Iowa Legal Research

Iowa Legal Research explains how to conduct research in Iowa's cases, statutes, constitution, and administrative regulations. Additional chapters describe the research process, secondary sources and practice guides, updating research results, and how to construct legislative histories. A separate chapter focuses on legal ethics and the requirements for Iowa lawyers. Print and online research techniques are integrated throughout the book. An appendix reviews citation to legal sources under Iowa court rules as well as the ALWD Citation Manual and the Bluebook.

Iowa Legal Research is designed for teaching legal research to first-year law students. Others who will find it helpful include practitioners, paralegals, librarians, college students, and even laypeople. The goal is to make the complex process of legal research understandable and accessible.

Outlines of the research process and examples from Iowa resources make the book easy to use. URLs point researchers to where they can find access to free or low-cost legal materials on the web. Screen shots and excerpts are used frequently to help in understanding a resource.

In addition to covering Iowa-specific resources, the book discusses how to find applicable federal law. Thanks to that comprehensive coverage, Iowa Legal Research can be used as a stand-alone text or in conjunction with a research text covering U.S. law. The book begins with an overview of the research process and legal analysis so that the reader can better understand the nature of these complementary components in finding and reviewing the law.

This book is part of the Legal Research Series, edited by Suzanne E. Rowe, Director of Legal Research and Writing, University of Oregon School of Law.