Abstract
For most people, two things are certain: death and taxes. For law students, one other thing is certain: the necessity to write at least one research paper to complete their legal education. To accomplish this goal, the student faces a high hurdle: finding the right topic. The student of law, commanded to find a research topic, is faced with a daunting chicken-and-egg problem-the student must do a great deal of research to assess a topic on which to do research. The perfect paper topic is a delicate balance of generality and obscurity. It is amateurish to write a paper on a topic that is already well covered in legal literature. But it is nearly impossible to write on a topic that is covered nowhere, because the essence of legal writing is the quotation and citation of existing sources. Achieving this balance is partly an ongoing task as the paper takes shape, but a topic of correct scope helps focus and streamline the process.
Recommended Citation
Meeker, Heather
(1996)
"Stalking the Golden Topic: A Guide
to Locating and Selecting Topics
for Legal Research Papers,"
Utah Law Review: Vol. 1996:
No.
3, Article 3.
Available at:
https://dc.law.utah.edu/ulr/vol1996/iss3/3