JoanShear | 23 August, 2006 10:44
Question
I am having a little bit of trouble with the “knowing when to stop” question. I keep clicking on new issues and cases which, given that I still feel I don’t know a lot of substantive law, I feel the need to read to see if and how they’re relevant.
My concern is about using my time well both now and in the future while trying to be the most effective researcher I can be (especially in the world of unlimited hyperlinking and possibly hyper-curiousity). I’m wondering what kinds of hints you would have. I believe it’s important to be thorough but I’m concerned about the balance, and I’d really appreciate your help.
Answer
You are correct; knowing when to stop really is the hardest thing to get right. Here are the suggestions I have:
1) Ask your supervisor to help you narrow your focus. (It won't be a memo like you got in class, but you can have a conversation that will help you see where the real interest points are.)
2) Start writing BEFORE you finish researching. As you start to write you will help clarify your focus more. In class we needed to make sure you found all the cases pretty quickly so the class could discuss the analysis together. In the real world you don't have the class to discuss with, so you can use your writing process to help you see where your understanding is complete and where you need more information.
3) Set your own limits. Make a note of interesting side issues that you come across, but don't follow them unless you have a good reason to do so. Remember that you don't need to find out everything about everything.
4) Start with a secondary source to get yourself a basic understanding of the area of law you are dealing with. This makes it much easier to recognize interesting cases as not really relevant to what you are working on.
I hope this helps a little. It isn't an exact science and it is something you will get better with over time, especially once you start actually billing for your work.
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