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LRAW Research Spring 2025

LRAW Course Objectives

Through practice researching and writing in context, with feedback and support along the way, the Legal Research, Analysis & Writing (LRAW) course is designed to achieve the following learning objectives:

To help students learn to perform fundamental legal research, which involves learning how to:

  • Select appropriate sources;
  • Devise and implement efficient research strategies;
  • Critically evaluate, validate, and update retrieved information; and
  • Modify initial research strategies based on preliminary results.

To help students master fundamental legal analysis by learning how to:

  • Read cases and statutes;
  • Understand legal rules from these authorities and apply them to new factual situations;
  • Use these authorities to make informed predictions about legal issues; and
  • Construct persuasive legal arguments (spring semester).

To help students learn to convey legal analysis in clear, concise prose by learning how to:

  • Draft a legal prediction in the form of a memorandum of law (fall semester);
  • Edit their own writing effectively; and
  • Draft a persuasive legal argument (spring semester).

Students will also have the opportunity to practice their oral advocacy skills by presenting an oral argument at the at the end of the spring semester.