Legal Research Certification Program (Prepare to Practice): Home

Spring 2025 Notice

This is your final semester to qualify for a legal research certification. After this point in time all students will have the 1L class of Legal Research 1 available to learn these valuable research tools.

You have until the end of Spring 2025 semester to complete your workshop component. This can include up to 2 outside live research programs as long as they are approved by lawlib@lclark.edu first. This includes Westlaw, Lexis, and Bloomberg trainings.

You have until August 15, 2025 to complete all of the modules and module assessments. If you are graduating in Spring 2025, you must complete the program by May 7, 2025.

Welcome to Prepare to Practice: Legal Research. This is a certification program that will be added to your transcript and can be added to your resume and LinkedIn accounts. It is developed to make legal research part of your law school experience. By completing the program, or any part of the program, you will be a better researcher which will save you time and effort in law school and in the practice of law. The tips learned here, by professional law librarians, will expand your understanding of the law and help you get to the heart of a problem as efficiently as possible.

Students may begin the certification program after completing Lawyering 1 and Lawyering 2, or as an LLM or MSL student.

The P2P program is a legal research certification program. It is made up of a series of online modules, in person lectures, and computer tutorials that will help you become proficient at legal research.

There are 6 mandatory classes or modules required for the completion of the program. You must also choose at least 6 of the Elective classes or workshops to complete the program. There will be approximately 8 to 10 elective classes taught each year. Upon completion of the modules and elective classes a legal research certification note will be added to your official transcript. All classes must be completed before graduation.

Mandatory classes/modules are designed to be taken in order, so after the completion of the first module, you may then move on to the second module. Modules are cumulative, so it is not advised to go out of order.

Please fill out the following form to indicate your intention to begin the Prepare to Practice Legal Research Certification Program.

The following workshops are planned for the spring '25 school year. There will be additional opportunities for workshop credit throughout the semester. If you are signed up for the certification program you will receive an email letting you know about all upcoming workshops. They will also be announced in the school announcements emails and on the Boley website. All workshops will be presented twice, at 12:10 and 4:30pm. Workshops will be held in WH Rm 7.

Wednesday, February 5, Oregon Legislative History- Adam Anderson

Wednesday, February 19, Federal Legislative History- Kian Pakdel

March will be AI month in the library. Look for library and vendor announcements soon on workshops eligible for workshop credit.

We're here to help. Contact a research librarian for help with an assignment, project, or resource. 

Hours:
Mon-Fri, 11am-3pm
503-768-6688
lawlib@lclark.edu

Reference Hours