On Legal Research and Writing
Legal research and writing are essential abilities for lawyers to possess. Whether naturally affluent; or unnaturally learnt—jurisprudence is a constant pursuit of information. It is the ardent passion for achieving justice that defines the substance of law. Fortified faith is a consistent quality in Christians, thereby transposing morality unto all aspects of life. As an attorney, the mastery of legal research complements a formal foundation of Christ. Awareness and the ability to discern good from evil is imperative when implementing a legal skillset upholding the law. As an aspiring jurist, the ability to format writing to Bluebook standard is mandatory. Bluebook is the industry standard; thus it will be utilized in every case.
Effective legal research and writing lies contingent on the adaptation to legal citation. Attorneys who have invested thousands of hours to conform to the industry standard will conduct more efficient research. He thus is capable of delivering a more expedited and robust evaluation of the client’s pretrial needs. For “'[t]he client,’ when he first comes to the lawyer, does not have a case; he has a problem. The lawyer’s first task is to ascertain ‘the facts,’” Jane C. Ginsburg, Legal Methods: Cases and Materials 21 (3rd Edition 2008). Lawyers “first have to discover why the client is seeking your advice,” (Robin Wellford Slocum, Legal Reasoning, Writing and Other Lawyering Skills 3 (4th ed. 2022). Slocum asserts that the next step is to “conduct some research to help you understand how the law affects the client's factual situation,” id. 3 (4th ed. 2022). Bluebooking allows attorneys to conduct the appropriate research without backtracking, precluding the potentiality of waste. Oftentimes, errors can occur if lawyers forgo the implementation of a consistent research practice. As noted by Liberty University, “[o]ne of the hallmarks of a great ‘Bluebooker’ is consistency,” Liberty University, Bluebook Citations, Academic Success Center (April 28th, 2021), https://www.liberty.edu/casas/academic-success-center/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2021/04/Bluebook-Citation-Primer.pdf.
Whilst Bluebook formatting is a strange endeavor to the newly anointed legal scholar, it remains an essential pillar of jurisprudence. Scholars wishing to become jurists ought to unify their minds with the citation formatting. It has become apparent that to harness the power of justice, the aspiring lawyer must acclimate himself to the language of citation. In this observation, mastering citations will allow a seamless research and writing experience. Knowing the underpinnings of the matrix is a prerequisite to interacting within its environment; namely the American justice system. By His Holy Spirit, the faith reserved for personal expectations on the subject of legal research and writing will manifest. Despite the seemingly overwhelming specificities, His provision comes suddenly, allowing the full retention of information. By the power of the Lord, all preconceived expectations of scholarly victory will come to fruition. God grants us explicit discernment from worldly equivocation. Bluebookers are the result of internal commitment, divine empowerment, and self-determination.
Harvard Law School asserts that Bluebook citations “do not have to be perfect because you’ll fix it in the final step of the process,” Mindy Kent, Bluebook Legal Citation System Guide, Harvard Law School Library (December 14th, 2023), https://guides.library.harvard.edu/law/bluebook. Harvard’s suggestion reveals the importance of time management, as lawyers must address citations at the end of their research and writing. An attorney’s failure to calculate a full comprehension of Bluebook will heavily impact this final step. As a Bluebooker, the assurance of citation knowledge will bolster confidence in resolving the client’s matter at hand. Critics of Bluebook have historically considered its adherents to “follow-slavishly-the complex and intricate directives laid down in the ‘Bluebook,’” as Richard A. Posner’s 1986 essay opined, Richard A. Posner, Goodbye to the Bluebook, Chicago Unbound (1986), https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2797&context=journal_articles. Posner’s infamous denouncement of the Bluebook labeled it to be “elaborate but not purposive,” id. at 1343, 1344.
Henceforth, the information attained throughout legal research and writing will offer structure to the built foundation of Christ. As it is written in James, “[i]f you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself,' you are doing well.” James 2:8 (ESV). God declares that the attorney must show impartiality. Any man henceforth showing bias on or off the courts is subject to His judgment. James continues, “But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.” James 2:9, (ESV). James, declaring a second time by God’s Holy Spirit reiterated with explicit specificity that, “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it,” James 2:8-10 (ESV). For Bluebookers, it is important to have a resilient sense of morality; one that precludes influence and coercion. “For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by various passions and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, detesting one another,” Titus 3:3 (CSB).
