Legal Research

Resources for Summer Associates

By Diane Murley

Soon summer will be here, and many of you will be working in law firms for the first time. Here are some resources to help you impress your employer with your legal-research skills.

Download and listen to Berring’s Legal Research Podcast episodes on any legal-research topics that you need to review. The episode on Legal Research Strategy is an excellent review. This podcast is a supplement to the Berring on Legal Research DVD set, on reserve in the law library at KF240 .B4683 2006 DVD.

DavidMaister.com’s podcast series on Career Development is a great resource for professionals. In the episode on “Managing Your Boss,” the first six minutes are about receiving assignments, with an 11-point checklist to help you clarify each assignment and do what your boss expects.

Evan Schaeffer’s Illinois Trial Practice Weblog recommends types of information that should be shared when Giving Legal Research Assignments to Others. Although this posting is written from “the other end of the transaction,” you can use it to help you ask for the information that will help you do the research.

The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law, by Mark Herrmann, is full of practical advice on succeeding in a law firm. Although some of the advice only applies to associate attorneys, much of the book also applies to summer employment. You can read chapter one on “How to Write” at the ABA website. The WSJ.com Law Blog has excerpts, including:

• Defending Depositions;
• You Are Not a Potted Plant;
• Billing Time; and
• The Curmudgeon on Couth.

The Ross-Blakley Law Library?s page on Resources for Summer Associates has links to research guides, instructions for remote access to electronic resources, and other information to help you succeed. If you need help, ask a reference librarian.

(The image above is from from Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels: Into Several Remote Regions of the World pt. II, “A Voyage to Brobdingnag,” ch. VII (Project Gutenberg EBook 2005) (Thomas M. Balliet ed., 1900 ed., originally published 1726).)

Full post as published by Ross-Blakley Law Library Blog on April 15, 2008 (boomark / email).