How to Find a Writing Topic
*This pathfinder was created using the information found in the “Resources to explain topic selection and preemption more in depth” as well as the Florida Coastal PowerPoint presentation, “Finding paper topics.”
Scope*
Student writing in the legal setting is unique when compared to other graduate student writing projects. Law students have the potential to reach an audience of legal scholars, lawyers, and judges that may rely on that paper for academic or professional support. Student legal writing is taken seriously by the profession and as a result must meet a very high standard. The standard for a student legal paper is to bring something new to the existing legal literature. The student must find a topic that does not duplicate another’s work. It must raise new issues, propose new solutions, or look at existing issues in a new way. It can be intimidating to think of finding a topic that is original and creative but there are resources that can help. This pathfinder will help the student writer locate and use those resources and start the writer on the road to a topic that meets the legal writing standard of originality and usefulness in the legal community.
Organization*
This pathfinder lists resources that the writer may use to meet the SUNN approach to paper topics: Sound, Useful, Novel, Non-Obvious arguments. Think of the topic as a claim or an argument and focus on combinations of facts and issues that might not have been addressed and a theory that you would like to persuade the reader to accept or at least think about. Next check to see if the topic meets the SUNN requirements. For a topic to be “sound” it must be free from logical fallacies or holes in your argument. Try testing by using various cases to which your claim might apply, ask does this result look right? For a topic to be “useful” it must be legally relevant and important to the legal community. “Novel” arguments are original and creative and add to the existing knowledge. Because the audience for legal writing is very sophisticated the topic needs to be “non-obvious”: something that the reader won’t stop and say, “well, I could have thought of that.” Once you find a potential topic a literature review must be done to make sure that no other article, “so completely and competently discusses the topic that you cannot significantly add to that discussion.” You must also make sure that no case or statute has decided your issue. This is the preemption check. Preemption checks are valuable because the writer will improve her understanding of the topic’s area of law, will see how the subject matter has been previously covered, and may find useful footnotes with leads to further resources. Don’t panic if you find an article that covers your topic. There are many ways to look at a topic from a different angle that may save you from preemption. For help in starting your research after you choose your topic and determine that it is not preempted see the pathfinder, “How to Start Your ALWR Research.” Actually, you have really already started your research by the time you have selected a viable topic. Remember, if you have any questions, ask a librarian.
Resources*
Resources to explain topic selection and preemption more in depth:
Academic Legal Writing: Law Review Articles, Student Notes, Seminar Papers, and Getting on Law Review. Eugene Volokh.
Permanent Reserves (Circulation) & General Collection (2nd floor) KF250 .V65 2007
Scholarly Writing for Law Students: Seminar Papers, Law Review Notes and Law Review Competition Papers. Elizabeth Fajans & Mary R. Falk.
Permanent Reserves (Circulation) & General Collection (2nd floor) KF250 .F35 2005
1996 Utah L. Rev. 917-986 (1996). Stalking the Golden Topic: A Guide to Locating and Selecting Topics for Legal Research Papers. Meeker, H.
Periodical Collection (1st floor) & Hein Online (Subscription Database) K25 .T34
Blog: Out of the Jungle: Thoughts on the Present and Future of Legal Information, Legal Research, and Legal Education, Research Tools for Writing an Excellent Article In Less Time. Posted by Betsy Mckenzie on August 13, 2006. Retrieved from http://outofthejungle.blogspot.com/2006/08/law-review-writing-time.html on 4/29/08.
Resources to find a Sound, Useful, Novel, Non-Obvious (SUNN) topic
(check resources for unresolved issues, circuit splits, unexpected consequences, upcoming hot topics, etc. See “Resources to explain topic selection and preemption more in depth” above for more help)
Secondary Sources:
Secondary sources include teachers, treatises, hornbooks, casebooks, classroom discussion, newspapers, magazines, ALRs, existing student articles, loose-leaf services and newsletters, attorney general opinions, ethics opinions, books and articles outside the legal community.
Examples of treatises. Check library catalog for more titles.
Federal Practice and Procedure. Wright and Miller (updated with pocket parts).
General collection (2nd floor) KF8840 .W68
Farnsworth on Contracts. E. Allen Farnsworth.
General collection (2nd floor) KF801 .F367 2004
Examples of loose-leaf services. Check library catalog for more titles.
Legal Looseleafs in Print 2008. Arlene L. Eis (listing and subject index of the legal looseleafs published in the United States currently in print).
Reference collection (3rd floor) KF1 .L44
Florida Torts.
Regional collection (3rd floor) & Matthew Bender: KFF195 .F48
Authority on Demand (subscription database)
Nimmer on Copyright. Melville Nimmer.
General collection (2nd floor) & Matthew Bender: KF2991.5 .N5
Authority on Demand (subscription database)
Examples of newsletters and journals. Check library catalog for more titles.
Legal Newsletters in Print 2008: Including Electronic and Fax Newsletters. Arlene L. Eis (contains detailed bibliographic information and indexing on 2,500+ newsletters published in the United States)
Reference collection (3rd floor) KF1 .L45
Florida Jury Verdict Reporter.
Regional Collection (3rd floor) KFF195 .A59 F55
Florida Law Weekly.
Regional Collection (3rd floor) & Florida KFF47.1 .F57
Law Weekly (subscription database)
IPL Newsletter.
Current issues on Reserve (Circulation) KF2972 .I65
United States Law Week.
Reference Collection (3rd floor) & BNA (subscription database) KF25 .N47
CCH Federal Tax Weekly.
