Includes bibliographical references and index.

Finding the law -- The federal and state court systems -- Statutory law -- Case law and judicial opinions -- The use of digests, annotated law reports, and words and phrases -- Encyclopedias, periodicals, treatises, and restatements -- Miscellaneous secondary authorities -- Legal citation form -- Updating and validating your research -- Special research issues -- The digital library : Lexis, Westlaw, and nonprint research sources -- E-research : legal research using the internet -- Overview of the research process -- Back to basics -- Strategies for effective writing -- Legal correspondence -- Legal memoranda -- Legal briefs -- Postwriting steps.