LAW60071 - Legal Research and Writing 1

(3 units)

In this 3-credit course, students will become familiar with legal analysis. They will learn to spot analysis when they see it in cases, emulate it in their own writing, and understand it well enough that they can begin to use its components creatively in writing and in oral discussion. Students will learn acronyms like IRAC and CRExAC to help them remember how to structure their analyses. Students will also learn about relevance and the basic logic principles necessary to building strong, analytically sound legal arguments. In addition, students will learn how to write a basic issue statement using the Under-Does-When format. Students will learn about the US legal system, including the difference between the federal and state systems and foundational principles like common law, precedence, and jurisdiction, as they practice legal research on a variety of platforms. Students will also spend some time working on writing mechanics, especially as these principles relate to legal writing. However, students are expected to have a firm understanding of American English spelling and grammar before they enroll in this course; students without such an understanding should expect to spend additional time working on their writing mechanics skills during the course. By the end of this course, students should be able to (1) write a basic legal memo using proper legal citation formats and (2) discuss their findings. Students will also be able to articulate professional responsibility issues inherent in legal research and argumentation.