Before you start researching the topic on which you want to write your ULWR, you need to make sure another writer has not preempted you from writing on that topic and issue. Preempted means that someone else has already written about your thesis. The important thing to remember is that you must be writing about something in a new or novel way. There may be numerous articles written on your topic or issue, but in order to not be preempted, your paper must add something new and original to the argument. If you think there may be preemption of your original thesis, then think of how to distinguish your article, or how you can examine the topic from a new perspective.
Checking for Preemption:
Step 1. Check legal periodical indexes
Step 2. Check legal periodical full-text databases
Step 3. Check non-legal periodical databases if you are working on an interdisciplinary topic or check the Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals if your topic in on law or issues outside the United States
Step 4. Set up alerts for newly published articles occurring during your writing process
Legal Writing and Analysis in a Nutshell by
Basic steps to legal writing and analysis -- Legal analysis -- Large-scale organization -- Small-scale organization -- Language in the legal setting -- Advisory writing -- Advocacy writing -- Sentence design -- Punctuation and grammar -- Final steps : editing, proofreading, formatting citations and quotations -- Appendix A. Sample legal materials and documents -- Appendix B. Individual writing analysis and microgrammar -- Appendix C. Glossary of words commonly misused in legal writing -- Appendix D. Selected sources.
Academic Legal Writing by
Finding what to write about (the claim) -- Test suites : making prescriptive claims more sound -- Writing strategy -- Writing the introduction -- Writing the "background" section -- Writing the proof of the claim -- The conclusion and after the conclusion -- Finishing the first draft, and the zeroth draft -- Tips on researching -- Editing : general principles -- Editing : getting help from your faculty advisor -- Writing : logical problems to watch for -- Writing : paragraph-level problems to watch for -- Writing : sentence/clause problems to watch for -- Writing : word/phrase problems to watch for -- Writing : rhetorical problems to watch for -- Editing exercises -- Using evidence correctly -- Writing and researching : timeline and summary -- A sample highly successful student article -- Turning practical work into articles -- Writing seminar term papers -- Cite-checking others' articles -- Publishing and publicizing -- Entering writing competitions -- Getting on law review -- Academic ethics -- Conclusion.
The Legal Resources Index, available on Westlaw, contains abstracts from journals throughout the world, with Westlaw coverage beginning in 1980.
The Current Index to Legal Periodicals, available on Westlaw, contains indexing of the most recent eight weeks of published articles for over 300 legal publications.
If your topic is interdisciplinary, you can search for non-legal scholarly publications in Barry University's Main Campus Library Databases.
Library Catalog
The Library Catalog is your gateway to search for legal AND non-legal resources located in the Barry University Main Library, the Barry Law Library, as well as, in certain databases to which the libraries subscribe. When doing your ULWR, you will be required to do a substantial amount of researching for resources on your topic of writing. As such, it is important that you familiarize yourself with the Library Catalog and its search features. Many, if not most, of the legal resources located in the Library Catalog are not available on Westlaw, Lexis Nexis, or other specialized databases. Learning how to use the Library Catalog will enable you to find these resources, which are not available on Westlaw, Lexis Nexis, and other specialized databases, quickly and effectively.
Additionally, if you are writing on an interdisciplinary topic (e.g., the ethics of euthanasia and who qualifies medically for euthanasia; or the psychological effects of law on minority communities), the Library Catalog will be a great tool for you to find the non-legal resources and databases that will be needed to support the non-legal aspects of your writing.
If you need assistance with searching and using the Library Catalog, contact a Reference Librarian. The best way to contact a Reference Librarian is to email the Reference Librarians at LawReferenceLibrarians@barry.edu, a shared e-mail account that allows ALL Reference Librarians to receive your email.
For assistance from a specific Reference Librarian contact:
Diana Botluk, Associate Director and Head of Public Services, Associate Professor of Law Library, dbotluk@barry.edu
Jason Murray, Reference Librarian and Associate Professor of Law Library, jwmurray@barry.edu
Cynthia Barnes, Reference Librarian and Assistant Professor of Law Library, cbarnes@barry.edu
Kim Wilson, Reference Librarian and Assistant Professor of Law Library, kwilson@barry.edu
Interlibrary Loan (ILL)
Interlibrary loan enables students to obtain books and other materials from libraries worldwide. If you know of a book or other resource and Barry University's Main Library and the Barry Law Library does not have it, then you can request it through the ILL service. This is NOT a guarantee that you will be able to obtain the book or resource, but if it is available through another library and your request can be fulfilled in time, Barry Law Library will obtain the book for you and notify you when it is available for pickup.
*Please note, it is critical that you put in ILL requests as early as possible due to the fact that the books must be processed and shipped from other libraries and the process can sometimes take more than two weeks.
On the Barry Law Library Home Page, is a link for requesting materials through Interlibrary Loan. Additionally, if you have never used ILL before, there is a link on the ILL page with instructions for registering as a First Time User.
For questions regarding Interlibrary Loan contact:
Ashley Allensworth, Circulation Assistant and Interlibrary Loan Specialist - aallensworth@barry.edu
Specifically, in the ProQuest Congressional Database, you can access Congressional Research Reports. If there is a CRS Report on your topic, it can be an excellent source of information on the topic.
Information literacy is an important topic when discussing scholarly writing. It is critical when using information in scholarly writing that you know that the information your using has value. To determine the value of the information, you need to have information literacy. The following resource teaches you how to evaluate information and determine whether it has value. It is called the CRAAP test, which stands for Currency, Relevancy, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose. This test was developed by Sarah Blakeslee, Meriam Library, California State University, Chico.
Here is a link to the California State University, Chico website with the CRAAP Test.
Another great resource for information on evaluating information is the Purdue Online Writing Lab (Purdue OWL). Under the topics of Research and Citation and Conducting Research, the Purdue OWL webpage has a section covering the topic of Evaluating Sources of Information. The Evaluating Sources of Information section has several sub-sections including, an Overview, Evaluating Bibliographic Citations, Evaluation During Reading, and Print v. Internet.
The link above for the ULWR Packet includes the ULWR Registration Form, the Honor Code Pledge, and the Guidelines for the Upper Level Writing Requirement. For additional information regarding fulfilling the Upper Level Writing Requirement you should contact the Registrar's Office.
For questions regarding Upper Level Writing Requirements and obtaining or submitting the necessary forms, contact:
Amelia Rios, Registrar, arios@barry.edu
Darilyn Peralta, Associate Registrar, dperalta@barry.edu
Visit the Law Registrar's webpage here: Law Registrar Webpage
Barry Law Library Reference Librarians
LawReferenceLibrarians@barry.edu
Main Phone: (321) 206-5700
Schedule a Personal Research Consultation (PERC):
LawReferenceLibrarians@barry.edu
Jason Murray, JD, MSLS
Tenured Reference Librarian
Associate Professor of Law Library
jwmurray@barry.edu
(321) 206-5725
Cynthia Barnes, JD
Reference Librarian
Assistant Professor of Law Library
cbarnes@barry.edu
(321) 206-5729
Kim Wilson, JD, MSIS
Reference Librarian
Assistant Professor of Law Library
kwilson@barry.edu
(321) 206-5728
