Employer Expectations for Legal Research Skills Elaine M. Egan, Manager Information Center Shearman & Sterling February 18, 2014

Challenges

Development of countless electronic content resources Unprecedented pressure to run a law firm like a business Complex global markets Higher levels of service, efficiency, and cost containment

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Effective Approach to Legal Research – the basics

ASK QUESTIONS - understand your assignment Ask about specific resources (not all sources are equal) If you must GOOGLE 10 minute rule Validate results

Valid sources effective, legally binding or able to withstand objection

Yahoo Finance 2/14/14 Close: 79.23 Volume: 7,001.100

Bloomberg 2/14/14 Close: 79.23 Volume: 7.003

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Business Acumen and Knowledge Management

Understanding of the financial, accounting, marketing and operational functions of an organization

Understand your client and their industry Organizations generate value from their intellectual and knowledge-based

assets Share Innovate Reuse Collaborate Learn

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Efficiency

Legal Project Management Project management approach the process and activity of planning, organizing, motivating, and controlling

resources to achieve specific outcomes Scope Deadlines Project team Costs

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FFF

Faculty Update

Lexis Advance® New Enhancements

Faculty Webcast - Employer Expectations for Legal Research Skills

Guest Speakers

Sally Wise, Library Director, University of Miami School of Law Elaine Egan, Manager, Department of Information & Knowledge Services, Shearman & Sterling Julie Jones, Branch Librarian, United States Courts Library, Second Circuit

Agenda

• AALL Principles & Standards for Research Competencies • Employer Expectations - Large Law Firm perspective • Employer Expectations – Federal Court perspective • LexisNexis Law Schools- “prepare to practice” resources • Q&A

LexisNexis® Think Like a Lawyer Resources

• On Demand Learning tools - Law School You Tube channel - Reference pieces • Rebooting Legal Research in a Digital Age, by Steve Lastres • Professional Research Certification • Cost Effective Research classes • Think Like a Lawyer (TLAL) Microsite

LexisNexis® Faculty Home page – www.lexisnexis.com/lawschool

Think Like a Lawyer – www.lexisnexis.com/tlal

Think Like a Lawyer – www.lexisnexis.com/tlal

QUESTIONS

Employer Expectations for Legal Research Skills:

Working in the Federal Courts

Julie M. Jones U.S. Courts Library, Second Circuit

Hartford, CT julie_jones@ca2.uscourts.gov

Primary Tasks of Law Clerks

• Critical thinking • Case law research • Statutory and rule based research • Jury instructions • Sentencing • Drafting court memoranda and opinions

Case Law

• Advanced search techniques – Boolean queries – Field/Segment searching

• Leverage the full power of Westlaw Next and Lexis Advance filters

• Finesse Keycite and Shepard results

Statutes and Rules

• Advanced filtering of citations to statutes and use of annotated codes

• Federal Rules of Civil & Criminal Procedure • Local Court Rules • Judge Rules

Jury Instructions

• Sand’s Modern Federal Jury Instructions preferred in the Second Circuit

• What is the difference between Sand’s or O’Malley’s and pattern jury instructions?

• How current are pattern jury instructions?

Federal Sentencing Guidelines

• What are they? • How are sentences calculated? • What about crack cocaine?

Format: Print or Online?

• Content matters, not form

Questions?

Thank you!

AALL PRINCIPLES AND

STANDARDS FOR LEGAL

RESEARCH

COMPETENCY

Promoting the AALL Principles and Standards for Legal Research Competency Task Force

Sally Wise, University of Miami School of Law

Mary Jenkins, Hamilton County Law Library

Catherine Lemann, Alaska Supreme Court Librarian, Retired

Gail Partin, Dickinson School of Law, Pennsylvania State University

Linda-Jean Schneider, Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP

Jean Wenger, Cook County Law Library

AALL Principles And Standards For Legal

Research Competency

will provide value to the

legal profession

• To foster best practices in

law school curriculum

development and design;

• To inform law firm planning,

training, evaluation, and

articulation of core

competencies;

• To encourage bar admission

committee evaluation of

applicants' research skills;

• To inspire continuing

education program

development; and,

• To impact law school

accreditation standards

review.

Value to the Legal Profession

The Principles

I. A successful legal researcher possesses foundational knowledge of the legal system and legal information sources.

II. A successful legal researcher gathers information through effective and efficient research strategies.

III. A successful legal researcher critically evaluates information.

IV. A successful legal researcher applies information effectively to resolve a specific issue or need.

V. A successful legal researcher distinguishes between ethical and unethical uses of information, and understands the legal issues associated with the discovery, use, or application of information.

Hierarchy of the PSLRC

Principles

Standards

Competencies

The Concern Where can

I find the

USC? I

need to

look up a

regulation.

The Response

Principle I: A successful legal researcher possesses foundational knowledge of the legal system and legal information sources

Standard B: An information-literate legal professional understands the similarities, differences, and interrelationships among and between United States federal, state, and local legal systems.

Competency 3: Identifies appropriate resources to locate the legislative, regulatory, and judicial law produced by the respective government bodies.

The Concern

Where are

those state

bankruptcy

filings?

The Response Principle II: A successful legal researcher

gathers information through effective and

efficient research strategies.

Standard A: An information-literate legal

professional selects appropriate research

sources.

Competency 2: Recognizes the authority or

authorities governing particular legal issues.

The Concern There has to be a better

way to filter these

research results!

The Response

Principle II: A successful legal researcher

gathers information through effective and

efficient research strategies.

Standard C: An information-literate legal

professional confirms and validates research

results, incorporating existing work product and

expertise.

Competency 4: Understands when to stop the

research process.

The Concern

The Response

Principle IV: A successful legal researcher gathers information through effective and efficient research strategies.

Standard A: An information-literate legal professional synthesizes research problems in an analytical approach to legal research.

Competency 1: Synthesizes legal doctrine by examining cases similar, but not identical, to cases that are the current focus of research, in order to articulate how courts should apply current authoritative and relevant case law.

AALL – Research Instruction Caucus

AALL Special Committee - Fostering

Legal Research as a Subject Specialty

Boulder Statement : 2009 & 2010

Association of College & Research

Libraries (ACRL)

• To foster best practices in

law school curriculum

development and design;

• To inform law firm planning,

training, evaluation, and

articulation of core

competencies;

• To encourage bar admission

committee evaluation of

applicants' research skills;

• To inspire continuing

education program

development; and,

• To impact law school

accreditation standards

review.

Value to the Legal Profession

Instruction

Law Schools

Law Firms

CLE Providers

Self-Assessment

Assessment

ABA Learning Outcome Standard

Bar Exam

Performance Evaluation

PSLRC in instruction & assessment

A law school shall establish

learning outcomes that

shall, at a minimum, include

competency in the following:

(b) Legal analysis and

reasoning, legal

research, problem -

solving, and written and

oral communication in

the legal context;

Standard 302 - Learning Outcomes (coming soon)

Research questions on the Bar Exam!

• Characteristics of primary law

• Characteristics of secondary legal information

• Primary legal sources

• Secondary legal sources

• Relative weight of authority

• Statutory construction

• Citation verification

• Application of ethics

rules to research

• Documenting research

strategies

• Efficiency and cost

• Evaluation of sources

Bar exam questions

Does the associate consider

costs to the client and the

firm when completing

research assignments?

(Principle III, Standard B.)

Is the associate able to resolve all questions posed and provide sufficient support for conclusions reached?

(Principle IV, Standard C.)

Lawyer performance evaluation

Your feedback

• AALL Legal Research Competency webpage at

http://www.aallnet.org/main-

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