PLG-125 Legal Research & Writing I
This course is designed to introduce the student to the fundamental concepts of legal research and analysis through the use of FLCC’s law library. The student will be introduced to primary and secondary sources of law. Emphasis will be placed on finding and analyzing both statutory and case law along with proper citation format. The student will be introduced to the preparation of simple legal documents and will prepare at least one legal research memorandum.
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Course Outline
Course Description
This course is designed to introduce the student to the fundamental concepts of legal research and analysis through the use of FLCC’s law library. The student will be introduced to primary and secondary sources of law. Emphasis will be placed on finding and analyzing both statutory and case law along with proper citation format. The student will be introduced to the preparation of simple legal documents and will prepare at least one legal research memorandum.
Credit Hours
3Semester(s) Course Will Be Offered
Fall, Spring
Corequisites
PLG-100 and ENG-101
First Year Experience Course
Yes
Course Learning Outcomes
- Locate primary and secondary sources of law.
- Analyze statutory and case law.
- Prepare a proper legal memorandum answering a legal issue posed by a fact scenario.
Topic Outline
- 1. Court systems
- a. Federal
- b. State
- 2. Sources of law
- a. Primary
- b. Secondary
- 3. Case law
- a. Citations
- b. Finding case law
- c. Shepardizing
- d. Reading and analyzing cases
- e. Briefing cases
- 4. Statutory law
- a. Citations
- b. Finding statutes
- c. Reading and analyzing statutes
- 5. Use of secondary sources in legal research
- a. Digests
- b. Legal encyclopedias
- c. Other secondary sources
- 6. Introductory legal analysis
- a. Key facts
- b. Issue identification
- c. Application of the law
- 7. Legal correspondence and internal office memoranda