Bankruptcy: A Legal Research Course

Several aspects of the subject matter and practice of bankruptcy law lend themselves to use as the underlying subject matter for a course in advanced legal research. Although the unique institutions and procedure in bankruptcy cases call for specialized instruction, the structure of the substantive field around an integrated, codified statute and the intersections of state and federal jurisdiction provide plentiful jumping-off points to reinforce important general concepts of strategic and thoughtful legal research practice. The first half of this article presents an introduction to the field as a basic substantive grounding necessary to any law librarian pondering a legal research course grounded in bankruptcy law. The article also familiarizes the prospective research instructor with the major sources of law in the field and assesses numerous secondary sources and research tools covering the field with an eye to which print and online sources will be of the best anticipated value to today's legal research students. Model syllabi are proposed for either a larger, three-credit course or for a one-credit minicourse in specialized research that might either stand alone or serve as a supplement to a substantive course or seminar in the field.