Legal Research and Analysis
- What is the legal issue?
- It may help to specify related issues that don't need to be researched.
- What is the jurisdiction?
- Do you expect there is law on point?
- If they expect there is law on point in the jurisdiction,
- do they recommend a particular secondary source for background?
- do they want to share with you a particular statute, regulation, or case as a starting point for your research?
- If they expect there is probably no law on point within the jurisdiction,
- do they want you to confirm what searches you did to determine there is no law on point within the jurisdiction?
- do they want you to expand the search to other jurisdictions after confirming there is no law on point in the jurisdiction?
- What is the client-matter number? (for law firms)
- If there is no client-matter number,
- is there a nonbillable number to use on Lexis or Westlaw?
- do you need to use free resources such as Fastcase, Google Scholar, and your law library? See Online Resources.
Planning Your Writing
- What is the work product?
- quick email memo, fully cited brief, something in between?
- Who is the audience?
- a judge, a lawyer in-house, a client with or without a legal background?
- When do you need this?
- If other assignments and due dates may make it hard to meet the deadline, ask the lawyer to help you prioritize.