Lawyers possess obligation and steward His authority; “But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us —not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy — through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit,” Titus 3:4,5 (CSB). As revealed in the New Testament “He poured out his Spirit on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior so that, having been justified by his grace, we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:6,7 (CSB) . Despite contemporary controversy, attorneys can build their foundation on Christ’s rock. “This saying is trustworthy. I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed God might be careful to devote themselves to good works. These are good and profitable for everyone, Titus 3:8, 9 (CSB). Practicing attorneys who oppose law’s formal obligations expose their incompetence. In the case of Park v. Kim, 22-2057 (2d Cir. Jan. 30, 2024), New York’s Second Circuit “referred a New York attorney for punishment” after the legal counsel “submitted a brief citing a fake case generated by ChatGPT and not checking over the brief to catch the mistake,” Jake Maher, 2nd Circ. Rebukes Atty For Fake Citation In Latest AI Blunder, Law360 (January 30th 2024, 3:58pm EST), https://www.law360.com/articles/1791788. Bluebookers bear an assurance they will fall exempt to acts of moral turpitude. Rather than relying on ChatGPT, jurists must rely on His Holy Spirit.
Legal counselors must steward their time. Lawyers must “avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless,” Titus 3:9 (NKJV). Moreover, attorneys should “[r]eject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned,” Titus 3:10, 11 (NKJV). The lawyer who bears a confidence in jurisprudence partitions his mind to invest legal efforts towards his client; committing himself to any opportunity to help others with the utilization of legal knowledge attained to further humanity. To be a Bluebooker is to be confident in the ability to flawlessly produce citations whilst conducting legal research. Attorneys who assemble their findings to conform to the Bluebook standard are assured the merit of their efforts. Bluebook formatting allows the attorney to consider relative cases without detracting himself from the matter at hand with excessive data. The attorney thus must consider his own tempo and the length of the client’s demand. An attorney’s prior assimilation to the Bluebook method is imperative to achieving a timely solution. A reserved skillset plays a crucial factor in time management. As noted by the American Bar Association (ABA), “[i]n a study by Judicata, the company found that where there were small mistakes in Bluebook citations, these briefs were more likely to contain larger, substantive mistakes,” Ivy B. Grey, Does Bluebooking Matter? Some Insight on How to Cite, Student Essentials (June 13th, 2018), https://www.americanbar.org/groups/law_students/resources/student-lawyer/student-essentials/does-bluebooking-matter-insight-on-how-to-cite/. The attorney facing less contentious discernment produces a stronger inference. The ABA contends that “Bluebooking isn’t a task that magically becomes unimportant after you start at a law firm.” Instead, the legal association states, “getting Bluebooking right and learning it properly means you’ll have a skill that presents your work in the best possible light through the start of your legal career and beyond,” id. Ivy B. Grey, (June 13th, 2018).
Conclusion
Conclusively, mastering the Bluebook will appropriate the zealous vehemence for jurisprudence, whilst assuring that it is not misplaced. For the Bluebooker presupposes the necessity of citation; allowing him to operate above reproach on and off the courts. To co-labor with Christ, the lawyer must invest his entire context to the pursuit of knowledge. Beyond this, the lawyer must formally apply his skillset to the element of law. Bluebookers reserve a place for His Holy Spirit to show up, without a distraction of self-doubt. The attorney who omits second-guessing his efforts, finds time to assure the security of its formatting. Lawyers must contribute their abilities to the pursuit of justice, whereby the accused rely on the cognition of his self-determination. Yet the attorneys must remember to seek first the Kingdom and all shall be added, Matthew 6:33 (TPT).
Bluebookers bear deeper reverence for God, as they supplant less consideration of themselves and their own efforts. The lawyer must expect to achieve greatness, delivering objective justice in the image of God. Challenges pose greater opportunities to expand an attorney’s practice. Total confidence in Christ will carry man above reproach, far beyond his own depravity. Lawyers must expect to enter the legal industry with vigor, and a sense of divine security. For God hath entrusted jurists with upholding His natural laws, preserving man’s presupposed equality God giveth unto him in Heaven. The Christian legal scholar must expect that proper legal research and writing is a decisive factor to acquiring opportunity. A scholar of jurisprudence must focus his expectations on one reliable constant eternal truth: God will show up. The jurist’s obligation is to recognize His authority over subjective situations.