Integration & Transformation: Incorporating Critical Information Literacy and Critical Legal Research into Advanced Legal Research Instruction

Abstract

Legal research is not a separate and distinct endeavor from legal analysis and advocacy. These activities are inextricably intertwined in the practice of law. Few would suggest that advocacy includes the process of applying rules to situations in a vacuum without reference to context and consequences. Yet we often see this assumption about the legal research process. Many students presume that conducting legal research is a neutral endeavor, and that when done properly, it delivers the universe of relevant authorities to the researcher. This Essay is about my experience integrating critical perspectives into an existing advanced legal research course to contextualize and critique both legal information and legal research tools and methods. It is a recounting of my efforts to help students see beyond the idea that legal information is objective content, and that research tools and methods are neutral and unbiased. I want my students to learn about the sources of legal information and to practice methods for accessing useful authorities. I also want them to explore the power relationships infused in both the information itself and in the consequences of its application. I believe that the process of grappling with these issues will make my students more thoughtful and intentional about the way they analyze legal information and can potentially transform their advocacy. This is by no means a blueprint for such an undertaking. Instead, I offer this as one way in which an advanced legal research course can be reimagined to retain the essential lessons of traditional courses, while infusing those methods, strategies, and skills with critical perspectives that can change the way students think about and conduct legal research.

Keywords: critical legal research, critical legal information, critical librarianship, legal research, legal research pedagogy