INTRODUCTION TO LEGAL RESEARCH

A. Legal Research, Defined

It is the process of finding the laws, rules and regulations that govern activities in
human society. It
involves locating both the laws and rules which are enforced by the State and the
commentaries which
explain or analyze these rules.
Legal Research is also defined as the investigation for information necessary to support
legal decision
making. Legal Research includes each step of a process that begins with analyzing the
facts of a problem
and concludes with applying and communicating the results of the investigation.

B. The Need for Legal Research

In order to provide a competent representation which requires the legal knowledge,
skill,
thoroughness and preparation reasonably necessary for the representation.
To uphold the standards of the legal profession
In order to become a competent practitioner

In order to conduct legal research effectively, a lawyer should have:

a working knowledge of the nature of legal rules and legal institutions
the fundamental tools of legal research, and
the process of devising and implementing a coherent and effective research design

C. Sources of Legal Research

Legal research involves the use of a variety of printed and electronic sources.
Printed sources:
· Constitution
· Statutes
· Court decisions
· Administrative rules
· Scholarly commentaries
Computer databases containing these and other materials have dramatically changed
the nature of
legal research and improved its effectiveness.

D. Sources of Law - Three broad categories:

1. Primary Sources - those recorded laws and rules which will be enforced by the State
(pure laws)
- First major primary sources
- legislative actions
- codes
- statutes
- Second major category - judicial decisions
- Supreme Court
- Court of Appeals
- Trial Courts (RTC, MTC, MCTC)
- Third primary source
- administrative law, or the regulations and decisions of government agencies
- state agencies promulgate regulations governing behavior within their areas of
expertise
- agencies also act in “quasi-judicial” capacity by conducting hearings and issuing
decisions to
resolve particular disputes
2. Secondary Materials (commentaries and annotations) – vary widely in purpose and
quality, ranging
from authoritative treaties by great academic scholars to superficial tracts by hack
writers. It can help
analyze a problem and provide research references to both primary sources and other
secondary
materials
- Publications which are not primary authority but which discuss or analyze legal
doctrine are
considered secondary materials:
- Treatises
- Commentaries
- Encyclopedias
- Most influential legal writings
- academic journals (law reviewers of law schools)
- IBP journals and Lawyers Review
- secondary materials through the use of:
- law library catalog
- legal periodical indexes
- other bibliographic aids
- commentaries from the primary sources

3. Finding Tools – search materials to locate legal sources; means of locating primary
sources
- SCRA Quick Index-Digests
- PHILJURIS & LEX LIBRIS – computer based legal research systems, provide the
capability to
search for cases and other documents by using practically any word or combination of
words.
Chapter 2
THE LEGAL RESEARCH PROCESS
A. Systematic Approach to Legal Research - basic steps are recommended:
1. Identify and Analyze the Significant Facts – begins with compiling a descriptive
statement of
legally significant facts. The TARP Rule is a useful technique to analyze your facts
according to
the following factors:
T – Thing or subject matter
A – Cause of Action or group of defense
R – Relief sought
P – Persons or parties involved

2. Formulate the Legal Issues to be Researched - this is the initial intellectual activity
that
presumes some knowledge of the substantive law. The goal is to classify or categorize
the
problem into general, and increasingly specific, subject areas and to begin to
hypothesize legal
issues.
- Consult general secondary sources for an overview of all relevant subject areas, this
can
be used to provide background information to help formulate issues; they are tools NOT
the
objects of research
- Statement of the issues should be arranged in a logical pattern to form an outline

3. Research the Issues Presented – begin to research the issue

a. Organize and Plan – write down all sources to be searched under each issue to be
researched, even if sources are repeated
b. Identify, Read and Update All Relevant Constitutional Provisions, Statutes and
Administrative Regulations – these primary sources can be identified in several ways:
- Statutory Compilations – tables of contents and indexes that list the subject and
topics covered by the statutes
Computer-Assisted Legal Research
- PHILJURIS and LEX LIBRIS
- Secondary Sources – treaties and commentaries and law review articles, commonly
cite relevant constitutional provisions, statues, and administrative regulations
c. Identify, Read and Update All Relevant Case Law – note its full citation, the ponente,
date of decision, relevant facts, the holding, summary of the court’s reasoning, and the
sources cited by the Court
d. Refine the Search – expand your arguments

4. Update – consult the PHILJURIS or LEX LIBRIS to determine whether the

authorities have been
interpreted or altered in any way, or whether new cases, statutes or regulations have
been
published; law changes constantly; our Congress passes new statutes and modify old
ones; our
Supreme Court either refines the law or reaffirms the law or even changes the
interpretation of
the law.

Chapter 3
FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH SKILL: CASE BRIEFING
AND SYTHESIS OF CASES
A. Case Briefing – process of digesting or the condensation of a reported case. There is
no one
“correct” form for a case brief since it is a document that is created to meet the student’s
needs. The
typical components of a case brief are:
1. Facts –describe the events between the parties leading to the litigation and tell how
the case
before the court that is now deciding it. Include those facts that are relevant to the issue
the
court must decide and to the reasons for it decision. You will not know which facts are
relevant until you know what the issue or issues are.
State the plaintiff ad defendant
 Basis for plaintiff’s suit
Plaintiff’s relief
Include the ruling of the Lower Court and Court of Appeals

2. Issue(s) – question that the court must decide to resolve the dispute between the
parties in
the case before it.
Identify the rule of law that governs the dispute and ask how it should apply to those
facts

3. Ruling – court’s decision on the question that is actually before it, but if they do not
relate to
the question actually before it, they are dicta or dictum (expression of opinion or a point
other than the precise issue involved in determining a case).
* provides the answer to the question asked in the issues
* supported by court’s reasoning explaining and supporting the court’s decision

B. Synthesizing Cases – process of relating the cases to each other. By this process, we
can
understand the applicable area of law and then use the synthesis to analyze the proble

1. Understand the applicable area of law

2. Use the synthesis to analyze the problem
3. Synthesizing is the step between your research and your writing