Legal Research for the CP Exam

Legal research is a core paralegal competency and a tested area on the CP exam. Understanding the hierarchy of legal authority and knowing how to efficiently find relevant law is essential for exam success and professional practice.

The Hierarchy of Legal Authority

Legal authority is classified in two ways: by source (primary vs. secondary) and by weight (mandatory vs. persuasive). Understanding this hierarchy is fundamental to legal research.

Primary Authority

Primary authority is the law itself. It comes from the three branches of government:

Constitutional Law: The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land. State constitutions are the supreme law within their respective states, subject to the federal Constitution. Constitutional provisions take precedence over all other forms of law.
Statutory Law: Laws enacted by legislatures. Federal statutes are published in the United States Code (U.S.C.). State statutes are published in each state's code or compiled laws.
Administrative Regulations: Rules promulgated by administrative agencies under authority delegated by the legislature. Federal regulations are published in the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.).
Case Law: Judicial opinions that interpret and apply constitutions, statutes, and regulations. Federal case law is published in the Federal Reporter (circuit courts), Federal Supplement (district courts), and United States Reports (Supreme Court).

Mandatory vs. Persuasive Authority

Not all primary authority is equally binding:

Mandatory (Binding) Authority: Authority that a court must follow. A lower court must follow the decisions of higher courts within the same jurisdiction. For example, a federal district court in the Fifth Circuit must follow Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decisions.
Persuasive Authority: Authority that a court may consider but is not required to follow. Decisions from other jurisdictions, lower courts, and dissenting opinions are persuasive. Secondary sources are always persuasive, never mandatory.

Secondary Authority

Secondary sources are not the law themselves but explain, analyze, or comment on the law. They are useful for understanding legal concepts and finding primary authority:

Legal Encyclopedias: Comprehensive summaries of the law organized alphabetically by topic. American Jurisprudence (Am. Jur.) and Corpus Juris Secundum (C.J.S.) are the two major national encyclopedias. State-specific encyclopedias also exist.
Treatises: In-depth scholarly works on specific areas of law (e.g., Prosser on Torts, Williston on Contracts)
Law Review Articles: Scholarly articles published in law school journals that analyze specific legal issues in depth
Restatements: Published by the American Law Institute, Restatements summarize the common law on specific topics (e.g., Restatement of Torts, Restatement of Contracts). While not binding, they are highly influential.
Practice Guides and CLE Materials: Practical resources aimed at practitioners in specific areas of law
Legal Dictionaries: Black's Law Dictionary is the standard reference for legal terminology
Annotations: American Law Reports (ALR) provides annotations that collect and analyze case law on specific legal issues

The Research Process

An effective legal research process follows these steps:

Step 1 - Identify the Issue: Clearly define the legal question you need to answer. Break complex issues into discrete, researchable questions.
Step 2 - Start with Secondary Sources: If you are unfamiliar with the area of law, begin with a legal encyclopedia, treatise, or practice guide. This gives you background understanding and leads you to relevant primary authority.
Step 3 - Find Primary Authority: Use the references in secondary sources, along with topical indexes, key number digests, and online searches to locate relevant statutes, regulations, and cases.
Step 4 - Read and Analyze: Carefully read the primary authority you have found. Identify the applicable rules and how courts have applied them to facts similar to yours.
Step 5 - Update: Ensure your authority is still good law. Use citators like Shepard's Citations or KeyCite to verify that cases have not been reversed, overruled, or distinguished, and that statutes have not been amended or repealed.
Step 6 - Stop: Know when to stop researching. You have found enough when multiple sources cite the same key cases and you are not finding new authority.

Online Research Tools

Modern legal research relies heavily on online databases:

Westlaw: Comprehensive legal database with cases, statutes, regulations, secondary sources, and the KeyCite citator
LexisNexis: Comprehensive legal database with Shepard's Citations citator
Google Scholar: Free access to case law and law review articles
Government Websites: Free access to federal and state statutes, regulations, and court opinions

Citation

Paralegals must be able to read and construct legal citations. The two major citation formats are The Bluebook and the ALWD Citation Manual. Key citation components include the case name, volume number, reporter abbreviation, page number, court, and year.

Prepare for Research Questions

CP exam questions on legal research test your ability to identify the correct type of authority to use and to understand the research process. Practice with our flashcard system and sign up free to access complete study resources.

Legal Research Methods: Primary vs Secondary Sources