Legal Research

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SOURCES

In the United States, there are three basic types of law:

• Federal
• State
• Administrative

Each operates under the authority of the U.S. and state Constitutions, and the sources of these laws (PRIMARY SOURCES) are:

• Statutes (the Constitutions and laws enacted by the legislature, whether federal or state)
• Cases (opinions issued by courts)
• Adjudications (materials issued by administrative agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture or the Environmental Protection Agency)

In order to analyze or understand the law, or to put it in context, consult SECONDARY SOURCES such as legal encyclopedias, law journals, and books and articles about the law.

RESEARCH TIPS

• Be sure you understand the basic facts of your legal issue before you begin.
• Use secondary sources to learn more about the law and get additional references to cases or other secondary materials.
• Come up with keywords for your search using your assignment materials, your primary sources, a legal dictionary, and/or a thesaurus.
• Try to be clear about the scope of your project. To find appropriate, helpful sources, do you need to narrow your focus? Broaden it?