Social Ecology C150                                                                            Julia Gelfand

The Legal Profession                                                                            Science Library 228

Spring 2006                                                                                         jgelfand@uci.edu

                                                                                                            949-824-4971

 

 

This handout supports the assignment you have to write an essay or term paper.  There are several options you have in how to approach this assignment and the handout provides tips and resources for you to use to conduct the research.  Most of the resources are at the Langson Library (LL) or available online.  For remote access, please make sure that you follow instructions for the Web VPN to authenticate you from off-campus.

 

Option 1 - Interviewing a lawyer.

1.      Identifying an appropriate lawyer - there are several directories for you to consult - they offer biographical information about the attorney, provide contact information and often describe the legal environment, especially for those associated in private practice with a large or smaller firm, or as a member of corporate counsel in industry.

a.       Martindale Hubbel Law Directory - multi-volume reference set arranged alphabetically by state and city, with name, firm  and corporate indexes; also international component - LL REF KF 190 M3 - also available online via Lexis Nexis Academic Universe Legal Resources where you can search by lawyer's name

b.      Internet Legal Research Group - links to the 250 largest US law firms

c.       Parker Directory of California Attorneys - LL REF KF 192 C3 P3

d.      Encyclopedia of American Law (Facts on File) - LL REF 154 E528 2002

e.       Nolo's Encyclopedia of Everyday Law, 2000 - LL REF 387 N656

f.        West's Encyclopedia of American Law - LL REF KF 154 W47 1998

 

Option 2 - Tracing issues covered in Lives of Lawyers to popular press - you will need to consult some databases that cover the popular media - weekly news magazines and newspapers - they include:

a.       Expanded Academic ASAP - covers both scholarly journals and popular press titles - many of which are available online - use the UC eLinks for direct coverage or check the ANTPAC icon to determine exactly which format we have for the specific article you need.

b.      Lexis Nexis Academic Universe - NEWS - it is recommended that you select "General News" and then either "Major Papers" or "Magazines and Journals" and then enter the topic - this is a full-text re-keyed content provider - you must set the dates you want covered because the default is most recent six months.  Also realize that most output is retrieved by relevancy not most recent first.  Use all the pull-down menus.

c.       Lexis Nexis Academic Universe - Legal Resources - Law Reviews - among the most comprehensive full-text coverage of law reviews - again it is relevancy-based output

d.      Hein Online - comprehensive full-text coverage of law reviews until the current year

e.       LegalTrac - covers legal issues - covers the legal trade publications - we may not have all of them - this is not a full-text database - you will have to consult ANTPAC to determine holdings; for material we don't have you will have to use the ANTPAC InterLibrary Loan form

f.        Sociological Abstracts - covers legal issues and work settings in  mostly the academic or scholarly journals

g.       Social Sciences Citation Index via the Web of Science - this database provides access to the academic literature - but few law reviews

h.       Business Source Premier - A database that covers the business/management literature and includes a fair amount about law firms, role of lawyers in different settings, etc, especially in the private sector.

i.         Factiva - a full-text database of business trade publications - contains some coverage about law firms as a profession, work of lawyers

j.        Google Scholar - for scholarly journal articles, books and book chapters - if you have been authenticated and used Web VPN, you will usually get links to direct content when available full-text

 

Option 3 - Special Topics pre-selected by student and professor - depending on the topic you may want to consider any of the databases mentioned for Option 2 or consult with a Research Librarian for a more focused approach.  Other recommended reference works include those noted on the Subject Guides for:

a.       Criminology, Law and Society

b.      News & Newspapers

c.       Political Science

d.      Sociology

e.       Business & Management

                       

Hints for all assignments:

  • Read assignment carefully - determine which option you will choose; plan strategy
  • Prepare outline of what you need to accomplish and the structure of your essay/paper
  • Identify information gaps you have to fill
  • If you are conducting an interview - learn as much as you can about your subject - who are they; what kind of law or legal specialty do they engage in or practice; where did he/she study; what kind of clients do they represent; how did you choose this subject; special questions about why you selected them; etc.
  • Is there a web presence for the lawyer or firm you have selected - what background information does it give you?
  • Make sure that you can provide citations to your references - choose a consistent style format to follow - ie) APA or MLA.  There are some examples of style manuals in the Quick Reference page
  • When searching the Internet via a search engine, carefully evaluate the sources for accuracy, currency, credibility, and determine level of relevance to your needs
  • For additional information, consult with Liaison Librarian, go to the Langson Library Reference Desk, or use the Ask a Librarian services for eMail Reference, Live CHAT, or to schedule a research consultation