Definitions
Understanding our legal system
Cases
Statutes, constitutions, legislative history, and treaties
Secondary sources
Administrative agencies
Keeping up to date : using Shepard's and KeyCite
Online legal research
Reading and understanding a case
Searching through legal sources
Legal writing and analysis : basic guidelines
Organizing the fruits of your research
Writing a memorandum of law
Writing a memorandum of points and authorities or brief
Writing an opinion or client letter

This outline covers court systems, precedent, case reporting system (including regional and state reporters, headnotes and the West Key Number System ®, citations, and case finding), statutes, constitutions, and legislative history, and secondary sources (including treatises, law reviews, digests, and restatements). Also discussed are administrative agencies (including regulations), Shepard's Citations ®, KeyCite, legal research using computers, including Westlaw, Lexis, and other online sources, reading and understanding a case (including briefing a case), using legal source books, basic guidelines for legal writing, organizing your research, writing a memorandum of law, writing a brief, and writing an opinion or client letter