California Practical Legal Research

This course will build upon and expand essential legal research techniques and strategies introduced in the first-year LAWS course but will focus entirely on California. New topics include California legislative history, California administrative law resources, and the full range of secondary sources, including California-specific practice guides and databases. California state law will be the focus of the class, but some California federal laws will be discussed to highlight research challenges. In addition to LexisNexis and Westlaw, students will be exposed to legal sources that are low- or no-cost to the internet. Research hypotheticals and in-class group work will focus on students becoming practice-ready.