- Certificate in Research Skills for Practice
- Classes
- Instructors
- Registration
- FAQ
- Testimonials
- Skills for Success Panel
- Spring 2011 Class Pages
Earn a Certificate in Research Skills for Practice
The Certificate in Research Skills for Practice program provides training in the legal research skills most useful for new lawyers. Did you know:
- 45% of a new associate's time is spent doing research
- 70% of new legal researchers need help using print and online resources together
- Research showed that new associates could not:
- Effectively and efficiently use print legal research materials
- Perform legislative histories
- Proficiently use an index or table of contents
- Understand key sources for specific practice areas. [Source]
Cost-effective and efficient research is more important now than ever. Improve your skills by attending practical, hands-on research classes tailored to the realities of today's legal landscape. Every class emphasizes resources and skills outside of LexisNexis and Westlaw and you choose the classes that fit your future practice needs.
Classes are taught by experienced legal information librarians, who have law degrees as well as library degrees. Each class will be 1 hour and will have a brief assignment which you will need to return to your instructor. To obtain a certificate you must complete at least 6 of the 15 offered classes.
Choose Your Classes:
Administrative Law Research
Instructor: Karina Condra • kcondra@bu.edu
Mar. 5 & 8 at 1PM
Finding a regulation, making sure you have the most up-to-date version of the CFR, and learning about proposed regulations, these are all tasks you need to perform when doing research in a regulatory area. Learn these tasks in this class.
Advance to the Next Level
Instructor: Jennifer Ekblaw • jekblaw@bu.edu
Feb. 29 & Mar. 1 at 1PM
Westlaw and LexisNexis have both introduced new platforms, WestlawNext and Lexis Advance, but law firms have been slow to adopt them. Why? In this class, you will learn the differences between the new and traditional platforms as well as how to gain more control over your searches in the new platforms.
Case Law Research in Print
Instructor: Stefanie Weigmann • sweig@bu.edu
Feb. 27 & 28 at 1PM
Did you know you can do complex case-law research in print? Besides being an invaluable skill if you lack LexisNexis or Westlaw access, proficiency in print caselaw research can help you understand and use headnotes and key numbers better whether researching in print or online.
Cool Tools for Lawyers
Instructors: Karina Condra and Steve Donweber • kcondra@bu.edu • donweber@bu.edu
Apr. 23 & 25 at 1PM
Discover the cool tools that lawyers use to keep connected with their clients and office while on the run. We will demonstrate various productivity tools for tablets and other mobile devices.
Cost Effective Legal Research, Parts 1 and 2
Instructor: Steve Donweber • donweber@bu.edu
Part 1: Apr. 17 at 1PM & Apr. 19 at 2:30PM; Part 2: Apr. 24 & 26 at 1PM
A 2 part class on the most efficient and inexpensive ways to do legal research, both litigation and transactional.
EU Law Research
Instructor: Stefanie Weigmann • sweig@bu.edu
Feb. 21 & 23 at 1PM
The increase in transnational business means that many transactions brush up against the laws of other countries. One of our primary trading partners is Europe. The EU has created a layer of law over the domestic laws of European counties. Learn what the EU is and how to navigate its law in this class.
Finding Treaties
Instructor: Karina Condra • kcondra@bu.edu
Apr. 11 & 12 at 1PM
Some assignments, once you analyze them, turn out to involve a treaty. Find out how to determine if the U.S. is a signatory and where to find the most authoritative text of the treaty.
Foreign Legal Research
Instructor: Steven Ellis
March 26 & 30 at 1PM
Researching the law of another legal jurisdiction can be frustrating. The goal of this class is to minimize your frustration. You will learn the best strategies, resources and tools for researching foreign laws as you tackle foreign research scenarios in class.
Keeping Up with the Law
Instructor: David Bachman • dbachman@bu.edu
April 3 & 4 at 1PM
One of a lawyer’s most challenging tasks is staying current in a practice area. Find out how to use the same free and subscription services used by lawyers to keep up-to-date in any legal area.
Legislative Process and Congressional Documents
Instructor: Steve Donweber • donweber@bu.edu
February 7 & 9 at 1PM
Most lawyers must do legislative history research at some point in their career. This research intensive task is a favorite assignment for young attorneys. Learn about the documents you need to complete a legislative history and where you can find them.
