Texas Legal Research

Texas Legal Research, Second Edition, is a practical, process-oriented guide to the skills and resources necessary to research Texas law. The book is designed for teaching first-year students, either as a stand-alone text or in conjunction with a research text focusing on federal law. The book is also suitable for use in advanced legal research courses. Others who will find the book useful include practitioners, paralegals, college students, laypersons, and anyone needing a concise handbook on how to find and use Texas legal materials. The book begins by explaining the nature and types of legal authority. The process of legal research and control of legal research projects are described in the first chapter, with an emphasis on the integral nature of legal research and legal analysis. These concepts are revisited and reinforced throughout the book. The second chapter explains basic principles underlying legal research, factors to consider in choosing whether to search online or in print, and techniques to add power and precision to legal research. Since students often use online research tools from the beginning of their studies, the second chapter also introduces online searching techniques and principles. Research using print and online resources is explained for each type of legal resource throughout the book. The order of coverage of types of legal authority has been substantially changed in the second edition, in order to track the author's recommended research process. Secondary materials are now addressed in chapter 3, followed by chapters devoted to the resources and techniques of constitutional research, statutory research, legislative history research, administrative agency law research, and case law research. The second edition adds an entirely new chapter on Texas local government law research. The historical and governmental roots of Texas legal resources are traced for each type of primary law. Updating techniques are explained in context for each type of legal material and a chapter is devoted to the use of online citators. An appendix explains the basics of legal citation, the use of the Greenbook and the Bluebook, special rules of Texas citation, and the ALWD Guide to Legal Citation. The second edition contains a new appendix discussing techniques for searching directly in the online case databases included in Westlaw, Lexis Advance, and Bloomberg Law. Most chapters contain tables with step-by-step guides to research in particular types of legal resources, as well as summaries of other critical information. Screenshots and images of research materials are included to illustrate the lessons of the text. For each type of resource, research in federal law is addressed following the discussion of research in Texas law. This book is part of the Legal Research Series, edited by Suzanne E. Rowe, Director of Legal Research and Writing, University of Oregon School of Law.

This book is written for the legal professional in Texas. It offers clearly written practical approaches to overcoming the types of legal research problems most often encountered by practicing legal professionals. This book contains listings for all Texas legal research sources, both primary and secondary.

The contents of Legal Research for the Texas Practitionerare based on instructional materials prepared by the authorsat Baylor Law School for courses in Legal Analysis, Researchand Communications and Advanced Legal Research. Bothcourses provide extensive instruction in general researchskills as well as Texas-specific resources. This book isintended not only for law students but also the more than71,000 attorneys who practice law in Texas and the manythousands of additional individuals who engage in legalresearch in a practical setting.For related material, see Hein Item #331510, "SpecializedTopics in Texas Legal Research", which expands on this workby providing in-depth resource information on 7 specificsubjects for the Texas practitioner.

The contents of Researching Texas Law are based on instructional materials prepared by the authors at Baylor Law School for courses in Legal Analysis, Research and Communications and Advanced Legal Research. Both courses provide extensive instruction in general research skills as well as Texas-specific resources. This book is intended not only for law students but also the more than 71,000 attorneys who practice law in Texas and the many thousands of additional individuals who engage in legal research in a practical setting.

Complements "Legal Research for the Texas Practitioner"(Hein Item #329140) by including subject-specific resourcesthat are available to the Texas practitioner. This workfocuses on seven topics: civil litigation and appeals;criminal law and procedure; business and commercial law;family law; estate planning and probate; federal and statetaxation; and consumer law. It also includes information onhistorical legal material in Texas from 1822 through 1925,and an extensive annotated bibliography of resources relatedto each respective topic.

Water law is very important in Texas because of the lack of water in the majority of the state and the prospect of greater shortages in an era of warming climate. It is certain that conflicts and litigation over the rights to and usage of water are going to increase in the coming years. This guide introduces researchers to the basic concepts and resources (both print and online) needed to research water law issues in Texas; explains the identity, function and publications of the various government bodies involved with water law issues in Texas; and provides researchers starting points when conducting historical research on Texas water law.--Publisher.

The price quoted for the work covers one year's worth of service. The upkeep price for the work is $1845.50 (updated with supplements and revisions).