Foundation
Define secondary sources.
Commentary about the law; not the law itself
Should you look at secondary sources before primary law, or after?
Before (usually)
American Jurisprudence
Legal encylopedia
Define generative AI
Machine learning models that generate "new" content based on what it learned from the datasets it trained on by attempting to replicate patterns
Give an example of a legal encylopedia
American Jurisprudence, California Jurisprudence, Corpus Juris Secundum
When should you use a legal encyclopedia?
To get background on an area of law
Harvard Law Review
Legal periodical
Name AI models that you can use for legal research
Westlaw Deep Research, Lexis Protege, Harvey
What does the American Law Reports call its sections/overviews?
Annotations
You're writing a paper about an area of law undergoing rapid and current development. What's the best secondary source for this kind of research?
Legal periodicals
Nimmer on Copyright
Treatise
What are some risks of using AI?
Only as good as the data it's trained on; black box in how it arrives at certain conclusions; confidentiality; cognitive offloading
How is a treatise different than a legal encyclopedia?
Encyclopedia provides a broad overview on several topics; treatise gives in-depth treatment of specific subject
You're researching for a memo and have a pretty good handle on the background/context of the law in question, but you need primary law to cite. What secondary source should you consult?
American Law Reports
Source that has annotations including primary law by jurisdiction
American Law Reports
What are some tasks that AI can properly be used for?
Overcoming inertia; synthesis and summary; drafting; enhancing search; things you understand on your own
What's the general structure of a Restatement provision?
Rule statement
Comments explaining the rule
Illustrations applying the rule
Notes - authority for the rule statement
Appendix – summaries of cases that have cited to the Restatement rule
You're drafting an argument to a court trying to convince it to adopt a specific principle of law, and can't find primary law in your jurisdiction. What source should you consult?
The Restatements
Summarizes the common law into concise rules
Restatements
What are some ways to mitigate the risks of using AI?
Use specialized model rather than generalized web-scraping ones for legal research; examine confidentiality and training terms; evaluate and verify output; balance cognitive offloading with activities that promote brain engagement and critical thinking