Collin College Legal Research

What are attorney general opinions?

Highly authoritative legal opinions written by the chief legal adviser to the executive branch in the federal or state government.

What are titles?

The 50 categories of our federal statutes.

What are the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals?

The highest appellate court(s) in Texas.

What is a write of certiorari?

The most widely used means to gain access to the U.S. Supreme Court from the lower courts of appeal.

What is standing?

The requirement that a plaintiff in a federal court case must allege actual or threatened injury.

What are the ALWD and the Bluebook?

The two best known citation systems.

What are the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure?

These rules provide guidance on how attorneys must conduct him or herself in a court proceeding and govern any action.

What is the Code of Federal Regulations or CFR?

This official publication contains the codified regulations of the federal administrative agencies.

What is italicize or underline?

What you must do to a case name in a citation.

What is a slip law or public law?

When a federal statute becomes law it is first published individually in this form.

What is Table 6 in the Bluebook?

You should consult this rule or table to determine what words are abbreviated in the case name for stand alone citations.

What is a pinpoint cite or jump cite?

A reference to a particular page on which a quotation appears.

What is boolean searching?

A search method that uses symbols, word fragments, and numbers rather than plain English.

What are dissenting and concurring opinions?

An opinion that is written that expresses the views of the minority and/or an opinion written by justices who agree with the result reached in a case, but for different reasons.

What are the four sources of law.

Cases, statutes, constitutions and administrative regulations.

What are legal periodicals?

Law school publications; publications of bar and other associations; specialized publications for those in the legal profession who share similar interests; and legal newspapers and newsletters.

What are secondary sources?

Legal sources that are persuasive only and need not be followed by courts of law.

What is the United States Reports, Supreme Court Reporter and U.S. Supreme Court Reports, Lawyer's Edition?

Name all three reporters used to publish opinions of the United States Supreme Court.

What is Vernon's Texas Codes Annotated?

Name the statutory compilation for the State of Texas.

What is a primary authority?

Official pronouncements of the law by the executive branch, legislative branch, and judicial branch.

What is the ALR or American Law Reports?

This publication offers "annotations" that provide detailed analyses on various legal topics, and also include references to cases and statutes from all American jurisdictions.

What is the West Key Number System?

This system devised by West categorizes all American legal doctrine into topic, subtopics, and numbers. It has been designed to help researchers find cases on their topic with greater ease.

What is a digest?

This type of publication organizes case summaries from a certain jurisdiction alphabetically, by topic.

What are parallel citations?

Two citations to the same case.

What is a formbook?

Use of this source can save you time and help with drafting, but you should always make sure that the source complies with your jurisdiction's laws.