CCH Tax Library (subscription database)
Food, Drug, Cosmetic Law Reports.
CCH Health and Human Resources Library (subscription database)
Examples of Attorney General and ethics opinions.
Memoranda and Opinions of the Office of Legal Counsel of the United States Department of Justice.
General Collection (2nd floor) & Hein Online (subscription KF5050 .A5556
database) & US Department of Justice website (http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/opinionspage.htm)
American Bar Association Ethics Opinions.
American Bar Association website http://www.abanet.org/cpr/pubs/ethicopinions.html
Florida Bar Ethics Opinions.
Florida Bar Association website http://www.floridabar.org/tfb/TFBETOpin.nsf/EthicsIndex?OpenForm
Examples of legal news services, organizations, blawgs, etc.
American Lawyer.
Periodicals Collection (1st floor) & Current Reading (3rd Floor) K1 .M448
National Law Journal.
Reserve (Circulation) & Current Reading (3rd Floor)
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) at http://www.aclu.org/.
National Organization for Women (NOW) at http://www.now.org/.
PrawfsBlawg at http://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/prawfsblawg/.
Examples of Florida Coastal subscription databases for non-legal title searches
These databases are available on the library homepage through the “Subscription Databases” link under “Resources” Please note any access restrictions. You may also need to visit UNF library or make an ILL request for non-legal texts. For more information, ask a reference librarian.
SSRN (legal and non-legal)
ProQuest
FirstSearch (includes ERIC and WorldCat plus many more)
Examples of free resources on the Web for non-legal title search
Google Scholar Http://scholar.google.com
PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/
ERIC Http://www.eric.ed.gov
WorldCat Http://www.worldcat.org/
Primary Sources:
Primary sources include state and federal cases, state and federal annotated statutes, federal regulations, state and municipal regulations, administrative agency decisions, proposed regulations or legislation.
United States Code Annotated (USCA).
Federal Collection (1st floor) KF62.5 .W45
United States Code Service (USCS).
Federal Collection (1st floor) KF62 1972 .L38
Federal Register.
Federal Collection (1st floor) & Hein Online (subscription database) KF70 .A2
& GPOAccess at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/
Code of Federal Regulations.
Federal Collection (1st floor) & Hein Online (subscription database) KF70 .A3
& GPOAccess at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/
Florida Statutes Annotated.
Regional collection (3rd floor) KFF30 1941 .A43 or
KFF29 .L49 2002
Florida Administrative Code Annotated.
Regional collection (3rd floor) KFF35 1986 .A22
Environmental Administrative Decisions: Decisions of the US Environmental Protection Agency.
General Collection (2nd floor) KF3775 .A558 1995
& Environmental Appeals Board website http://www.epa.gov/eab/
Administrative Decisions under Immigration and Nationality Laws.
General Collection (2nd floor)& Executive Office for KF4812 .A2 U55
Immigration Review virtual law library at http://www.usdoj.gov/eoir/vll/libindex.html
Finding Tool - Digest Examples
While most people search for relevant cases electronically, it can be useful when searching for a writing topic to skim a digest that arranges case issues by topic.
Federal Digest.
Federal Collection (1st floor)
Florida Digest.
Regional Collection KFF57 .W47 1984
Resources to perform a preemption check
Check periodical indexes for articles with complete and competent coverage of your topic and use primary sources above to make sure there are no recent cases, new legislation or regulations that decide your issue. See also “Resources to explain topic selection and preemption more in depth” above for more help. For help formulating effective searches for online databases ask a librarian.
Current Law Index.
Reference collection (3rd floor) & LegalTrac (subscription database) K33 .C87
Also called Legal Resource Index & available through Lexis & Westlaw
Index to Legal Periodicals.
Reference Collection (3rd floor) and Westlaw K9 .N32
CILP (subscription database) and Westlaw
LRAC -Law Review Abstracts Clearinghouse on Westlaw (articles that have not yet been printed).
SSRN (subscription database)
Examples of excellent scholarly writing by law students
See “Resources to explain topic selection and preemption more in depth” for more examples.
82 Marq. L. Rev. 171- 204 (1998-1999). Should Clergy Hold the Priest-Penitent Privilege? Mazza, M.
Periodical Collection (1st floor) & Hein Online (subscription database) K13 .A684
105 Harv. L. Rev. 1005-1024 (1991-1992). Why Learned Hand Would Never Consult Legislative History Today. Filip, M.
Periodical Collection (1st floor) & Hein Online (subscription database) K8 .A69
101 Yale L.J. 505- 526 (1991-1992). Driving Dixie Down: Removing the Confederate Flag from Southern State Capitols. Forman Jr., J.
Periodical Collection (1st floor) & Hein Online (subscription database) K29 .A4
Florida Coastal student ALWR examples
Available from the Writing Center Office & at http://www.fcsl.edu/node/202
Cyberbullying.
http://www.fcsl.edu/sites/fcsl.edu/files/alwr_samplepaper.pdf
Juvenile Justice: A Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing.
http://www.fcsl.edu/sites/fcsl.edu/files/alwr_samplepaper2.pdf
Transforming the Urban Landscape: Gentrification and the Post-Kelo Power of Eminent Domain.
http://www.fcsl.edu/sites/fcsl.edu/files/alwr_samplepaper3.pdf
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers and Other Developments in Worker Centers.
http://www.fcsl.edu/sites/fcsl.edu/files/alwr_samplepaper4.pdf
