1L - First Year Lesson Topics

This lesson will introduce you to important secondary sources for Oklahoma legal research and help you develop strategies for using secondary sources to research Oklahoma legal questions. This lesson is intended to supplement the CALI Lesson on Oklahoma primary sources. In addition to the important Oklahoma secondary sources covered in this lesson, researchers should also be aware of secondary resources that are not Oklahoma specific. For information on secondary resources generally, see the CALI Lesson "Introduction to Secondary Resources."

This CALI lesson will introduce you to the ethical considerations associated with writing appellate briefs. The lesson is intended for a first year law student currently taking a legal writing course. No previous knowledge of ethics is presumed.

This is one in a series of lessons directed at the ethical and professional considerations associated with the production of particular lawyering documents. This lesson is intended to introduce first year law students to the ethical and professional considerations associated with email correspondence in law practice. No prior instruction in professional responsibility is required.

This lesson takes a look at the treatment of damaged and destroyed goods and how the U.C.C. allocates the risk of loss for such occurrences. Since casualties to goods do occur, there must be a mechanism for determining which party will suffer the loss. The party which will suffer the loss is said to bear the risk of loss of the goods. This lesson sets out the basic rules for determining which party bears the risk of loss in sales transactions in cases where there is no breach (UCC 2-509) and examines the effect of breach on the allocation of risk (UCC 2-510).

This lesson is designed to familiarize law students with legal materials that can be used when dealing with juries. It covers jury instructions, voir dire, and jury verdicts.

This lesson is designed to introduce you to the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. It is one of a number of lessons on the religion clauses (which include the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause), and the first of several lessons on Establishment Clause issues. It is intended for students who have studied these issues and wish to refine their knowledge.

This lesson covers secondary source research for the State of Washington. The lesson introduces students to secondary sources through a hypothetical research problem.

This lesson on North Carolina primary legal research materials will provide an introduction on how to locate North Carolina legal materials including North Carolina constitutional provisions, statutes, case law, regulations, and municipal provisions. In addition to discussing how to locate these materials in print, we will also discuss how to locate them in the major databases and free and low cost databases.

This lesson is designed to familiarize law students with legal materials that can be used when preparing for litigation. Rather than creating from scratch many of the documents needed in preparing for a trial, it is much more efficient to find sample documents that can help guide you. Students will be introduced to the various sources that attorneys turn to, including sample forms, pleadings, interrogatories, and other useful resources. Examples are drawn from Kentucky, Ohio, and New York.

This lesson is intended to familiarize the reader with Texas legal research and will focus on Texas' primary legal sources: constitution, statutes, legislative history, local legislation, court cases and administrative law. The major finding tools and their various types of updating methods are also explained.

This lesson will cover how to research the constitutions of countries besides the United States.

The Erie Doctrine has befuddled Civil Procedure students for decades, but this lesson will take you through the basics: Why is there an Erie Doctrine? When does it apply? How does it apply? How do you tell the difference between substantive and procedural law?

This lesson will teach you how to locate treaties between Indian tribes and the United States government. It will also show you how to determine whether a particular treaty provision is still in effect and how to interpret ambiguous treaty provisions.

This lesson is designed to familiarize the user with materials used in Minnesota legal research. The focus of the lesson is Minnesota's primary source materials.

This lesson will cover how to conduct legal research about the U.S. Constitution.

This lesson is designed to provide you with an overview of the religion clauses (which include both the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause) of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The lesson is intended for students who have studied these issues in class, and who wish to refine their knowledge of these clauses.

This lesson provides an introduction to legal research in Massachusetts primary law sources. You will explore Massachusetts state statutes, constitution, cases, digest, and regulations in the context of a simple legal problem and answer follow-up questions.

This lesson will introduce the reader to secondary research sources for Iowa legal research. The lesson will begin with a discussion of finding aids, and will then transition to a discussion of the following secondary resources: Treatises & Practice Materials, Legal Periodicals & Restatements, and sources for Iowa Legal Forms. The lesson is primarily intended as an introduction to these sources but can also be used as a refresher for the seasoned Iowa attorney.

This lesson introduces students to consumer law research as they assist a hypothetical client "Joe" who is the victim of a used car salesman's sleazy tactics. Students will develop strategies for researching consumer law issues on both state and federal levels. The lesson covers the "major player" consumer law statutes and the agencies empowered by those statutes. Important consumer law treatises and practitioner resources are also covered.

This lesson gives a brief explanation of secondary sources and then examines the most frequently used sources in Ohio. Explanations of print and online sources are integrated and alternate approaches to finding material are also explored.

This lesson is intended to familiarize the user with the types of primary legal research materials you will encounter when researching Iowa law. The lesson focuses on primary source material including: the Iowa Constitution, Iowa statutes, codes, and administrative law, the Iowa court system, and Iowa cases. The lesson is aimed primarily at students and professionals who will be learning about these materials for the first time. Thus, no prior knowledge of Iowa legal research is necessary to follow this lesson.

This lesson will familiarize students with the use of procedural forms designed to assist in litigation practice.

This is one in a series of lessons directed at the ethical and professional considerations associated with the production of particular lawyering documents. This lesson is intended to introduce first year law students to the ethical and professional considerations associated with the preparation of predictive, interoffice memoranda. It is assumed that students are familiar with predictive, interoffice memoranda. No prior instruction in professional responsibility is required.

This lesson provides an introduction to locating and utilizing transactional forms.