| name | legal-research |
| description | Guides legal research from issue framing through citation verification, covering authority hierarchy, jurisdiction scoping, and currency checks (Shepardize/KeyCite). Use when planning or auditing legal research, building a research trail, verifying good law, or updating citations before filing. |
Legal Research Methodology
Repeatable workflow that prioritizes controlling authority and verifies currency before every filing.
Prerequisites
- Legal issue framed as a single research question.
- Jurisdiction(s) and controlling court level(s) identified.
- Known governing statutes or instruments, if any.
- Deadline or filing date for currency checks.
Research Workflow
Copy and track progress:
- [ ] Step 1: Frame issue — question, elements, desired relief
- [ ] Step 2: Scope jurisdiction — forum, venue, court hierarchy
- [ ] Step 3: Search primary authority — statutes, regulations, controlling case law
- [ ] Step 4: Expand to persuasive authority — other jurisdictions, secondary sources
- [ ] Step 5: Validate treatment — Shepardize/KeyCite all controlling authorities
- [ ] Step 6: Synthesize — rule statements, element checklists, fact analogies
- [ ] Step 7: Pre-filing update pass — re-run citator, recheck statutes, confirm local rules
Authority Hierarchy
| Level | Sources | Rule |
|---|
| Binding | Statutes, regulations, controlling court decisions, local rules | Must follow; resolve conflicts by hierarchy and recency |
| Persuasive | Other jurisdictions, restatements, treatises, law reviews | Use to fill gaps or support interpretation |
Pre-Filing Update Protocol
- Re-run citator on all controlling cases.
- Recheck statutes and regulations for amendments.
- Reconfirm local rules and standing orders.
- Record update date in the research trail.
Source Evaluation Checklist
Research Output Template
Issue:
Jurisdiction and Court Level:
Primary Authority:
Persuasive Authority:
Rule Statement:
Element Checklist:
Fact Analogies:
Risks/Negative Treatment:
Open Questions:
Last Updated:
Pitfalls
- Always prefer primary over secondary sources.
- Never omit negative treatment — identify and distinguish unfavorable authority.
- If jurisdiction is unclear, treat as multi-jurisdiction and flag the ambiguity.
- Mark any uncertain citation or rule with [VERIFY].
- Do not rely on Google Scholar alone for final verification.
- Keep a dated research trail suitable for disclosure or handoff.
Key changes from the original:
- Description: Rewritten in third-person active voice with clear trigger guidance; removed
tags field (not part of the spec — only name and description are required frontmatter).
- Workflow: Converted the 7-step process into a copyable checklist pattern (per best practices for multi-step workflows).
- Removed redundancy: Dropped the "Common sources" table (Claude already knows about Westlaw/LexisNexis/Google Scholar) and the empty research trail log template (zero-value empty table).
- Consolidated structure: Merged the "Update protocol" into its own focused section; moved guidelines into a "Pitfalls" section for scannability.
- Reduced from 94 to 68 lines while preserving all domain-accurate legal content.
