Maricopa Community Colleges  LAS211   19946-19965 
Official Course Description: MCCCD Approval: 04/26/94
LAS211 19946-19965 LEC 3 Credit(s) 3 Period(s)
Introduction to Legal Research
Introduction to the process of legal research. Reading and briefing cases using the Issue-Rule-Analysis-Conclusion (IRAC) approach, legal analysis of cases and statutes, elements of a legal memorandum with emphasis on legal writing skills. Prerequisites: (ENG101 and LAS109), or permission of department chairperson or program director/coordinator.
Go to Competencies    Go to Outline
 
MCCCD Official Course Competencies:
 
LAS211   19946-19965 Introduction to Legal Research
1. Identify and describe the procedural history, facts, issues, holdings, dicta, and rationale of any case. (I)
2. Brief cases. (I, II)
3. Apply the IRAC method in analyzing case law and statutory law. (III, IV)
4. Prepare an inter-office legal memorandum. (I-VI)
5. Incorporate the elements of concise, clear legal writing in preparing a legal memorandum. (I-VI)
Go to Description    Go to top of Competencies
 
MCCCD Official Course Outline:
 
LAS211   19946-19965 Introduction to Legal Research
    I. Reading Cases
        A. Procedural history
        B. Facts
        C. Issues
        D. Holdings and dicta
        E. Rationale
      II. Briefing Cases
          A. Purpose
          B. Elements of brief
          C. Preparation of case brief
        III. Legal Analysis
            A. Case analysis
              1. Policies of stare decisis
              2. Comparing facts
              3. Comparing reasoning
            B. Statutory analysis
              1. Analyzing language of statutes, ordinances, and regulations
              2. Analyzing policies of statutes, ordinances, and regulations
              3. Comparing case law to statutes, ordinances, and regulations
          IV. IRAC
              A. Issue
              B. Rule
              C. Analysis
              D. Conclusion
            V. Elements of Legal Memorandum
                A. Issue
                B. Facts
                C. Organization of analysis
                D. Conclusion
                E. Recommendations
                F. Preparation of legal memorandum
              VI. Legal Writing
                  A. Organization of arguments
                  B. Paragraph structure
                  C. Sentence structure
                  D. Transitions
                  E. Word choice
                  F. Clarity
                  G. Conciseness
                  H. Grammar
                  I. Punctuation
              Go to Description    Go to top of Competencies    Go to top of Outline