Where You Have Been
The average student spends
in importance for exam preparation
2.10
American Law Reports (A.L.R.)
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INTRODUCTION
An incredibly useful resource, American Law Reports (A.L.R.) is detailed in this exercise. Please note that not every research topic is found in every research tool. So if you do not find it here, don't worry. It will probably be in the next set of books you research. But even so, you must become familiar with this great research tool, either in the law library or online.
QuickView: American Law Reports (A.L.R.)
Demonstration
CLICK HERE for an Introductory Tour of A.L.R.
Paralegal Perspective . . .
AMERICAN LAW REPORTS
I'm going to admit something to you. When I was a paralegal student, I didn't get A.L.R. I just didn't understand it, and thus, I didn't like A.L.R. at all. By the end of my class, I had learned just enough to answer test questions, then I swore that I would never use that book again! After being hired as a paralegal, I eventually started doing research. On one particularly difficult assignment, I couldn't find anything. When the attorney asked me where I had looked, I told him. Am. Jur. 2d, C.J.S., state statutes, Words and Phrases. Then he asked whether I had checked A.L.R. I told him that I didn't really like A.L.R. (As if my opinion should matter!) He smiled, took me down to the law library, and showed me why A.L.R. was such a special and unique set of books. No book does what A.L.R. does. It takes selected important or unique cases, then annotates those cases. (Definition of annotation? It discusses the heck out of the case!) The annotations in A.L.R. do the work for you!
Lecture Notes . . .
ABOUT A.L.R.
Using the same hypothetical set of facts you chose or were assigned, conduct this assignment. Remember to keep track of relevant authority you find. It may be used in the Trial Brief you prepare later in this program.
Commonly Asked Questions . . .
CLICK HERE if this tool does not work properly - Open in new window
Law Library Lab . . .
We recommend that you use the Law Library Lab for A.L.R. both before starting the law library exercises and after you have completed the exercises (for review). You can always revisit the Labs. Just click on the Labs button and navigate to A.L.R., or select from the options below:
CLICK HERE for the A.L.R. Lab (Non-Flash)
Troubleshooting:
If you have problems viewing the Law Library Lab in Internet Explorer, try the following:
1. Click on Tools
2. Click on Compatibility View
In some versions of Internet Explorer, you can simple click on the green Compatibility View icon to the right of the address bar. It has the appearance of a broken page.
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Time Sheets
You are required to keep track of your billable hours when working on legal research and writing assignments and to turn them in with your written assignments. Click on the examples of Time Sheets below to zoom in and compare. Yours should look like the Good example.
Exercise Answers
Click the Answers tab to reveal suggested responses to the exercise in this section of the textbook.But don't look until you have attempted to complete the exercise first.