NALA Legal Research & Writing 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following is an example of secondary legal authority?
- A U.S. Supreme Court decision
- A federal statute enacted by Congress
- A law review article analyzing contract law (Correct answer)
- A state administrative regulation
Correct answer: A law review article analyzing contract law
Secondary authority, such as law review articles, explains and analyzes the law but is not itself the law.
Question 2: When using the IRAC method in legal writing, what does the 'A' stand for?
- Authority
- Application
- Argument
- Analysis (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Analysis
In the IRAC framework (Issue, Rule, Analysis, Conclusion), 'A' stands for Analysis—applying the rule to the facts.
Question 3: A legal assistant finds a 1985 circuit court case directly on point. Before citing it, what is the most important step?
- Check whether the case has been overruled or distinguished by later authority (Correct answer)
- Confirm the judge who wrote the opinion is still on the bench
- Verify that the client's opposing counsel has not cited the same case
- Ensure the case was published in a print reporter
Correct answer: Check whether the case has been overruled or distinguished by later authority
Before relying on any case, a legal researcher must verify it is still good law using a citator like Shepard's or KeyCite.
Question 4: What is the correct Bluebook format for citing a federal statute?
- U.S.C. § [section] ([year])
- [Title] U.S.C. § [section] ([year]) (Correct answer)
- [Title] U.S.C. [section] ([year])
- U.S.C. [title]-[section] ([year])
Correct answer: [Title] U.S.C. § [section] ([year])
The Bluebook format for a federal statute is: [Title number] U.S.C. § [section number] ([year]).
Question 5: Which research strategy is most efficient when beginning research on an unfamiliar area of law?
- Start by reading every primary case in the jurisdiction
- Begin with a secondary source such as a legal encyclopedia or treatise (Correct answer)
- Run a full-text keyword search in a case law database immediately
- Review the opposing party's pleadings for case citations
Correct answer: Begin with a secondary source such as a legal encyclopedia or treatise
Beginning with a secondary source provides an overview of the area, key concepts, and citations to primary authority, making subsequent research more efficient.
Question 6: In legal writing, 'plain English' principles most often require which of the following?
- Use of Latin terms to demonstrate legal expertise
- Long complex sentences to convey nuanced legal ideas
- Active voice and clear, concise sentence structure (Correct answer)
- Passive voice to avoid assigning blame
Correct answer: Active voice and clear, concise sentence structure
Plain English principles in legal writing emphasize active voice, short sentences, and clear language to improve readability and comprehension.
Question 7: What is the purpose of a 'string citation' in a legal document?
- To cite a single authoritative source for a legal proposition
- To cite multiple sources supporting the same legal proposition (Correct answer)
- To link a statute to its legislative history
- To reference multiple unrelated legal issues
Correct answer: To cite multiple sources supporting the same legal proposition
A string citation lists multiple authorities in sequence to support a single legal proposition, showing broad support across several sources.
NALA Legal Research & Writing 3
Which of the following is an example of secondary legal authority?