Legal Research
Find the controlling authority.
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---
name: Legal Research
description: Find the controlling authority.
---
# Legal Research
Legal research finds the law that actually controls the question — not any case that mentions the topic. Citation to a non-binding or overruled source is worse than no citation.
## Hierarchy (in US, as example)
1. **Constitution > statute > regulation.** The highest authority on point.
2. **Binding precedent.** Decisions of courts above yours in the same jurisdiction. Must follow.
3. **Persuasive authority.** Other jurisdictions, treatises, law review. May inform; doesn't bind.
## Method
- **Start with secondary sources.** Treatises, practice guides, restatements. They map the area fast before you dive into primary sources.
- **Validate every case.** Shepardize / KeyCite. A case you rely on may have been overruled, distinguished into irrelevance, or limited. Unvalidated citation is malpractice.
- **Check currency.** Statutes amend; regulations revise. The version that controls is the current one.
- **Note the facts.** A case is authority for its holding on its facts. Different facts, different result.