LEGAL RESEARCH MID-TERM REVIEWER

Atty. Jill Marie Lopez

10/06/16

I. Week 2
A. What is Legal Research?
1. Generally the process of finding an answer to a legal question or Checking for legal
precedent that can be cited in a brief or trial.
2. The process of identifying and retrieving information necessary to support legal decision
making.
B. Basic Steps in Conducting Research
1. Start with Secondary Sources
a) Sources of information that describe or interpret the law
b) Such as legal treatises, law review articles and other scholarly legal writings
c) Get most important authority
d) Read important background information
2. Support with Primary Sources
a) Documents that establish the law on particular issues, ie case decisions or legislative
acts
b) These sources are authoritative, precedential and controlling
c) Cases, statutes or regulations
3. Seek update and validate findings
a) Look if the case has been overturned, reaffirmed, questioned or cited by other cases
C. Plagiarism
1. ALS Policies and Disciplinary Procedures
a) Plagiarism is an offense that generally strikes at two important educational values
the value of individual work and respect for others intellectual property. When a
person fails to give credit to a source, thereby giving the impression that what is
actually a borrowed idea or way of saying things is their own, they commit
plagiarism. Specifically, it can take the following forms:
(1) Verbatim repetition of someone elses words without acknowledgement;
(2) Presentation of someone elses ideas without acknowledgement;
(3) Paraphrasing, translating, or summarizing someone elses ideas without
acknowledgement;
(4) . Improper acknowledgement of sources, as with incomplete/imprecise
documentation;
(5) Having ones work done by someone else or having ones work substantially
revised by someone else
b) Plagiarism, at its core, is an ethical question rather than a legal one. To claim that a
work is in the public circulation (e.g. internet) or that permission to use the words or
ideas has been granted does not erase the moral imperative that one acknowledge
sources.
c) In the Matter of Charges of Plagiarism, etc. Against AJ Mariano Del Castillo (see
case digest).
II. Week 3
A. Other unethical conduct
1. Code of Professional Responsibility
a) Rule 1.01 - A lawyer shall not engage in unlawful, dishonest, immoral or deceitful
conduct.
b) Rule 10.01 - A lawyer shall not do any falsehood, nor consent to the doing of any in
Court; nor shall he mislead, or allow the Court to be misled by any artifice.
c) Rule 10.02 - A lawyer shall not knowingly misquote or misrepresent the contents of
a paper, the language or the argument of opposing counsel, or the text of a decision
or authority, or knowingly cite as law a provision already rendered inoperative by
repeal or amendment, or assert as a fact that which has not been proved.
2. Hipos v Bay (see case digest)
3. Allied Banking Corporation v CA (see case digest)
4. COMELEC v Noynay (see case digest)

III. Week 4
A. Basic Lega Citation (pp. 64-74)
1. Introductory Signals: Used to convey the relation of the text and the authority cited in
the footnote text. Generally, signals may signify support, comparison, divergence or
opposition. They are italicized for emphasis.
a) support
(1) direct citation
(2) see
(3) see, e.g.
(4) see also
(5) see genrally
(6) Cf.
b) comparison
(1) compare and/with
c) divergence of views
(1) contra
(2) but see
(3) but cf.
d) as verbs
(1) terms used in the footnote text w/c may otherwise qualify as introductory signals
need not be italicized when used as verbs in sentences, as when they form part of
a parenthetical explanation
2. Short Citation Forms: Normally used for subsequent citations of previous fully cited
authorities. Specific short citation forms are usually used for specific materials.
Otherwise, in the proper cases, the ff short citation forms are used.
a) Id - used when citing the immediately preceding authority w/in the same footnote or
when citing the authority in the immediately preceding footnote and such footnote
indicates only one authority (otherwise use a specific short citation form).
b) Supra - May be used to subsequently cite an authority which has been fully cited
previously (but not in the immediately preceding footnote, where Id. may be proper),
excluding statutes, cases, constitutions, legislative materials and regulations.
 c) Hereinafter - Used when the authority would be too burdensome to cite repeatedly,
such as when there are several authors of a work or several works by the same
author cited in one article.

B. Writing a Legal Opinion

1. Parts
a) Heading - one line descriptor
b) Legal Issue
c) Answer
d) Statement of Facts
e) Discussion
f) Conclusion
2. Sources
a) Primary Sources - those recorded laws and rules which will be enforced by the State
(1) First major primary sources
(a) legislative actions
(b) codes
(c) statutes
(2) Second major category - judicial decisions
(a) SC
(b) CA
(c) Trial Courts
(3) Third Primary category
(a) administrative law, or the regulations and decisions of government agencies
(b) state agencies promulgate regulations governing behavior within their areas
of expertise
(c) agencies also act in quasi-judicial capacity by conducting hearings and
issuing decisions to resolve particular disputes
b) Secondary Sources - commentaries ans annotations; vary widely in purpose and
quality, ranging from authoritative treaties by great academic scholars to superficial
tracts by hack writers. It can help analyze a problem and provide research references
to both primary sources and other secondary materials
(1) Publications which are not primary authority but which discuss or analyze legal
doctrine are considered secondary materials:
(a) Treaties
(b) Commentaries
(c) Encyclopaedias
(d) Most influential legal writings
i) academic journals (law reviews)
ii) IBP journals and Lawyers Review
(2) Secondary materials thru the use of:
(a) law library catalogue
(b) legal periodicals and indexes
(c) other bibliographic aids
(3) Commentaries from primary sources
IV. Weeks 5 - 6
A. In Re Max Shoop (see case digest)
B. Authorities and Hierarchy of Laws
1. Primary Authority - sources include the actual rules of law created by a governmental
bodyconstitutions, statutes and codes (from the legislature), case opinions (from the
courts) and regulations (from administrative agencies). These materials may be
generated from the local, state or federal level.
a) Constitution
b) Treaties and International Agreements
c) Statutes
d) Administrative Rules and Regulations
e) Ordinances by the Autonomous Regions
f) Ordinances enacted by LGU
2. Secondary Authority - sources include materials that explain or comment on areas of
law such as articles, treatises, hornbooks or legal encyclopedias. Secondary authority is
useful in helping you understand a particular legal topic or as a means of finding the
primary resources since there are often citations in the text or footnotes. Secondary
authority is usually not cited in a brief because it is only persuasive, meaning that the
court is not required to follow the analysis.
C. Civil Code, Art 7
D. Angara v Electoral Commission
E. In the Matter of Petitions for Admission to the Bar
F. Serrano v Gallante
G. Sameer Overseas Placement Agency v Cabiles
H. Manila Prince Hotel v GSIS