Law Review Preemption Checking

Topic Selection & Preemption Checking for Law Review

Updated Fall 2023

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Topic Selection & Preemption Checking Resources

Learning a New Style of Writing

Academic legal writing is different than the research, writing, and citations used in practice-based legal work. Scholarly writing requires you to:

• Vet a topic for coverage and content
• Research using different resources besides primary law
• Possibly use more elevated language and grammar
• Use footnotes rather than in-text citations
• Use the White Pages of the Bluebook (not court style or Blue Pages)

Have I Been Preempted?

Topic Ideas

Am I offering something new?

Getting started with a topic or issue to research

Scholarly Writing & Grammar Resources

Books from Our Catalog

Writing Center Resources

Online Resources

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Blogs

Selecting a Topic

• ABA Blawgs
• CLIO List of Legal Blogs

News

Topics will depend on your area of interest, expertise, or the theme of your seminars, however, you should aim for topics that are:

• Timely or Topical
• Blogs, Tags on social media, Legal or non-legal newspapers, U.S. Law Week (Bloomberg)
• New or developing
• Same as above ^
• Circuit splits or unsettled areas of law
• BNA's U.S. Law Week, Seton Hall Circuit Review, Sunday Splits (Emory)
• Comparative laws (either state by state or foreign)
• 50 state surveys, legal news/newsletters, websites of interest groups or IGOs/NGOs
• Most important >> a topic that INTERESTS you
• What do you study most? What are you up to date on?
• Ask your peers, professors, and practitioners

• Lexis (Law360, ALM)
• Westlaw Legal News
• Bloomberg Legal News

Comparative

• Lexis 50 State Surveys
• Westlaw Jurisdictional Surveys (custom)
• Westlaw 50 State Surveys
• Bloomberg Chart Builder

Foreign/Int'L

• VLex
• Lexis
• Law.com International

Preemption Steps

Preemption Check

Pieces of scholarship should strive to add something new to the literature or discussion of a topic. Before you begin, you should check the current or forthcoming (i.e., very soon) scholarship to ensure the same thesis has not already been investigated.

How to Look?

Where to Look?

• HeinOnline
• LegalTrac
• CILP
• IFLP
• Google Scholar
• Catalog (books & chapters)
• SSRN

• Keyword or T&C searches
• Subject Searches
• Need help? Check the Hein List
• Publication Search

Preemption Map

Published Journal Articles

• Professional organization websites (check ABA sections)
• ABA Blawgs
• Lexis Legal News
• Bloomberg/BNA
• Law.com, Law360

• FIU Catalog, can also filter to eBooks
• Worldcat.org
• Google Books

• HeinOnline
• Wexis
• ILP
• Google Scholar
• FIU Catalog (articles filter)

Research Question

Non-Law Journal Articles

UnpublishedArticles

• FIU Catalog Journal Search
• FIU A-Z List, filter to databases
• JStor
• EBSCO
• ProQuest
• Google Scholar

Wexis, Hein, Blogs, News sites, professional mags & websites, legal news (Law.com, Law360, Bloomberg/BNA)

• SSRN
• BePress
• Google, search for "working papers"

Preemption Checking Steps

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Choose a research question or a research topic

Search for books and book chapters

Try to choose a topic that interests you but is also any of the following:

• Novel or developing area
• Contested or unsettled area or issue
• Circuit splits, for ex.
• Topical or of high interest/importance
• Has multiple avenues of discussion or areas of intersection

Use the Library catalogs and union catalogs (e.g. Woldcat) to find books covering your topic or discussing your issue

• Look at the book or chapter, don't just go off of the title
• Use ILL to request titles we don't hold here
• Remember, we also have eBooks even if not held in print
• Try Google Books to see if there are previews or free access

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Search for unpublished materials

Search for law journal articles

It is always possible that your topic or question will be covered in a forthcoming publication, try repositories for unpublished or working papers

Try legal research or scholarly legal sources first

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Stay up to date

Search for non-law journal articles

To ensure you are aware of recently published articles, sign up for news alerts or services on publisher websites, legal research databases, or on professional organzation websites, or blogs (blawgs)

If your selected area overlaps with non-law fields or is interdisciplinary -- you should use non-law sources to run a search

Other Scholarly Writing Resources

Books & Guides

• LibGuides
• Academic Legal Writing (Rutgers)
• Substantial Paper/Journal Note Guide (U. Arizona)
• Choosing a Topic (Lewis & Clark)
• Blogs
• Legal Skills Prof Blog
• Articles (on Hein)
• Heather Meeker, Stalking the Golden Topic: A Guide to Locating and Selecting Topics for Legal Research Papers, 1996 UTAH L. REV. 917 (1996).
• Eugene Volokh, Writing a Student Article, 48 J. LEGAL EDUC. 247 (1998).

Legal Scholar's Guidebook

Academic Legal Writing

Scholarly Writing for Law Students

Scholarly Writing : ideas, examples, and execution

Elizabeth E. Berenguer (2020) *ILL, may also be on Aspen's Casebook Connect

Elizabeth Fajans & Mary R. Falk (2005)

Eugene Volokh (2016)

Jessica Lynn Wherry & Kristen E. Murray (2019)

Writing Center Resources

Georgetown Law Writing Center

Penn State Law Writing Center

Columbia Law Writing Center

Go to "Scholarly Writing" to see items available

Provides checklists, presentations, and grammar guides

Lists links to guides and information on style and grammar

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Need more help?

Contact us @

Email: asklawlib@fiu.edu Phone: (305) 348-7206 Text: (305) 809-7795 Make a research appointment: https://linktr.ee/fiulawlib Or stop by the Reference Desk

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