The purpose of this assignment is to condition you to think broadly about the availability of resources on a given topic. Instead of focusing on finding the answer to a specific issue, the idea is to step back and look at the larger topic on the basis that the the latter should ultimately help with the former.
The assignment requirements are fairly simple. Email me a proposed topic for my approval. Acceptable topics could be focused on New York (e.g., New York housing law or labor, employment, criminal, etc.), Federal (e.g., social security, criminal, labor, securities, immigration), International (e.g., international human rights, trade, law of armed conflict, foreign law, etc.) at various degrees of specificity or other topics.
The Research Guide will be no more than four pages and should include at least the following sections:
Introduction & Tips on Researching This Topic - what are the parameters of what this guide covers? After all of your looking in this area, what are your tips? Where is the best place to start? Does Westlaw or Lexis (or some other services) have better coverage? Any special things I need to worry about? Examples of such tips are here and here.
Other Research Guides - find other legal research guides available online about, or relevant to, the legal topic and include urls.
Selected Secondary Sources - leading books, treatises, practice guides - what are the go-to resources (the "bibles") in this area? This should include sources that may be in Westlaw and Lexis (unless you annotate that there are not good relevant resources on one of those services) or elsewhere. Provide a brief description of each one.
Primary Authorities - make sure you address the following issues: what are the main statutes and/or regulations governing this area? Are they available in annotated form somewhere? Are there any unique types of materials in this area and are they available (for example, are their administrative adjudications or other agency determinations available?).
Staying up-to-date - are there specific journals, blogs, listservs, FAQ pages focused on this area of law for practitioners in this area to stay up-to-date on new legislation, new case law, etc.
DUE DATE: No later than May 1, 2024. But remember don't wait until the last minute, this is a "no later than" date, not a reflection of how long this should take you. If you have other things due in other classes around that time then work that into your planning about when to start and complete this.
