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Legal Assistance

Legal Assistance Research Plan

Before you begin looking for resources, spend a few minutes developing a research plan. This can help you focus your ideas and help determine where you should start.

  • Look at the assignment
    • What are you being required to create?
    • How many resources do you need?
  • What are the key topics?
    • Group of Persons
    • Time Period
    • Place (City, State, Region, etc.)
    • Specific Event
    • Specific Law
  • Statistics
    • Do you need to analyze or include statistics?
    • If so, which time period or location do those statistics need to cover?
  • Law and Policy
    • Do you need to find specific laws or policies?
    • Do you need government documents?

Keywords

When you search for articles, books, and other information, you need to use keywords. Below is a list of keywords or categories of keywords that could be used in the library databases. You can use this on their own or mix and match them to narrow your results.

  • Adversary Proceeding
  • Attorney
  • Burden of Proof
  • Cause of Action
  • Civil Case 
  • Civil Law 
  • Court
  • Contract
  • Constitutional Law
  • Credible
  • Damages
  • Default
  • Depose
  • Demurrer
  • Equitable
  • Federal Court
  • Felony 
  • Grand Jury
  • Hearsay
  • In form pauperi
  • Indictment
  • Jurisdiction 
  • Juvenile Justice
  • Law 
  • Liability
  • Malfeasance 
  • Mistrial
  • No-asset Case
  • Objection to discharge ability 
  • Prima Facie Case
  • Procedure
  • Provisional Remedy
  • Punitive Damages
  • Public Policy
  • Standard of Proof
  • Statute
  • Tort
  • Venue