# Legal AI Research for U.S. Lawyers: A Primary-Source Workflow Published and updated 2026-10-04 · RuleX editorial team · United States · American English Effective legal AI research starts with the governing jurisdiction, forum and material facts. Ask for primary authority, open each statute or opinion, check its relevance and current treatment, and connect the proposition to the record. RuleX brings the research and matter documents into the same assignment so the resulting memorandum has an auditable path back to the law and facts. ## Turn the client question into a research assignment. “Can we terminate this agreement?” leaves too much implicit. An actionable assignment identifies the governing state, choice-of-law clause, forum, date of the relevant events and the specific remedy. Add the signed agreement, amendments and communications that bear on notice or performance. A useful first output is an issue map: the legal question, material facts, disputed facts, governing sources and next document to produce. This exposes the facts that change the legal analysis before the memorandum takes shape. 1. Name the state and forum. 2. Describe the claim, procedural posture and requested relief. 3. Attach the relevant documents and identify conflicting versions. 4. Specify the as-of date and ask for primary sources. 5. Request an issue map before drafting the final memorandum. ## Separate federal procedure from the governing substantive law. A matter in federal court can involve state substantive law. An assignment should identify the basis of jurisdiction, choice-of-law issues and the specific procedural question. Ask the research to address those dimensions separately, rather than treating the forum’s location as the answer to every governing-law question. For precedent, identify the issuing court and the relationship to the forum. A binding decision and a persuasive decision can support different propositions. Ask the memorandum to make that relationship explicit beside each authority. ## Open the authority and locate the proposition. Primary-source review follows a concrete sequence: confirm the document, read the relevant passage in context and record the pinpoint location. For a statute, check the applicable version and effective date. For a decision, read the procedural posture and distinguish the holding from a description of a party’s argument. Use the official court website for opinions and rules, and official federal or state legislative sources for statutes. Record the retrieved date and keep the source link with the research note. Verify subsequent history and negative treatment through your research services and the underlying authorities. ## Draft with the record beside the rule. A useful memorandum separates rule, application and conclusion. Each application paragraph connects a document-backed fact to the relevant element or standard. Label disputed facts and identify the additional evidence that could change the recommendation. In RuleX, start from the matter documents, ask for the research assignment and refine the memorandum in the drafting workspace. Download the Word document for review, keep the authority links and return to the same matter when the record develops. ## Give the next attorney a reproducible handoff. The handoff should include the assignment, facts reviewed, authority table, unresolved questions and the editable draft. Preserve the court, jurisdiction and as-of date in the document itself. A colleague can then repeat the source check without reconstructing the entire conversation. Before sending the memorandum, review every legal proposition, quotation, pinpoint and factual assertion. Professional-responsibility guidance places competence, confidentiality and supervision within the attorney’s workflow; apply your jurisdiction’s rules and the client’s instructions to the assignment. ## Frequently asked questions ### What should I include in a U.S. legal research prompt? Include the governing state, forum, procedural posture, material facts, requested relief and as-of date. Attach the relevant documents and ask for primary authority with pinpoint references. ### How do I turn AI research into a usable memorandum? Create an issue map, verify primary sources, distinguish controlling and persuasive authority, apply the rule to document-backed facts and export an editable draft for attorney review. ## Sources - [U.S. Courts — court website links](https://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/court-website-links) - [GovInfo — U.S. Code collection](https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/uscode) - [ABA Formal Opinion 512 — Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools](https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/professional_responsibility/ethics-opinions/aba-formal-opinion-512.pdf) ## Work on the matter in RuleX [Create a U.S. account](https://rulex.org/united-states?register=1) · [U.S. pricing](https://rulex.org/united-states/pricing) ## Representation This Markdown represents the same public page. 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