As you consider your spring schedule I urge you to think about taking Advanced Legal Research. Research is a fundamental skill that lawyers are called upon to do day in and day out. If you have questions about the class come see me. In the meantime consider Professor Bowman's idea that legal research skills should be taught across the entire law school curriculum. (abstract below - full text here).
In the ever growing movement to integrate skills and values across the law school curriculum, research instruction cannot be overlooked or forgotten. Research serves as the fulcrum upon which "skills and values" such as ethics and practical application of doctrinal studies, rests. Therefore, research instruction cannot be limited to what the students learn in their first-year legal research and writing classes. A concentrated effort must be made in all classes to ensure that what the students learn in the first-year research and writing classes will be further developed, refined, revisited and reinforced. This Article, Research Across the Curriculum: The Road Must Continue Beyond the First Year, offers a new paradigm for how research instruction should change in the upper-level classes from requiring all students to take Advanced Legal Research courses, for example, to integrating research instruction into specialized areas such as international law and tax courses.