Massachusetts Legal Research
Instructor: Jennifer Ekblaw • jekblaw@bu.edu
Feb. 13 & 14 at 1PM
When starting a state law research question you will need to rely heavily on the state practice materials available in your jurisdiction. Learn to find court rules, practice series, state administrative materials, and other tools using Massachusetts as an example.
Statutory Research in Print
Instructor: Jennifer Ekblaw • jekblaw@bu.edu
Mar. 19, 22, & 23 at 1PM
Many lawyers prefer statutory research in print, and with good reason. This class will get you comfortable with statutes, pocket parts, updating pamphlets, indexes and tables and give you the confidence to perform this low-cost legal research with ease.
Transactional Law Research
Instructor: Steve Donweber • donweber@bu.edu
Apr. 2 & 5 at 1PM
An in depth look at the best research tools for transactional lawyers and interested students.
UN Research
Instructor: David Bachman • dbachman@bu.edu
Mar. 20 & 21 at 1PM
The UN is the major intergovernmental organization engaged in shaping international law. Learn how the UN is structured and which parts of the UN we, as lawyers, are most interested in. Almost all UN documents are available on the web, but to Google them you need to understand what you are looking for. Learn about UN documents and research in this class.
Experienced Instructors
Each class in the Certificate in Research Skills for Practice program is taught by experienced legal information librarians who have law degrees as well as library degrees.
David Bachman received his JD from Washington University and worked in St. Louis as a judicial clerk and a litigator. He was a legal reference librarian at Vanderbilt before coming to BU Law. He will teach UN Research and Keeping Up with the Law.
Karina Condra received her JD from Denver University. After practicing in Louisiana and Texas, she went on to obtain her M.L.S. at Texas Woman’s University. She will teach Administrative Law Research, Finding Treaties, and Cool Tools for Lawyers.
Steve Donweber graduated from Cornell and Villanova and worked at Saul Ewing as a litigator for 10 years. He will teach Legislative Process and Congressional Documents, Cost Effective Legal Research Parts 1 and 2, Cool Tools for Lawyers, and Transactional Law Research.
Jennifer Ekblaw received her JD and M.L.S. from Indiana University in Indianapolis. She worked in law libraries at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law and the Office of the Indiana Attorney General before coming to BU Law. She will teach Massachusetts Legal Research, Advance to the Next Level, and Statutory Research in Print.
Steven Ellis received his JD from the University of San Diego and has worked at the University of Arizona and University of Melbourne, Australia law libraries. He clerked in Paris, France and worked in Melbourne, Australia for a large firm where he also completed a Post Graduate Law Diploma in Labor Relations law. His work experience includes years working as a union advocate and negotiator as well as extensive non-profit organizational work. He will teach Foreign Legal Research.
Stefanie Weigmann graduated from University of Michigan Law School, and then clerked for a federal judge in Puerto Rico and worked at Cleary Gottlieb as a tax attorney. Stefanie will teach EU Law Research and Case Law Research in Print.
Register for Classes Today
Registration is required for Research Skills for Practice classes. Space is limited, so register early to secure your spot.
Questions about registration? Contact the Pappas Law Library Reference Librarians at lawref@bu.edu or consult the Frequently Asked Questions.
Fill out the registration forms for the classes you wish to attend below.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to register to attend classes?
Yes. Please register for each class you plan to attend. Registration will secure your spot in the class and will allow your instructor to remind you of the class meeting location and time prior to the class. If you want to change your registration at a later time, re-complete the registration form.
Can I register for more than the 6 classes required for the certificate?
Yes. Register and attend as many of the classes as you wish. Your certificate will note the number of hours of research training you have completed. 6 hours is the minimum number of training hours required for the Certificate in Research Skills for Practice.
Can I register for only 1 or 2 classes that interest me?
Yes. You may register and attend any of the classes even if you do not plan to complete the certificate. You may also attend a few classes and decide later whether to complete more classes to earn the certificate.
Will the certification classes require any outside work or assignments?
