Sources of American Law: A Tutorial in Basic Legal Research

Introduction

This tutorial is designed to familiarize students and other researchers who do not have any legal training with how law is created in the U.S. and how to find it.

The tutorial is designed to be used as part of a classroom lecture or as a "refresher" for those who have attended the classroom lecture. However, it does provide useful information and research tips for other researchers who are new to legal sources as well.

The tutorial contains three modules. The first is based on a federal statutory issue, determining the requirements for obtaining a permit to develop a ski area on national forest land. This module deals strictly with locating federal legal material. The second module deals with a housing discrimination issue that has both federal and Montana law components. Each module provides a research "template" but much of the same material is covered in both modules; students may want to concentrate on the module they were introduced to in class. The third module is a basic introduction to legal citation that will help all legal researchers interpret legal citations.

To begin any module, click the appropriate link below.

Module 1: National Forest Ski Area Permit Act

Module 2: Housing Discrimination

Module 3: Citation Basics: How to Use Legal Citations to Find What You're Looking For

Westlaw Hints

This tutorial is still being developed, so watch for additional material and modules in the future.

NOTE: Some of the links in this tutorial are to databases that are only available in the Law Library or on the UM campus. Westlaw is only available in the main room of the Law Library.