The 2012 Summer Research Challenge is on!

Research skills are a fundamental credential for a lawyer. Let your librarians work with you to improve your research skills and help you learn more about a variety of tools you will need in practice.

Each session will begin with a short practical introduction to the research area. You will then concentrate on a concrete research problem calling on you to efficiently and effectively identify the law bearing on your client’s situation. We will wrap up with a bit of refreshment and discuss results and the strategies used to complete the assignment.

While you are certainly free to attend whichever session or sessions most interest you, please note that researchers who successfully complete all four challenge sessions will receive a specially designed certificate signed by both Associate Dean Mariana Hogan and Associate Dean & Library Director Camille Broussard, recognizing this achievement.

You will be able to include this practical skill certification on your resume.

 
Advance registration is required. To register, click on the link(s) for the desired class(es) and follow the onscreen instructions.

 
June 13: RESEARCH ON THE ROAD TO TRIAL: DISCOVERY REQUESTS, EXPERT WITNESSES, JURY INSTRUCTIONS AND MORE

The trial date for your client’s case is fast approaching and much of the pre-trial prep remains to be done. Not only do you still need to find an expert witness but you need to draft discovery requests relating to your adversary’s expert. You also need to prepare jury instructions to submit pursuant to the judge’s pre-trial order. And, you need to serve a trial subpoena to secure the attendance of an important witness. How in the world are you going to find all these things and where do you even begin to look for them?

June 20: RESEARCHING CONGRESSIONAL DOCUMENTS: STATUTES AND LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

You just started working this week as a summer intern and your boss asked you to prepare a legislative history of a recent federal law. You don’t really know where to begin, but you have a meeting scheduled with her later this afternoon. You decided to prepare for the meeting by making a list of questions about your assignment. In particular, you want to know 1) what a legislative history is, 2) what the components are, and 3) why it may be important to your boss’s issue. After this Research Challenge you’ll be able to answer all of these questions and wow your boss! You’ll also know how to find the various components of a legislative history, and how to determine where each section of a statute is codified in the United States Code.

June 27: NAVIGATING THE REGULATORY MAZE: RESEARCH IN ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

Very few areas of law fall outside the purview of an administrative agency. In fact, in many cases the legislature establishes a policy and directs an agency to implement it. You are now working on a response to a major regulatory action affecting a valuable client. Your supervising attorney just told you that the client will not pay Lexis or Westlaw charges without prior approval. The good news is that access to administrative law on free government web sites has improved dramatically in recent years. But, fee-based sources, such as Lexis and Westlaw, are often more efficient. Can you make informed and effective choices between free sources and fee-based sources?

July 11:  WHERE IN THE WORLD IS THE LAW: IDENTIFYING TOOLS AND STRATEGIES FOR RESEARCHING PROBLEMS IN INTERNATIONAL LAW

You have never encountered international law issues in your practice – until now! Where do you start? How can you prepare to advise your client?