A central puzzle in jurisprudence has been the role of custom in law. Custom is simply the practices and usages of distinctive communities. But are such customs legally binding? Can custom be law, even before it is recognized by authoritative legislation or precedent? And, assuming that custom is a source of law, what are its constituent elements? Is proof of a consistent and long-standing practice sufficient, or must there be an extra ingredient - that the usage is pursued out of a sense of legal obligation, or, at least, that the custom is reasonable and efficacious? And, most tantalizing of all, is custom a source of law that we should embrace in modern, sophisticated legal systems, or is the notion of law from below outdated, or even dangerous, today? This volume answers these questions through a rigorous multidisciplinary, historical, and comparative approach, offering a fresh perspective on custom's enduring place in both domestic and international law.

This book is written to assist attorneys, law students, paralegals, librarians, and others in researching legal materials effectively and efficiently. While focused on Louisiana law, the book provides the reader with information necessary to research federal law as well as the law of other jurisdictions. The book is user-friendly, providing information about legal research in a straightforward, practical format. The book is a must for anyone conducting legal research in Louisiana and is an excellent guide for legal research novices. In addition to discussing research techniques, sources, and strategies, the book explains the primary legal traditions in the United States and the basic structure of court systems in the United States. Against this backdrop, the book highlights the unique characteristics of the Louisiana legal system, including the State's reliance on the Civil Code, statutory law, and the value of precedent in Louisiana. The book also provides specific information on both electronic and print sources for locating law and gives guidance to the researcher on which sources are most efficiently used to research various types of information. The book touches on strategies for presenting legal arguments and provides information on citing legal sources in accordance with Louisiana custom as well as The Bluebook and the ALWD Guide to Legal Citation. The book even provides its readers with a bit of lagniappe (lanyap), a word used in Louisiana to mean something extra or an unexpected gift. Louisiana lagniappe text boxes found throughout the book provide readers with interesting, historical facts relevant to the sources being discussed. 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.