Electronic Legal Research Tools: An Examination of the Resources Available, Training of New Attorneys, and Employer Expectations

AbstractInformation literacy of recent law school graduates is examined from both the academic and professional sector. This article explores the literature on the different types of legal resources, the adequacy of legal research instruction provided to law students, employers’ expectations in regard to the legal research skills of recent graduates, and the information literacy of lawyers. This study consists of two surveys designed to determine the scope of the research instruction and resources available at law schools, and the electronic resources available to new associates at their employment, and to assess employers’ expectations of the research skills of their new associates. The surveys were sent to samples of Massachusetts’ law school libraries and law firms.KEYWORDS: legal researchinformation literacylegal research sourceselectronic resourcesresearch skillsinstructionemployer expectationslaw school graduatesMassachusetts NotesRonald Wheeler, Does WestlawNext Really Change Everything? The Implications of WestlawNext on Legal Research, 103(3) L. Lib. J. 369 (2011), http://www.aallnet.org/main-menu/Publications/llj/LLJ-Archives/Vol-103/2011-03/2011-23.pdf.John Eaton, Teaching Legal Research in Canadian Law Schools: Are We Meeting the Needs of the Profession?, 10 Legal Information Management 98 (2010), doi:10.1017/S147266961000040X.Natalie Wieland, Life-long Learning—How Legal Research Is Taught at Melbourne University, 10 Legal Information Management 102 (2010), doi:10.1017/S147266961000040X; Julie M. Jones, Not Just Key Numbers and Keywords Anymore: How User Interface Design Affects Legal Research, 101(1) L. Lib. J. 10 (2009), http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/lsrp_papers/121.Natasha Choolhum, Google: To Use, or Not To Use. What Is the Question?, 9 Legal Information Management 168–172 (2009), doi:10.1017/S1472669609990272.Wheeler, supra n. 1, at 362–363; Eaton, supra n. 2, at 98–100.Sarah Valentine, Legal Research as a Fundamental Skill: A Lifeboat for Students and Law Schools, 39(2) U. Balt. L. Rev. 181–207 (2010).Paul Lomio & Erika Wayne, The $50,000 (or so) Question: Lexis and Westlaw, Lexis or Westlaw, Lexis But Not Westlaw, or Westlaw But Not Lexis?, 12(9) AALL 3 (July 2008), http://www.aallnet.org/main-menu/Publications/spectrum/Archives/Vol-12/pub_sp0807/pub-sp0807-insert.pdf; Paul Lomio & Erika Wayne, Law Librarians and LexisNexis vs. Westlaw: Survey Results, Robert Crown Law Library Research Paper 23, 10 (2008), http://www.law.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/biblio/1002/145874/doc/slspublic/lomiowayne-rp-23.pdf; Genevieve Blake Tung, Academic Law Libraries and the Crisis in Legal Education, 105(3) L. Lib. J. 301 (2013).Ming-der Wu & Shih-chuan Chen, How Graduate Students Perceive, Use, and Manage Electronic Resources, 64(6) Emerald 641 (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00012531211281779.Michelle M. Wu, Why Print and Electronic Resources Are Essential to Academic Law Library, 97(2) L. Lib. J. 236 (2005), http://www.aallnet.org/main-menu/Publications/llj/LLJ-Archives/Vol-97/pub_llj_v97n02/2005-14.pdf.Id.Id. at 237.Kevin Gerson, Evaluating Legal Information Retrieval System: How Do the Ranked-Retrieval Methods of Westlaw and Lexis Measure Up?, 17(4) Leg. Ref. Servs. Q. 53 (1999), http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J113v17n04_04.Wu, supra n. 8, at 641.Lee Sims, Bloomberg Law and the Quest for Parity, 17(7) AALL Spectrum 4–6 (May 2013).Gerson, supra n. 12, at 53.Lomio, supra n. 7.Id.Wu, supra n. 9, at 237.Laura K Justiss, A Survey of Electronic Research Alternatives to LexisNexis and Westlaw in Law Firms, 103(1) L. Lib. J. 76 (2011), www.aallnet.org/products/pub_llj_v103n01/2011-04.pdf.Cary Griffith, There is More to Online Legal Research Than Lexis and Westlaw, Legal Line (1991), http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/18759947/there-more-online-legal-research-than-lexis-westlaw#.URz3AHugGCs.google.Sims, supra n. 14, at 4–6.See Appendix B for a list of the Web sites for the resources discussed in the following.Justiss, supra n. 19, at 78–82.Id. at 76.Jones, supra n. 3, at 28.Wu, supra