Legal Research Guide: Patterns and Practice

Legal Research Guide: Patterns and Practice is popular with both law students, attorneys, and other researchers. The Seventh Edition continues its rich tradition and leader as a practical guide to the research process and the checklist approach. The purpose of this book is to provide a simple step-by-step guide to the basic hard copy research processes. The book is designed to be used when the research processes are unfamiliar to the researcher either through inexperience or insecurity. The focus of this book remains the efficient use of the manual research processes. In this edition, however, there are sections on print, electronic, and Internet versions.

To underscore the common patterns in print form legal research, as well as to simplify comprehension of each research process, checklists appear throughout the text and are separately indexed to allow the reader instant access to particular procedures. Specific problems illustrate each process, enabling the reader to relate better to each step or to follow the process through by using the problem for actual research. Some sample problems are used in more than one chapter to demonstrate the interrelationships between research procedures. An appendix provides additional practice problems, accompanied by a brief outline of the research sources.

Bonita Roberts is Professor of Law Emerita at St. Mary's University School of Law.

Linda Schlueter is an attorney and former professor of law at St. Mary's University.