University of San Francisco School of Law California Legal Research Course Syllabus Spring 2017

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1 University of San Francisco School of Law California Legal Research Course Syllabus Spring 2017 Instructor: John Shafer Office: Zief Law Library, Office 103b Phone: Availability: Office Hours for the week posted on the first page of the class TWEN site and outside of my office in the Zief Law Library (to the left of the Research Desk on the main floor of the Library). You may make an appointment to meet with me about the class or any other research questions by going to or via the address above. Course Goals and Learning Objectives: This course demonstrates the use of legal resources as they relate to California practice and teaches research proficiency. At the end of the semester, each student should feel more comfortable approaching legal research and writing assignments assigned by professors or employers, and should be able to respond to these requests in a competent manner. Specifically, the learning objectives for this class are that students who have successfully complete the course will: 1. Gain experience working with major California state primary and secondary legal materials; 2. Understand how various legal resources interact with and complement one another; 3. Acquire an understanding of how the research process operates using print and digital sources; 4. Learn to use subscription online databases; 5. Discover and utilize reputable free online alternatives to subscription database; 6. Demonstrate the ability to locate relevant texts, cases, statutes, regulations, articles, and/or rules of court by both traditional print and digital means. 7. Become an intelligent consumer of legal information services and understand the most intelligent and cost-effective way to conduct legal research. Suggested texts (on course reserve at Zief Law Library) The following books may be helpful when you do the class assignments. California Specific: John K. Hanft, Legal Research in California, 7th ed. (2011) Hether C. Macfarlane & Suzanne E. Rowe, California Legal Research, 2nd ed. (2013) Daniel Martin, Henke s California Law Guide, 8th ed. (2006) General Works on Legal Research: Kent C. Olson, Principles of Legal Research (2009) Morris L. Cohen & Kent C. Olson, Legal Research in a Nutshell, 11th ed. (2013) Copies of these books are on reserve in the Zief Law Library.

2 CALI Lessons Students must complete a number of assigned CALI lessons with a score of 85% or better on each exercise. You may take each lesson as many times as necessary to achieve a final score of at least 85%. You must use the links supplied with an assignment when you take the CALI lessons so that your score is automatically recorded and forwarded to my faculty CALI account. Failure to use the supplied link may result in your not getting credit for the exercise. If you are not a registered CALI user please go to and register using the law school authorization code: SANFRNstu183. Pre-Class Readings/Assignments Unless otherwise stated, articles, readings and other materials listed in the syllabus as Pre-Class-Readings or Pre-Class Assignments can be found on the TWEN course site under Pre-Class Assignments. Pre-Class Assignments may include recorded presentations that you will need to review before class. Use of such presentations will obviate the need for extensive in-class lectures and will allow us to concentrate on hands-on exercises and assignments. Class Philosophy I believe that the best way to learn how to do legal research is by doing legal research, so this class will involve lots of hands-on work. This will include: quizzes; in-class, hands-on exercises (some done in groups, and some individually); occasional out-of-class worksheets; CALI exercises; and two out-of-class graded assignments. These exercises, worksheets, and assignments are designed to expose you to the research strategies, tools, and techniques commonly used by California attorneys. My goal is for you to be able to devise thorough and efficient strategies for grappling with California legal issues, and to have the skills to identify and effectively use the research tools you ll need to implement the strategies. My policies about attendance and about completing the exercises and assignments flow from my belief that it is through class participation and practicing research skills that you will become proficient legal researchers. Attendance & Class Participation Because so much of the learning process for this class takes place in the classroom it is expected that you will attend every class. Absent a dire emergency you will not receive credit for the class if you have more than two unexcused absences. In order for an absence to be excused you must contact me before class. Whether an absence is excused or not is entirely up to my discretion. Grading Policy This is a credit/no credit class. Whether you will receive credit for the course will be based on: your responses to quizzes and exercises; your completion of out-of-class worksheets and selected CALI exercises; your participation in in-class activities; and your performance on two out-of-class graded assignments. Syllabus California Legal Research (Shafer), Spring 2017 Page 2

