The second edition of Massachusetts Legal Research is designed to provide first-year law students a concise, practical introduction to the process of legal research. Law students, law clerks, practitioners, legal assistants, librarians, and laypeople will find it a useful introduction to Massachusetts legal sources. Massachusetts Legal Research has been extensively revised to outline a process of effective and efficient legal research that may incorporate print resources, free Internet resources, and commercial platforms. Introductory chapters discuss the importance of legal research in legal problem solving, strategies for locating relevant primary and secondary authority, and ways to evaluate research findings. Following these introductory chapters, Massachusetts Legal Research discusses legal secondary sources, and then addresses Massachusetts primary sources and techniques for using them with chapters on judicial opinions, statutes, administrative law, constitutions, and rules of court. An additional chapter discusses the legislative process. The book includes concise descriptions of federal sources and appendixes on full-text searching and citation. This book is part of the Legal Research Series, edited by Suzanne E. Rowe, Director of Legal Research and Writing, University of Oregon School of Law.

ALWD Citation Manual: A Professional System of Citation, now in its Fourth Edition, upholds a single and consistent system of citation for all forms of legal writing. Clearly and attractively presented in an easy-to-use format, edited by Darby Dickerson, a leading authority on American legal citation, the ALWD Citation Manual is simply an outstanding teaching tool. Endorsed by the Association of Legal Writing Directors, (ALWD), a nationwide society of legal writing program directors, the ALWD Citation Manual: A Professional System of Citation, features a single, consistent, logical system of citation that can be used for any type of legal document complete coverage of the citation rules that includes: - basic citation - citation for primary and secondary sources - citation of electronic sources - how to incorporate citations into documents - how to quote material and edit quotes properly - court-specific citation formats, commonly used abbreviations, and a sample legal memorandum with proper citation in the Appendices two-color page design that flags key points and highlights examples Fast Formatsquick guides for double-checking citations and Sidebars with facts and tips for avoiding common problems diagrams and charts that illustrate citation style at a glance The Fourth Edition provides facsimiles of research sources that a first-year law student would use, annotated with the elements in each citation and a sample citation for each flexible citation options for (1) the United States as a party to a suit and (2) using contractions in abbreviations new rules addressing citation of interdisciplinary sources (e.g., plays, concerts, operas) and new technology (e.g., Twitter, e-readers, YouTube video) updated examples throughout the text expanded list of law reviews in Appendix 5 Indispensable by design, the ALWD Citation Manual: A Professional System of Citation, Fourth Edition, keeps on getting better