Friday, March 6, 2009

Prepare for Summer Jobs with a Research Refresher

Each year, law firms report some dissatisfaction with the research skills of summer associates and new associates. (For the results of a recent survey, see Partnership and Solutions for Preparing Job-Ready Attorneys, July 2008.) In today's economy, top-notch research skills could give you a competitive edge in the job market. But what if you've already forgotten everything you learned in LARW?

Research Refreshers to the rescue! This two-week, 10-class workshop series will review the building blocks of legal research and also demystify some advanced topics which are commonly encountered in real-world legal practice.

All classes will take place in the Fite Room (Level 2 of the library) from 12:15-1:15 p.m. on the following days:

Mon 3/23: "You Want Me to Research What?!?": Getting Background & Keeping Current
Tues 3/24: Statutes & Legislative History
Wed 3/25: Cases & Court Documents
Thu 3/26: Regulations & Administrative Law Materials
Fri 3/27: Researching Business & Company Information
Mon 3/30: Free & Low-Cost Legal Research
Tues 3/31: Attorney’s Guide to Health & Medical Research
Wed 4/1: Research Methods in Immigration Law
Thu 4/2: Tackling Tax Research
Fri 4/3: Putting It All Together: Taking a Research Assignment from Start to Finish

Each class will be led by an experienced research instructor from the LARW program. Is ten hours too large a time commitment? No worries! Come only to the topics which interest you the most. Contact the library's Reference Desk with any questions about the Research Refresher series.