Legal Research Starting Points: Identifying Need

If you are just beginning to research a legal topic, consider the following questions to help clarify your information need and best starting points.

1. What kind of use do you need to make of the information, and how much depth is needed in the answer? For example, if you’re going to court, you'll likely need to use different sources than if you’re writing a research paper. 
2. Are you seeking broad, topical information (in which case you will likely want to start with secondary sources), or are you seeking a specific case, code section, or regulation?
3. What is the topical area of the law?
4. What terms may be relevant to the search? Do you have any words or phrases from any documents you already have that may be helpful?
5. Is the matter substantive or procedural?
6. Is the matter civil or criminal?
7. What jurisdictions are relevant to the research? For example, is federal, state, or municipal law needed? If it is state law, is it Iowa or another state?
8. Will the needed information really be in a legal source or would another source be better? For example, a prominent trial-level case won’t be published in a reporter, but coverage of the case might be found in sources like newspapers and the Court TV Web site.
9. What information is already known? Do you have part or all of a case name, the popular name of a law, or a code citation?
10. Do you know approximately when the law was passed or the case decided?
11. Where did you see the law cited or referenced?
12. Do you need the law as it is today (with amendments and changes) or as it was originally passed?
13. Are there any other research clues? (For example, the name of a person associated with it?)

(Created by Karen Wallace, Circulation/Reference Librarian. Derived in part from The Nebraska Library Commission’s Statewide Training For Accurate Reference (STAR) Reference Manual, Legal Questions, and the Southern California Association of Law Libraries’ fifth edition of Locating the Law: A Handbook for Non-Law Librarians with an Emphasis on California Law, ch. 3.)

See the following sources for additional advice:

The list below gives some examples of the types of information you would find at each level.

Federal law

Admiralty, agriculture, bankruptcy, cases that interpret the U.S. Constitution and civil rights laws, copyright, crimes involving movement of people and substances across state lines for illegal purposes, customs, federal tax, food and drug regulation, immigration, interstate commerce, maritime, Native Americans, patent, postal, social security, and trademark.

State law

Child custody, conservatorships, contracts, corporations, crimes (in most cases), divorce, durable powers of attorney for health care and financial management, guardianships, inheritance, landlord-tenant relationships, licensing (businesses and professions), living wills, marriage, motor vehicles, partnerships, paternity, personal injuries, probate, property taxation, real estate, trusts, wills, worker’s compensation.

Both state and federal

Consumer protection, employment, environmental protection, health law, labor law, occupational safety, subsidized housing, transportation, unemployment insurance, veterans’ benefits, welfare law.

Local law (e.g., county or municipal law)

Animal control, building regulations, city land use, emergency services, housing, parking, streets and sidewalks, traffic, zoning.

Derived from Kent C. Olson’s Legal Information: How to Find It, How to Use It (Phoenix, AZ: Oryx, 1999) and Stephen Elias & Susan Levinkind’s Legal Research: How to Find and Understand the Law (Berkeley, CA: Nolo, 2007).

These documents each provide a worksheet which may help you keep track of progress on your research.