Identify Efficient Research Strategies - Next Generation Bar Exam

1. What is a Boolean search?

   A search using connectors such as AND, OR, and NOT to combine terms. Terms-and-connectors searches give precise control over results.

2. A new associate must research an unfamiliar area of state real property law. Which source should the associate consult first?

   A state-specific treatise or practice guide on the topic. It provides an overview and leads to controlling statutes and cases.

3. What does a proximity connector do in a terms-and-connectors search?

   It requires search terms to appear within a specified distance of each other. For example, a connector may require terms within the same sentence or paragraph.

4. What is the purpose of a root expander, such as an exclamation point, in a legal database search?

   To retrieve all words beginning with the specified root. For example, 'negligen!' retrieves negligent, negligence, and negligently.

5. What is the efficient way to find legislative history of a federal statute?

   Use a compiled legislative history or the statute's public law and session law references. Committee reports are generally the most authoritative legislative history.

6. When is it most efficient to begin research with a secondary source?

   When the researcher is unfamiliar with the area of law. Secondary sources explain the law and lead to key primary authorities.

7. What research tool shows the subsequent history and treatment of a case?

   A citator. Citators identify later decisions that cite, follow, distinguish, or overrule the case.

8. What is the efficient way to locate the meaning of a term used in many statutes of a jurisdiction?

   Check the jurisdiction's general definitions or construction statute. Many codes contain definitions that apply throughout unless otherwise stated.

9. What is the efficient use of a highly relevant case, sometimes called a 'one good case'?

   Using its citations, headnotes, and citing references to find related authority. One on-point case often leads to the rest of the relevant law.

10. What is an efficient strategy for limiting search results to controlling law?

    Restrict the search to the relevant jurisdiction and court level. Jurisdictional filters exclude merely persuasive authority.

11. What source is most efficient for finding cases interpreting a statute?

    An annotated code. Annotations summarize and cite decisions construing each section.

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