Why Becoming a Strong Legal Researcher Matters
Becoming a strong legal researcher distinguishes you from other law students (and attorneys), saves your clients money, and protects your reputation and career. The following learning modules, video tutorials, and training materials significantly help you along that journey.
- Westlaw Certifications & Video TutorialsLinks you to the many video tutorials and lessons that support each of the following certifications: 1) Foundations of Legal Research; 2) Essential Legal Research; 3) Advanced Legal Research; 4) Transactional Research; 5) Litigation Research; 6) Prepare to Practice; and 7) Legal Research & Writing.
- Westlaw Precision Training ResourcesThe Westlaw Precision Training Resources include several videos and user guides per each of the following topics: 1) Getting Started; 2) AI-Assisted Research; 3) Enhance Your Research; 4) Case Law Research; 5) Statutory Research; 6) Regulatory Research; 7) Verifying Citations; 8) Litigation; 9) Public Records; 10) Transactional; 11) Business Development; 12) Secondary Sources; 13) Organize and Share Research; 14) Notifications and Alerts; and 15) Administrative Resources. The Westlaw Precision Training Resources retire those from the platform's previous iteration, Westlaw Edge https://legal.thomsonreuters.com/en/support/westlaw-edge.
- Lexis Legal Research and Writing CenterLinks you to a collection of Lexis How-To-Videos and User Guides
- Lexis Learn ModulesA collection of twenty-four video modules, each under ten minutes to complete.
- Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI)The Subject Area Index lists all currently published CALI lessons covering Law School Success. The Law School Success Outline (https://www.cali.org/content/lessons-subject-outline-law-school-success) allows you to search for terms of art that correspond to topics you are studying to find suggestions for related CALI Lessons. For related resources, see CALI's Bar Success and Planning topic (https://www.cali.org/content/lessons-subject-outline-bar-success-and-planning).
A Note About Using This Guide: The iwi kupuna and contract issues that are researched throughout this Guide are for illustration. Depending on your specific issue and its related research strategies and relevant authorities, you are likely to rely on and consume the information within each tab in a piecemeal fashion. Where this might apply, the Guide signals whether you might want to scroll only the left-side of the screen, only the right-side, or both, depending on your research strategy. Mahalo.
Distinguish Yourself from Peers
Protect Your Reputation & Career
Fined, Reprimanded, & Disbarred for Sloppy Research and Poor Writing
See also Stanard v. Nygren, 658 F.3d 792, 798, 801-02 (7th Cir. 2011) (ordering the attorney to show cause within 21 days why he should not be removed or suspended from the bar or otherwise disciplined under Rule 46(b) or (c) of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure for relying on "irrelevant, conclusory, and often incoherent arguments" in a brief that cited 81 irrelevant cases, where "rampant grammatical, syntactical, and typographical errors contributed to an overall sense of unintelligibility.").
