New York Legal Research

New York Legal Research, Fifth Edition, explores concisely both the sources of New York state law and the process of conducting research using those sources. The book begins with an overview of the legal research process and an introduction to research techniques. The book then turns to secondary sources, recognizing these as the entry point for most new research projects, before addressing primary authority. It dedicates chapters to case law, enacted law (including statutes, constitutions, local laws, and court rules), and administrative law. Additional chapters cover legislative history, free and commercial updating tools, legal ethics research, New York City law, Indian Law, and research strategies and organization. An appendix explains the legal citation style used by New York courts, following the New York Law Reports Style Manual.

Most chapters contain outlines with step-by-step guidance for research in various types of legal resources. The book also includes short excerpts and screen shots from important sources. Discussions of legal analysis are brief but are included as necessary to show the crucial connection between research and analysis. While the focus of New York Legal Research is state research, it also contains concise descriptions of federal resources.

The fifth edition focuses on online sources and the online research process. The discussion of print sources is limited to instances where it enhances the research process or when no online equivalent is available. Artificial intelligence is addressed as appropriate throughout. It also includes redesigns of chapters from the fourth edition, as well as new chapters.