n. 9, at 240.Trotter Hardy, Why Legal Research Training Is So Bad: A Response to Howland and Lewis, 41 J. Legal Educ. 221–225 (1991); Valentine, supra n. 6, at 176.Hardy, supra n. 27, at 221–225.Valentine, supra n. 6, at 176.Id. at 187.Amanda M. Runyon, The Effect of Economics and Electronic Resources on the Traditional Law Library Print Collection, 101(2) L. Lib. J. 177–178 (2009), http://www.aallnet.org/products/pub_llj_v101n02/2009-11.pdf.Valentine, supra n. 27, at 199.Richard A. Danner, Contemporary and Future Directions in American Legal Research: Responding to the Threat of the Available, 31(2) Intl. J. Leg. Info. 86 (2003).Id.Simon Canick, Legal Research Assessment, 28(3–4) Leg. Ref. Servs. Q. 205 (2009), http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02703190902961569.Valentine, supra n. 6, at 178.Canick, supra n. 35, at 205; Herbert E. Cihak, Teaching Legal Research: A Proactive Approach, 19(3–4) Leg. Ref. Servs. Q. 30–31 (2001), http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J113v19n03_03.Valentine, supra n. 6, at 176–81.Christopher A. Knott, On Teaching Advanced Legal Research, 28(1–2) Leg. Ref. Servs. Q. 101–102 (2009), http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02703190902961502; Cihak, supra n. 37, at 31.Jill L. Brooks, Great Expectations: New Associates’ Research Skills from Law School to Law Firm, 28(3–4) Leg. Ref. Servs. Q. 294 (2009), http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02703190902961650.Sarah Gotschall, Teaching Cost-Effective Research Skills: Have We Overemphasized Its Importance?, 29(2) Leg. Ref. Servs. Q. 152 (2010), http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02703/191003755245.Brooks, supra n. 40, at 294; Gotschall, supra n. 41, at 149–153; Runyon, supra n. 31, at 236.Justiss, supra n. 19, at 71.Lomio, supra n. 7; Eaton, supra n. 2, at 98.Patrick Meyer, Law Firm Legal Research Requirements for New Attorneys, 101 L. Lib. J. 297, 301 (2009); S. Blair Kauffman, Advanced Legal Research Courses, 6(3–4) Leg. Ref. Servs. Q. 125–126 (1987), http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J113v06n03_07.Valentine, supra n. 6, at 176; Kauffman, supra n. 45, at 125–126.Kauffman, supra n.45, at 125–126; Christopher A. Knott, On Teaching Advanced Legal Research, 28(1–2) Leg. Ref. Servs. Q. 101–102 (2009), http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02703190902961502.Gotschall, supra n. 41, at 149–153.Valentine, supra n. 6, at 174–175; Meyer, supra n. 45, at 298, 302.Justiss, supra n. 19, at 76; Meyer, supra n. 45, at 297.Brooks, supra n. 40, at 291–293.Meyer, supra n. 45, at 303; Gotschall, supra n. 41, at 149–153.Brooks, supra n. 40, at 297.Gotschall, supra n. 41, at 149–153.Wheeler, supra n. 1, at 369.Valentine, supra n. 6, at 174–175; Meyer, supra n. 45, at 298.Jane Macoustra, Information Literacy: Organisational and Law Firm Perspectives, 4 Legal Information Management 130 (2004).Amy Eaton, Teaching Legal Research in the Law Firm Library, 19(3–4) Leg. Ref. Servs. Q. 48–50 (2008), http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J113v19n03_05.Choolhum, supra n. 4, at 168–171.Id.Macoustra, supra n. 57, at 131.Choolhum, supra n. 4, at 168.Choolhum, supra n. at 168–171; Kelly Aldrich, Web Cites: When Courts Cite to URLs: A Study of Washington and New York Cases, 27 Leg. Ref. Servs. Q., 203 (2009), doi: 10.1080/02703190802365747.Copies of both surveys can be found in Appendix A.Massachusetts Court System. Massachusetts Board of Bar Examiners, http://www.mass.gov/bbe/bbeindex.htm.See the Rules of the Supreme Judicial Court & Rules of the Board of Bar Examiners. Massachusetts Court System, Massachusetts Board of Bar Examiners, http://www.mass.gov/bbe/bbeindex.htm.The nine law schools are Boston College School of Law, Boston University School of Law, Harvard Law School, Massachusetts School of Law at Andover, New England Law–Boston, Northeastern University School of Law, Suffolk University Law School, University of Massachusetts School of Law, and the Western New England University School of Law.Survey Monkey, SurveyMonkey: Free Online Survey Software & Questionnaire Tool, https://www.surveymonkey.com.Kauffman, supra n. 45, at 123–126; Valentine, supra n. 6, at 176–181.

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