo and case synthesis

                Cases to be distributed: single case memo will be an in-class assignment; the case synthesis will be discussed
                today and the associted written assignment will be due November 27th.

(November 20)  TBA

(November 27) Practice-based legal research

                    Guest speaker: TBA

(December 4) Developing an integrated legal research strategy

Collectively, the requirements below will afford opportunities for students to demonstrate their mastery of legal research principles. Specifically, they enable students to practice strategies for finding unique legal documents and for comprehending where these documents fit within the larger context of the development of legal rules.

1. Brief written assignments focusing on finding and citing the law, and using appropriate citation protocols. These will be described on a separate sheet and will be distributed weekly for several weeks, beginning session #4 or #5.
2. Written assignments dealing with case law analysis and synthesis. The principal source for these assignments will be case law pertaining to affirmative action. The cases will be distributed. You will receive instructions for both the single- and multiple-case memo assignments; the cases used to illustrate these memos will deal with welfare reform.
3. Final assignment on topics that you have selected. Your goal is to describe the current case law in a particular area, with special attention to laying out the contours of the law in the area. You will receive instructions for this assignment. Due: December 11^th
4. I would like you to submit all work to me via email (keep a hard copy for yourself)
5. All written work must represent your best writing competencies and incorporate appropriate citation format. Feel free to refer to the Block text and to the "blue book."
6. Needless to say, attendance is expected, and I should be given notice of your intention to be absent.

Office Hours and Contact Information

I am available at the times posted on my office door, as well as by appointment. I can be reached at (610) 520-2636 or (610) 316-8169 (home) or via email at ralbert@brynmawr.edu. This course syllabus, along with the class roster and selected web links can be found at the web page for the course: http://www.brynmawr.edu/Acads/GSSW/Albert/409-home.html
 

October 9, 2001