This guide was designed for the LLM Corporate Law Writing Group. It contains a selection of resources you may find helpful as you develop your paper topic, do a preemption check and perform research for your Long Paper. It is not exhaustive and additional, more targeted (or broader), resources may be available, depending on your topic. This is a good place to start.
As you conduct your research and find sources relevant to your topic, you should consider setting up alerts on legal research platforms you find helpful. This way you can be notified when additional items are added to a database that meet your search criteria. You can ask the research librarian supporting your writing group for assistance creating an alert (Lisa Lilliott Rydin).
Once you know your paper topic, you should schedule an appointment for a research consultation with the research librarian supporting your writing group (Lisa Lilliott Rydin).
To get started, here are some Research Guides you may find helpful:
The following videos provide an overview on how to use our library catalog and e-research system. The research librarian supporting your writing group can provide further assistance.
A good, general resource on legal academic writing is the book: Academic Legal Writing: Law Review Articles, Student Notes, and Seminar Papers, by Eugene Volokh. Copies are available in the stacks, as part of the Study Guide Collection (at the Circulation Desk) and in the Reference Area.
Below are some select resources you may find helpful but also check the "Sources for Comparing Jurisdictions" section of this Guide and feel free to reach out to me regarding additional resources related to the specific jurisdictions you are interested in or for more historical research.
Below are some HLS Research Guides that can help you get started with your research. They will point you to a variety of resources you may find helpful in a particular area of law.
As HLS students, you have physical access to the other libraries within Harvard University and may have access to their research databases. (Unfortunately, licensing restrictions can limit access to some databases - if you have questions, please ask one of the Reference Librarians.)
Below are some selected resources. For a more comprehensive list of academic literature by field (e.g., Business and Management, Economics, Environmental Studies, Government, Political Science, and International Relations, etc.), you can use the HOLLIS Databases page and look under "Best Databases For:"
Additional information on using a Bloomberg Terminal can be found by following this link to another Research Guide I prepared.
NOTE: The linked Guide was designed for a specific class (not the LLM Writing Group). However, it will get you started if you are not familiar with using a Bloomberg Terminal. For specific questions concerning your research, I recommend you reach out directly to Bloomberg's Customer Support. They know their Bloomberg Terminal best.
Additional information on using Capital IQ can be found by following this link to another Research Guide I prepared.
NOTE: The linked Guide was designed for a specific class (not the LLM Writing Group). However, it will get you started if you are not familiar with Capital IQ. For specific questions concerning your research, I recommend you reach out directly to Capital IQ's Customer Support. They know their database the best and can assist you by email or telephone.
Oxford Bibliographies - Oxford Bibliographies is a series of selective, discipline-focused, online guides to the essential literature in subjects in the humanities and social sciences, as identified by editors and editorial boards selected by the Oxford University Press. Individual guides are updated quarterly, with 50-75 entries added per year to each subject area, as well as revisions to existing entries. Entries provide synoptic, bibliographic guides to the key literature and most useful online resources in given areas of research. Click on "Browse by Subject" (upper left) or "Advanced Search" (upper right) to see options (e.g., International Law).
Oxford Handbooks Online (Scholarly Research Reviews) - Each Handbook offers thorough introductions to topics and a critical survey of the current state of scholarship, creating an original conception of the field and setting the agenda for new research. Handbook articles review the key issues and cutting-edge debates, as well as providing arguments for how those debates might evolve. Click on "Browse by Subject" (upper left) to see all options. Then click on a Subject (e.g., Law) and refine by subtopic in the left margin (e.g., Company and Commercial Law, Competition Law, Financial Law, etc.).
Topical Databases:
You should also search HOLLIS for relevant works, but below are some titles and collections that might be particularly useful.
Below are some selected resources. For a more comprehensive list of foreign and comparative law databases, please see the HLS Library's Foreign & Comparative Legal Research webpage.
Below are some regional databases you may find useful (though not specifically "legal" in nature). You can also search for other relevant databases you may have access to through the general Harvard University Library using HOLLIS's database locator (scroll down for suggestions).
Below is a list of HLS Research Guides that focus on doing research in specific non-US jurisdictions.