After a class, each student will complete and return a brief assignment. The Certificate in Research Skills for Practice program is designed to give participants experience with common research tasks for new lawyers. Because research skills are best learned through application and repetition, each class concludes with an assignment to reinforce the class's most important points. The assignments are brief and should take no more than 25 minutes to complete.
Can I finish a certificate I started during last year's certification program?
Yes. Attend enough classes to meet the requirements of last year's certification program. For example, if you needed 2 classes to complete the requirements for certification last year, complete at least 2 classes this year to earn the certificate. When registering for the program, note that you are completing a certificate you started last year.
What if I cannot attend one or more classes that interest me due to my schedule?
Each class is offered at least twice. If neither of these times fit in your schedule, consider Classes on Demand. Even if you do not know of anyone else who wants to attend the session, consider contacting the class instructor to discuss the possibility of offering another class time or of obtaining the class materials.
Have a question not addressed here? Ask a legal information librarian.
Here's What Last Year's Students Said:
"At firm meet and greets, hiring attorneys said that it was important that law students begin practicing limiting their Westlaw and Lexis searches because of the expense. I found this class useful because there was a focus on finding free information, which I'll start practicing."
-Ryanne Perio"Changed how I approach finding regulations and relevant historical documents."
" I feel prepared to research congressional documents now!"
"This class taught me skills I would have otherwise been with out in my legal studies."
"I enjoyed learning that there were other legal search engines out there besides Lexis and Westlaw."
"One of the more useful things I've done this year."
Skills for Success:
The Inside Scoop on Legal Research in Practice
- What resources do new lawyers use in practice?
- How much does online legal research cost?
- What can you do while in law school to prepare for the real-world of legal research?
Come eat pizza and hear attorneys, fellow law students and librarians working in Boston discuss what new summer associates, attorneys, and interns are expected to know about legal research. This program is not to be missed, whether you are going to a firm, an internship, the government, or a small practice!
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 in Room 870
Pizza: 12:45 PM
Panel: 1:00-2:15 PM
Pizza and refreshments provided courtesy of our sponsors: Bloomberg Law, LexisNexis, and Westlaw.
Panelists:
Caitlin Johnston
Caitlin is a 3L who spent 1L summer interning in the MBTA's labor department and researching for two BU Law professors (Profs. Dogan and Gordon - researched protection for product design under copyright and trademark doctrines). She spent 2L summer as a summer associate at White & Case in New York, and will return to them post-grad; focused primarily on intellectual property and internet privacy matters (and hope to continue that focus).
Josh Segal
Josh Segal is currently a litigation associate at Lawson & Weitzen, LLP, a 40-lawyer firm on the South Boston waterfront where he works on all types of civil litigation in state and federal court. Before starting at Lawson & Weitzen, he served as Law Fellow for the Justices of the Massachusetts Superior Court. Josh graduated from Boston University School of Law cum laude in 2010 and while there served as Manager Editor of the Law Review.
Chris Valente
Chris Valente is a third-year associate in the Boston office of K&L Gates LLP and concentrates his practice in civil and commercial litigation. Over the past three years, Chris has worked on a wide variety of matters, including consumer finance litigation, insurance coverage litigation and government enforcement actions.
Carlos Duque
Carlos is a second year associate at a boutique law firm in Orange County, California specializing in M&A and securities litigation. His practice focuses on securities fraud, UCC Article 8 and other statutory and contractual breaches as they relate to publicly traded "penny stock" companies.
Susan Cleary
Susan is the Director of Library Services at Nutter McClennen & Fish, LLP. One of Susan's duties is legal research training for new associates.
Moderator:
Stephen Donweber is a senior reference librarian and lecturer in law at BUSL. Prior to joining the staff at BU Law, he worked for 10 years as a litigator at Saul Ewing in Philadelphia. In addition to his responsibilities as a reference librarian, Steve teaches Federal Civil Practice, Discovery Theory and Practice, and Securities Law Research at the law school.
Archived Class Pages
Did you take a certification class last year and want to refer to the class page? All of the 2011 class pages will be archived here so that you can refer back to them as necessary.
Administrative Regulations without Westlaw and Lexis
Alternatives to Lexis and Westlaw
Foreign Legal Research
International Legal Research
Legal Research on the Internet
Finding Treaties
Page maintained by Reference Staff
Last updated: December 2011