Course: Legal Research

First Semester, SY 2020-2021

Instructor: Atty. Myra S. Borromeo

Course Outline

I. Introduction and Overview

● Definition of legal research

● Purpose of legal research
● Rationale for developing legal research skills

II Preliminary Considerations

● Reasoning Skills Essential to Legal Research

1. Rule-based Reasoning Syllogism
The Prosecutor’s Model
Enthymeme
Polysyllogism
Bogus Arguments Masquerading as Syllogisms
2. Inductive Reasoning Resolving Novel Legal Issues
3. Reasoning by Comparing and Distinguishing Cases Analogizing
Synthesizing Hypotheticals Paradigm Case
4. Policy-based Reasoning Concept
Most Common Types of Policy Arguments
● Case Briefing and Legal Research
1. Purposes of case briefing
2. Elements or parts of a case brief
Facts; issue/s; holding, including the law; rationale
3. Dividing facts into separate elements
Facts of the case, procedural history, judgment
4. Judgment of the case distinguished from the holding
● Analyzing Case Problems
1. Understanding the Facts for Legal Research Purposes
2. Legal Analysis and Reasoning
IRAC Method
2.1. Identifying and analyzing the appropriate legal issue/s involved in the
case
2.2. Determining what rule of law applies to the issue
2.3. Application of the rule of law to the facts of the case being studied
2.4. Drawing accurate conclusions

D. Understanding judicial flexibility or the role of judicial discretion

 1. The court’s mandate to interpret and apply the law
2. Legal authorities as a constraint to judicial discretion
3. Effect of the contingent nature of language
4. Effect of the social context of a legal system
5. Gap of ambiguity within a seemingly solid wall of legal authorities

III. The Philippine Legal System

● Nature
1. Influence of common law
2. Influence of civil law
● Sources of law
1. Statutes or Statutory Law
1.1. Constitution
The Doctrine of Constitutional Supremacy
1.2. Statutes proper or legislative enactments Publication requirement for
the effectivity of laws Executive Order No. 200, s. 1987
1.3. Treaties and other international agreements
1.4. Generally accepted principles of international law
Constitution (1987), Article II, Section 2
1.5. Executive/Presidential issuances
1.6. Administrative rules and regulations
1.7. Ordinances
2. Jurisprudence or Case Law
2.1. Article 8 of the Civil Code
2.2. Identifying each part of a case
2.3. Structure and hierarchy of courts in the Philippines ​2.4. ​The doctrines of
precedent and ​stare decisis
2.5. Understanding “a case of first impression”
3. Customary Law
Does customary law form part of the Philippine legal system?
Constitution (1987), Article II, Section 22 RA 8371 (1997), Chapter 1, Section
2(b)(c)
● Classification of Legal Sources

1. By Authority

1.1. Primary authority Mandatory

Persuasive

1.2. Secondary authority

2. By Source
2.1. Primary (Official) sources
 Exploring the primary sources Unannotated statutes
The ​Official Gazette
The ​Philippine Reports
Importance of using primary sources
Cesaer Bengzon, et al. ​v​. Franklin Drilon in his capacity as Executive Secretary,​ G.R.
No. 103524, April 15, 1992 (284 Phil. 245)
2.2. Secondary (Unofficial) sources
Exploring the different types of secondary sources
Legal dictionaries and encyclopedias, treatises, law reports, law reviews and journals,
headnotes, and annotations
Importance of using secondary resources to begin research
Finding secondary sources
2.3. Factors to consider in choosing a resource
Authority Credibility/Reliability Currency Scope/Breadth Depth
Authenticity Relevance
Bias
2.4. Electronic or digitized sources Strength of electronic tools
2.5. Printed Sources
Strength of print tools
2.6. Recognizing how the use and importance of the sources vary ​vis a vis ​the legal
problem or issue
2.6.1. official v. unofficial
2.6.2. manual v. electronic
3. By Character
3.1. Statute law books
3.2. Case law books or law reports
3.3. A combination of statute law books and law reports 3.4. Law digests
3.5. Law finders
Indexes, citators, encyclopedias, legal dictionaries, thesauri or digests Philippine and
foreign law dictionaries
IV. Locating or Finding Statutes or Statutory Law
● Resources to locate the constitutions
● Resources to locate treaties and other international agreements
● Resources to locate statutes proper (legislative enactments)
● Resources to locate executive/presidential issuances
● Resources to locate administrative rules and regulations
V. Legislative history research
● Understanding the legislative process
● Types and collection of legislative documents
Committee reports, hearings, bills, debates and more
● Use of legislative documents
1. To determine legislative intent of a law
2. To clarify vague or ambiguous statutory language
VI. Locating or Finding Case Law
 ● Resources to locate decisions of the Supreme Court
● Resources to locate decisions of the Court of Appeals
● Resources to locate decisions of the Court of Tax Appeals
● Resources to locate decisions of the Sandiganbayan
● Resources to locate decisions of administrative agencies, commissions and
boards
VII. The different tools of research and their strengths and weaknesses
● Terms and connectors searching
Boolean searching
Proximity searching
● Natural language searching
● Indexes
● Digests
● Annotations
● Legal classification systems such as headnotes
● Citators to update and better understand the law
● One Good Case Method
VIII. Understanding the Process of Legal Research

