Primary Law vs Secondary Law

Legal Research

Do you know how to do Law research, and what the codes and sources mean? What know how to write a legal pleading, a brief, and being able to analyze it. People often wonder why it takes so long to gather a case, to get it into court. There are several things that you must first do.

One of the first things you must do is get a three-ring binder wide enough to hold the number of documents you expect to accumulate and organize over the life of the case. Usually, the bigger the case, the bigger the binder.

Trial Notebook

Get dividers with large tabs and label them for the various sections of the trial notebook. These sections roughly follow the order of events in the case as it plays out in court and usually include the following:

Now you may be wondering what a trail notebook should include:

· Civil Pleadings/Criminal Charging Documents

· Pre-Trial Motions

· Jury Selection/Voir dire Examination

· Opening Statement

· Witnesses (Direct Examination, Cross-Examination, Rebuttal)

· List of Exhibits

· Jury Instructions

· Closing Argument

· Evidence