3 For some of the in-class exercises, you will be asked to turn in your work at the end of the class. These in-class exercises will also figure into your grade. Some in-class exercises will take longer than the class period in which case you will be expected to bring the completed exercise to the next class. To receive credit for the course your grade will be calculated as follows: First Graded Assignment - 15% Mandatory CALI Exercises - 15% Class participation (quizzes, in class exercises, general participation) - 35% Final Graded Assignment - 35% My Standards for Assessing Assignments 1. For each assignment, you must demonstrate creative and efficient research strategies that fit the nature of the assignment. I will often ask you to describe your strategy and set forth the steps you took, and to explain your reasons for selecting specific research resources. When I ask for such explanations, I am looking for more than just a one-sentence answer. It s important to explain your research strategy in detail and describe how your research choices led to the resources in question so that I can see whether you re grasping the concepts taught in class. The best way to do this is to show your work: show all sources consulted; record all key search terms; and provide a sufficient narrative description of your research process. Merely stating an answer or a legal conclusion without supporting documentation of the process you used to arrive at your end result will only receive partial credit. This point cannot be stressed too strongly you must show your work to successfully complete an assignment, if you have any doubt you should err on the side of too much documentation and explanation. 2. If I ask you to list relevant primary and secondary legal resources about your research topic, and to list a specific number of resources, you should at a minimum supply the requested number of resources. If you find additional resources that are directly relevant, you should feel free to add these to your assignment. If a source isn t helpful or relevant to your research problem, do not include it in your assignment. When in doubt, ask! 3. Your work should be free of typographical and grammatical errors. Sloppy, poorly organized or unprofessional materials will be graded down. 4. Because this is a class on California legal research, your citations to legal resources should comply with the California Style Manual : A Handbook Of Legal Style For California Courts And Lawyers (4 th ed.) by Edward W. Jessen. This style manual is to be used with submissions to all California Courts and used in writing judicial decisions. Copies of the California Style Manual are available at the Circulation/Reserve desk and on Open Reserve. In any case, citations must be complete enough that I can locate the source you are referring to quickly. A searchable version of the Style Manual is on WestlawNext and digital copy of the entire document can be found at 5. As stated above, the most important part of your answer in any question will be demonstrating your research techniques. Nonetheless, if you are asked for a legal analysis or application of your research to a factual situation you will be expected to provide a clear and well-reasoned response based on the materials that you find in your research. Syllabus California Legal Research (Shafer), Spring 2017 Page 3

4 Assignment Submission Policy You must submit your two out-of-class graded assignments to me via the class TWEN site. I will not accept assignments submitted in any other way. If an answer sheet is provided for the assignment you must use it; no alternative formats will be accepted. You must submit your assignments at the time and dates noted on the class schedule. All times are Pacific Standard Time. You may turn in assignments early if you ve completed them before the due dates. Late submission of graded assignments Barring extreme personal emergencies, graded assignments must be submitted on time. Late assignments will be penalized according to the following: Papers submitted up to 1 hour after the time due: 20% points deducted Papers submitted 1 to 4 hours after the time due: 40% points deducted Papers submitted 5 to 12 hours after the time due: 60% points deducted Papers submitted more that 12 hours after the time due: no credit Extensions The only acceptable reasons for extensions are illnesses and family emergencies. Please do not ask for an extension unless you are ill or experiencing a family emergency. Requests for extensions should be made before the due date, if possible. Policy on Group Work and Collaboration In-class exercises unless stated otherwise, you are encouraged to collaborate fully on the in-class exercises. Graded assignments On the two graded out-of-class assignments, you may not collaborate with anyone. (Exception: Asking questions of any of the research librarians is permitted; see Asking Questions discussion below.) If you share your work with another student you will receive no credit for your graded assignment, and you will not pass the class. You may not discuss the legal issues or any other part of the assignment with anyone except a research librarian. You must work independently to develop answers to each question. If you have questions about the content or format of the "graded" assignments you should address them to me. Your answers to the questions I pose in the assignments must be your own work. Your description of the research strategies and processes and any application of the law to the hypothetical issue(s) that I supply to you must be your own original work product. Remember that if you quote text directly from a case, statute, treatise, or other source, you must place this material in quotations and cite it correctly. You must never allow another student in this class to read or review your graded assignment before you submit it to me. You may not write any portion of a graded assignment jointly. Failure to abide by the rules for graded assignments will be considered a violation of the USF Honor Code and will be treated accordingly. Syllabus California Legal Research (Shafer), Spring 2017 Page 4

5 USF s Student Honor Code In this class you are expected to know and apply the tenets and principles contained in the USF Student Honor Code. The most recent version of the School of Law Student Honor Code can be found at: Asking Questions I encourage you to ask lots of questions about your assignments. Practicing attorneys quickly learn that it is almost impossible to complete a research assignment without asking the assigning attorney or your client at least one or two clarifying questions. I do not believe in hiding the ball if you ask me questions about any aspect of this class, including your graded assignments, I promise you that I will answer them as fully and completely as possible (although I will not simply hand you the answer). The students who have performed well in this class in the past are generally the students who have seized the opportunity to ask lots of questions about their research. Asking questions of me or of any of the other research librarians at the Zief Law Library (Lee Ryan, John Shafer, Donna Williams or Amy Wright) is permitted under the policy on group work and collaboration. Do not ask questions of other library staff, especially students working at the circulation and reserve desk. Accommodating Disabilities USF affords all students with disabilities equal access under the law. If you need accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or similar enactment, you need not tell me. This will maintain your privacy. Instead, please contact the University Student Disability Services Office at or sds@usfca.edu to seek or obtain the appropriate accommodation. Syllabus California Legal Research (Shafer), Spring 2017 Page 5