Murray and Desanctis' Legal Research and Writing

Professor Murray has been drafting this book since the beginning of his career in academia at St. Louis University. He taught with his book and other published texts for my 1L Legal Research & Writing class while there, and I found it to be far more readable and coherent than the published texts that were also required reading. Though I can't speak to the current version, I did use his unique alternative to IRAC and had many supervising attorneys pleased with my legal writing.

This book really helped me to develop the essential skills for quality legal writing. It is both comprehensive and easy to understand, a rare treat in a law school textbook. I still turn to it for guidance in my upper-level law courses.

I was one of the first students to use this text in Prof. Murray's Legal Research and Writing Class. I don't know this J. Wargo fellow or what his basis for review of the text is, but I can assure you that this book is indeed a quality text. Having no prior education in legal research or legal writing, this book and Prof. Murray's instruction gave me the necessary tools to succeed in law school. I received honors in both of my research and writing classes during my 1L year, successfully wrote on to a prestigious journal, and have qualified for the second semester of our school's internal moot court competition (which, as I write this, is currently pending). I attribute a large portion of my success to the ideas and skills I have gleaned from Prof. Murray's book, and would highly recommend it.

I highly recommend this text. It is extremely organized and easy to read. Not only did this text help me succeed in my first year writing courses, but I have also consistently used it as a reference throughout my law school career.

This book covers all the important aspects of legal research and writing that you will need in law school and beyond. It is well written and intuitively sequenced. I still refer back to this book on a regular basis when working on legal memos or papers.