A. Sample research strategies

1. Sample No. 1 Preliminary Analysis

Consulting Secondary Sources
Searching for Statutes and Administrative Regulations Searching for Cases, both
mandatory and persuasive Refining, Double-Checking, and Updating
2. The Rombauer Method of Legal Research Preliminary Analysis

Search for Statutes Mandatory Precedent Persuasive Precedent

Refine, Double-Check, Update

3. Another Sample research strategy Preliminary Analysis

Formulating a research strategy Recording actions, sources, and results Stopping the research

Updating the research

Brief Writing

Keeping Calm and Carrying on

4. Still another sample of a research strategy Confirming the topic and scope of assignment
Pre-Research

Research, Research, Research

Research your research Organizing your research

5. Another proposed research strategy Plan your research

Consult secondary sources

Search for primary authorities Expand and Update Case Research Analyze and organize results

6. Additional Examples

B. Other Important Considerations

1. Need for developing a research plan for the issue

2. Narrowing jurisdiction
3. Knowing which print or digital, primary or secondary sources contain
appropriate and current content on the issue being researched
4. Checking the content of sources and validating the completeness and currency
of the selected sources
5. Understanding the hierarchies of the acceptable sources of authority
6. Understanding that helpful cases do not have to have the legal outcome you
want
7. Using helpful cases to find other cases
8. Starting research from the latest
Exceptions
​ .R. No. 221538, September 2016 ​Tecson v.
David v​ ​. Senate electoral Tribunal and Mary Grace Poe-Llamanzares,​ G
Commission on Elections, G.R. No. 161434, March 3, 2004, 468 Phil. 421

9. Knowing when to stop

IX. What to do when reaching a dead end in the legal research process Rereading the
problem being researched
Reviewing the Research Steps already taken
Updating and Expanding the Materials already located
Considering the possibility of reaching the end of the research trail
Using new sources to find search terms
Consulting an expert
Starting over with a secondary source
Learning about the many alternative research tools and how to use them Analogizing
using the materials that have been found
Realizing that sometimes there is no answer to the research problem.
X. Legal Citations
● Citation Basics
● Citing Primary Sources by authority Statutory Law
Constitutions
Statutes
Treaties, International Conventions or International Agreements
 Executive/Presidential Issuances
Administrative Rules and Regulations
Ordinances
Jurisprudence or Case Law Court Decisions
Administrative Decisions
● Finding the full text of the case or statute through a given legal citation
● Citing Secondary Sources
Books, Commentaries, Treatises and other Secondary Sources Articles, Essay or
a Speech found in a book
Periodical/Journal Articles
Printed Source
Electronic Source Newspaper Articles
Printed Source
Electronic Source
● Finding the full text of the case or statute through a given legal citation
● Citations Repeatedly Used
● Examining and comparing the available manuals of legal citation in the
Philippines
XI. Ethical and Legal Issues in the discovery, use or application of legal information
● Laws and rules on access to, storage, and dissemination of legal information
● Licensing, copyright, and fair use of copyrighted material
● Privacy, confidentiality, security, diligence, and other ethical issues related to research
● Benefits and risks associated with relevant technology, in accordance with legal ethics
● Subscription agreements