Active Outline

General Information

Course ID (CB01A and CB01B)
PARAD096C
Course Title (CB02)
Computer Assisted Legal Research and Investigation
Course Credit Status
Credit - Degree Applicable
Effective Term
Fall 2024
Course Description
Use of the Internet to find legal resources and conduct legal investigations; introduction to the fee-based legal resources such as LEXIS, Westlaw, and Bloomberg Law.
Faculty Requirements
Course Family
Not Applicable

Course Justification

This course is in a CTE program and is CSU transferable. This course was developed to expose students to newer methods of doing legal research using the internet and other electronic mediums. This course belongs on the certificate and degree programs in Paralegal Studies. This course helps to give students a basic understanding of the value and usage of LEXISNEXIS, Westlaw and/or Bloomberg Law.

Foothill Equivalency

Does the course have a Foothill equivalent?
No
Foothill Course ID

Course Philosophy

Formerly Statement

Course Development Options

Basic Skill Status (CB08)
Course is not a basic skills course.
Grade Options
  • Letter Grade
  • Pass/No Pass
Repeat Limit
0

Transferability & Gen. Ed. Options

Transferability
Transferable to CSU only

Units and Hours

Summary

Minimum Credit Units
4.0
Maximum Credit Units
4.0

Weekly Student Hours

TypeIn ClassOut of Class
Lecture Hours4.08.0
Laboratory Hours0.00.0

Course Student Hours

Course Duration (Weeks)
12.0
Hours per unit divisor
36.0
Course In-Class (Contact) Hours
Lecture
48.0
Laboratory
0.0
Total
48.0
Course Out-of-Class Hours
Lecture
96.0
Laboratory
0.0
NA
0.0
Total
96.0

Prerequisite(s)

ADMJ D009. or PARA D009. or POLI D009. or PARA D094. or PARA D096A (either course may be taken concurrently) or professional experience appropriate to the topic

Corequisite(s)

Advisory(ies)

ESL D272. and ESL D273., or ESL D472. and ESL D473., or eligibility for EWRT D001A or EWRT D01AH or ESL D005.

Limitation(s) on Enrollment

Entrance Skill(s)

General Course Statement(s)

Methods of Instruction

Lecture and visual aids

Discussion of assigned reading

Discussion and problem solving performed in class

In-class exploration of Internet sites

Quiz and examination review performed in class

Homework and extended projects

Collaborative learning and small group exercises

Assignments

  1. Oral
    1. Small group discussions and analysis of hypothetical legal problems
    2. Individual and/or small group presentations of course material
  2. Written
    1. Quizzes
    2. In class and take-home written assignments analyzing legal questions and drafting appropriate search queries
    3. Take-home written assignments summarizing online research findings
  3. Research, Reading and Library
    1. Assigned readings and research from text
    2. Assigned research on Internet and legal databases

Methods of Evaluation

  1. Oral and written assignments where students will demonstrate knowledge of the process to use the internet to find legal resources
  2. Written quizzes and final examination testing students basic understanding of legal research and investigation on the internet
  3. Participation in class discussions where students will demonstrate an understanding of course content

Essential Student Materials/Essential College Facilities

Essential Student Materials: 
  • None
Essential College Facilities:
  • Internet connection with special classroom laptop computers
  • Library subscription to NEXIS UNI

Examples of Primary Texts and References

AuthorTitlePublisherDate/EditionISBN
Delaney, Stephanie, "Electronic Legal Research, An Integrated Approach", 2E. New York: Cengage Learning, 2009.
Cornick, Matthew S, "Using Computers in the Law Office", 8th Ed, Cengage 2018.

Examples of Supporting Texts and References

AuthorTitlePublisher
Long, Judy, "Computer Aided Legal Research", New York: Cengage, 2003.
Levitt, Carol & Rosen, Mark, "The Cybersleath's Guide to the Internet", 14th Ed., Internet for Lawyers, Inc., 2017
Tutorials and training materials on Westlaw legal database (http://www.westlaw.com/)
Tutorials and training materials on LEXIS legal database (http://www.lexis.com/)
Legal links (http://www.law.duke.edu/lib/portals)

Learning Outcomes and Objectives

Course Objectives

  • Explain the basics of searching on the Internet for legal research and investigative materials
  • Evaluate the sources of information
  • Locate free sources on the Internet for legal investigation
  • Locate free sources on the Internet for case law and other judicial information
  • Identify free sources on the Internet for legislative information
  • Analyze free sources on the Internet for executive branch information
  • Describe fee-based legal research sources such as LEXIS, Westlaw and Bloomberg Law.
  • Locate materials on fee-based legal databases such as LEXIS, Westlaw and/or Bloomberg Law.
  • Research legal questions online using both free and fee-based Web sites

CSLOs

  • Establish knowledge and skills of a basic understanding of legal research and investigation on the Internet.

  • Identify and locate various free sources for legal information on the internet.

  • Demonstrate an understanding of where and how to conduct legal research on fee-based sources.

Outline

  1. Explain the basics of searching on the Internet for legal research and investigative materials
    1. Browsers, search engines, directories and the invisible web
    2. Searching with key terms and connectors
    3. Searching with "natural language"
    4. Searching with legal citations
    5. Full-text compared to segment searching
  2. Evaluate the sources of information
    1. Determining originator/author of Web site
    2. Identify the timeliness and accuracy of information
  3. Locate free sources on the Internet for legal investigation
    1. Locate people and businesses on the Web
    2. Locate and search public records
    3. Locate and search real property records
    4. Locate criminal records
  4. Locate free sources on the Internet for case law and other judicial information
    1. Access and search commercial Web sites such as Findlaw and Google Scholar for federal and state case law
    2. Access and search educational Web sites such as Cornell Law Institute for federal and state case law
    3. Access and search federal court Web sites
    4. Access and search state court Web sites
    5. Access and use California civil and criminal jury instructions
  5. Identify free sources on the Internet for legislative information
    1. Access and search federal legislative resources
    2. Access and search California legislative resources
    3. Access and search Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
    4. Access and search California Code of Regulations (CCR)
    5. Access and search federal and state rules of court
  6. Analyze free sources on the Internet for executive branch information
    1. Access and search federal information on government, educational and commercial web sites.
    2. Access and search state information on government, educational and commercial web sites.
    3. Access and search local information on government, educational and commercial web sites.
  7. Describe fee-based legal research sources such as LEXIS, Westlaw and Bloomberg Law.
    1. Legal and non-legal databases available through fee-based legal Web sites
    2. Legal research features of fee-based databases
      1. Case annotations, headnotes and summaries
      2. Code annotations
      3. Legal validation tools such as Shepards and KeyCite
  8. Locate materials on fee-based legal databases such as LEXIS, Westlaw and/or Bloomberg Law.
    1. Common locating methods
      1. Finding law with a citation
      2. Finding law by name
      3. Finding law by using a table of contents
      4. Finding law using Boolean search queries
    2. Special search features of Westlaw
    3. Special search features of LEXIS
  9. Research legal questions online using both free and fee-based Web sites
    1. Constitutional questions such as age, gender or race discrimination
    2. Criminal law or procedure questions such as due process
    3. Civil law questions such as contract, tort or property issues
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