legal-research

name	legal-research
description	Legal research and case law analysis skill. Use when the user needs to find case law, analyze statutes, search legal precedents, verify citations, or conduct comprehensive legal research. Triggers on keywords like "case law", "legal research", "precedent", "statute", "citation", "find cases", "Shepardize", "KeyCite", "legal authority".

Legal Research

This skill provides expert guidance for conducting thorough legal research across all practice areas and jurisdictions.

Core Capabilities

1. Case Law Research

• Federal and state court opinions
• Circuit court analysis and splits
• Supreme Court precedent tracking
• Unpublished opinion considerations

2. Statutory Research

• Federal statute interpretation (U.S.C.)
• State statute variations
• Legislative history analysis
• Regulatory code research (C.F.R.)

3. Citation Verification

• Shepard's Citations / KeyCite analysis
• Treatment history (followed, distinguished, overruled)
• Negative treatment alerts
• Subsequent history tracking

4. Secondary Sources

• Treatises and hornbooks
• Law review articles
• Practice guides
• Restatements

Research Methodology

IRAC Framework

1. Issue: Identify the precise legal question
2. Rule: Find governing law and standards
3. Application: Analyze how law applies to facts
4. Conclusion: Synthesize findings

Search Strategy

1. Start with secondary sources for unfamiliar areas
2. Identify key cases from annotations
3. Use headnotes/topics for comprehensive searching
4. Verify currency with citators
5. Check for recent developments

Authoritative Sources

Primary Databases (Subscription)

Source	Strengths	Access
Westlaw	KeyCite, comprehensive	westlaw.com
LexisNexis	Shepard's, news	lexisnexis.com
Bloomberg Law	Transactional, dockets	bna.com

Free Legal Resources

Source	Content	URL
Cornell LII	Statutes, CFR, USC	law.cornell.edu
Google Scholar	Case law, articles	scholar.google.com
CourtListener	Federal/state cases	courtlistener.com
Justia	Cases, statutes	justia.com
Caselaw Access	Historical cases	case.law

Court Databases

Court	Database	URL
Federal	PACER	pacer.gov
SCOTUS	supremecourt.gov	supremecourt.gov
State	Varies	[state].courts.gov

Citation Format

Bluebook Standard

[Case Name], [Volume] [Reporter] [Page], [Pinpoint] ([Court] [Year])

Example:
Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444 (1966)

Common Reporters

• U.S. - Supreme Court
• F.3d/F.4th - Federal Circuit Courts
• F. Supp. 3d - Federal District Courts
• Regional reporters (N.E.2d, P.3d, etc.)

Research Workflow

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  1. Define Research Question                     │
│     - Identify legal issues                      │
│     - Note jurisdiction and time constraints     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                      │
                      ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  2. Background Research                          │
│     - Secondary sources for overview             │
│     - Identify key terms and concepts            │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                      │
                      ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  3. Find Primary Authority                       │
│     - Case law search                            │
│     - Statutory research                         │
│     - Regulatory review                          │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                      │
                      ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  4. Verify & Update                              │
│     - Shepardize/KeyCite all authorities         │
│     - Check for recent developments              │
│     - Note any negative treatment                │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                      │
                      ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  5. Analyze & Synthesize                         │
│     - Organize by weight of authority            │
│     - Identify binding vs. persuasive            │
│     - Note circuit splits or conflicts           │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Best Practices

Do

• Always verify citations are still good law
• Check for recent amendments to statutes
• Note the jurisdiction and binding effect
• Document your search strategy
• Use multiple databases for comprehensive coverage

Don't

• Rely solely on headnotes without reading cases
• Cite unpublished opinions without checking rules
• Ignore negative treatment history
• Skip secondary sources in unfamiliar areas
• Assume federal law applies without checking state variations

Integration with Other Skills

• brief-writing: Research feeds into brief drafting
• litigation: Motion research and case strategy
• contract-lifecycle: Statutory requirements research
• compliance-tracking: Regulatory research

Reference Files

For detailed source lists and search templates, see:

• references/sources.md - Comprehensive legal database guide
• references/search-templates.md - Common search strategies
• references/citation-guide.md - Citation format reference