Prepare to Practice Resources

How to Handle Open-Ended Research Assignments

You may find yourself assigned a very broad, open-ended research project that doesn’t lend itself to a neat, tidy research question for you to pursue. One example might be when you are asked something like, “I don’t think there are any cases on point for this issue but see what you can find.” These research projects can be challenging because you now find yourself in the position of proving a negative – that is, proving that a case on point does not, in fact, exist. In this situation, you will want to do a few additional things in addition to the normal research project steps.

Ask Questions

First, after analyzing the problem and coming up with your research question and search terms, you may want to report back to the attorney who assigned the project to verify you are on the right track. He or she may be able to suggest additional concepts or terms. He or she may even remember that they forgot to give you relevant information that will help focus or narrow your research.

Show Your Work

Second, make sure you can “show your work” by keeping detailed notes of what you have done and where you looked. This way, when you report back you can say “I didn’t find anything and here’s where I looked and the research methods I tried.” This is a much better answer than simply saying “I can’t find anything.”

Keep Track of Near Misses

Third, take note if you find potentially relevant law that is not directly on point. You may want to bring this to the attorney’s attention. Being able to say “I didn’t find anything on the issue you assigned but I did come across this case that deals with a similar issue and here’s where else I looked” is an acceptable answer and may help the attorney provide revised instructions.

Other Tips

• Checking relevant secondary sources in addition to primary sources is essential for this type of research project. If you have verified that secondary authorities are also silent on the issue, your answer will carry more weight when reporting back to the attorney.
• On Westlaw, you can start case law research by browsing or searching through all Topics and Key Numbers by clicking on the “Topics & Key Numbers” link on the homepage. This research method often yields different results than full-text searching the cases themselves.
• Try running different search types – if started with a natural language search, try a terms and connector search or vice versa. You can and will generate different results when using different search types.

It is not uncommon for new attorneys and legal researchers to sometimes feel bogged down, lost, or confused in the middle of a project. Try the 15-minute / 3 search rule. If you're still feeling stuck after having gone through the planning process, devised a research question, and otherwise following the tips we’ve covered, don’t despair! Here are some tips if you get stuck:

• Try working backwards. This is especially helpful in litigation – think about a closing argument that might be made or what instructions might be presented to a jury and try to use those statements to formulate searches.
• Similarly, consult a model jury instruction manual – these are often annotated and, if so, will contain cases in that jurisdiction establishing the rule or standard being explained to the jury. Jurisdiction-specific jury instructions are available on both Lexis and Westlaw but are often unique to each database.
• Review your notes or research history and try to identify any junctions where you made a decision to pursue a certain line of inquiry rather than another. If so, there may be a divergent path of relevant resources you can pursue.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help! Your managing attorney or more senior associates may be able to offer advice. If your firm employs a librarian or research attorney, consider consulting him or her and don’t forget you can reach out for help from the Bounds Law Library.

One of the most daunting issues faced by many new legal researchers is knowing when they have successfully completed a research project. While this is a skill that is developed with experience, here are some things to consider:

• Ask yourself whether you can confidentially answer your initial research question.
• Try writing a short answer or outline of a legal argument. Can you support all necessary premises with at least one valid citation? If not, focus on the missing pieces.
• Are you finding the same results using different means and methods of research? If so, this is an indication that you have found the most relevant sources.
• Are you still able to find new cases, but they all say substantially the same thing or all cite the same on-point case? If so, this is an indication that you may be in a diminishing returns situation and should seek clarification from your managing attorney. You don’t want to waste time or money finding every single case when only the most important ones are necessary.