Your goal in legal research is to find Legal Authority you can cite to win your argument.

Primary authority is Law created by the 3 branches of government:

• Cases .... (Judicial)
• Statutes .... (Legislative)
• Regulations ..... (Executive)

Secondary Authority is NOT the law. It is ABOUT the law.

Secondary authority is helpful because it:

• provides citations to primary authority
• explains and interprets primary authority
• may provide analysis of what the law should be
• gives background and overview of topic

Mandatory = Binding

Is the law in your jurisdiction:

• Cases from the highest Court in your state (for state issues)
• Statutes from your state (for state issues)
• U.S. Supreme Court cases
• U.S. Appellate and District Court cases (federal issues)
• federal statutes (federal issues)

Authority MUST be Primary to be Mandatory.

Persuasive authority is all authority that is not Mandatory Authority

• All Secondary Authority
• All Primary that is not Mandatory in your jurisdiction