Advanced Legal Research Certificate

Effective legal research begins with you. This course surveys legal research and online information retrieval methods using free legal resources and proprietary networks. The objective of this course is to expand on and refine professional legal research skills with a focus on practitioner-oriented methods. This online certificate is designed to provide an overview of legal research methods and progress through subject-specific resources and sophisticated research methodologies.

New for 2024: This course provides an introduction to AI-enhanced legal research methods. Students will learn the difference between extractive and generative AI, what prompts are and how to use them, and what AI does – and does not do – to alter legal research in practice.

Florida Focus

Not all areas of the law utilize the same research resources, strategies and techniques. Students will be exposed to specific Florida topical research areas and unique resources for this state law research. 

Advanced Understanding

By the end of the course, you will know how to:

• Evaluate, select and use appropriate legal research tools with a particular emphasis on cost effective research.
• Construct a legal research plan and implement the plan using major free and proprietary legal sources leveraged by modern law firms and other law practices.
• Understand which resources to use, and when and how the resources relate to one another, and where to find various types of legal information and sources.
• Understand how to evaluate sources of legal information for issues of accuracy, completeness, and cost.
• Respond to complex litigation and corporate law research assignments.
• Leverage AI in legal research and document preparation.

Topics Covered by Week Include:

• Developing an efficient and cost effective research strategy
• Case law including docket research, court rules, verdicts and settlements
• Statutory law, legislative materials and legislative history
• Administrative rules, regulations and related materials
• Advanced searching skills in legal research databases
• Practice materials, litigation and transactional tools
• Free and low cost internet legal resources
• AI and the Legal Industry

Ana Ramirez Toft-Nielsen is a highly experienced professional in the fields of higher education services, legal research training, and support to law schools and law firms. She currently holds a manager position at an AmLaw 100 firm, where she is responsible for organizing, conducting, and training incoming associates, laterals, and partners in legal research techniques, strategies, and client preparation. She also stays up-to-date on the latest research and innovation tools, including GenAI.

Ana earned her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Miami School of Law, where she practiced in the areas of commercial litigation, business immigration, and intellectual property. After her practice, she transitioned into the legal research area and later pursued a Master’s in Library Sciences from Florida State University. In addition to her professional roles, Ana serves as an Adjunct Professor at Florida International University College of Law and other South Florida law schools, teaching Advanced Electronic Legal Research and Law Practice Technology to upper-level law students. 

Ana is an active member of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), where she has held several committee positions. She served on the Appointments Committee from 2019-2020 and was a part of the Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity Awareness Special Committee from 2020-2022. She is also a member of the Private Law Librarians & Information Professionals Special Interest Section, where she has been part of the Speaker/Mentoring Committee from 2021-2023 and the Education Committee from 2021-2022. She was the Co-Chair of the Education Committee from 2022-2023 and a member of the Annual Meeting Program Committee from 2023-2024. She will also serve as the Vice Chair of the Innovations in Technology Award Jury from 2024-2025 and as the Future Chair from 2025-2026. Ana is also a member of the Academic Law Libraries Special Interest Section and the Professional Engagement, Growth, & Advancement Special Interest Section, where she contributed to the “Leader In You” Column and co-created the Foundations of Legal Research online course as a Legal Research Subject Matter Expert from 2022-2023.

In recognition of her contributions, Ana was awarded the AALL Minority Leadership Development Award in 2022. She also holds a Quality Matters Certification from Florida International University. She is fluent in Spanish and is admitted to the Florida Bar and the Southern, Middle, and Northern Districts of Florida.

Students of the Advanced Legal Research Certificate pay

• $799

Payments for tuition are payable online through FIU Continuing Professional Education.

Students who complete the Advanced Legal Research Certificate receive a Certificate from FIU Law delivered electronically after confirmation of participation and performance.

I cannot believe that we are in the last week of the course, I have enjoyed the ride and I have learned a lot. I feel prepared and competent to do any legal research because of this course. In the long run, I know this course will open new doors and opportunities in my legal career.

Everything was amazing, the classes, the power points, the live sessions and you.

Thank you so much.

– Jannette Pineiro, Esq., Summer 2020

I really enjoyed the class and found it helpful and informative. Because of our COVID workload, I wasn’t able to complete any classwork during the workday, but I was happy to do it on my own time because it was such a valuable experience.

It was more hands-on than a lot of one-day or one-session trainings I’ve attended. We were given full access to Westlaw and Lexis for the duration of the course, which was a tremendous learning tool. We were able to perform all sorts of searches and learn the features of the databases without the worry of incurring extra charges.

The course was set up so that we usually had one assignment per week that focused on the research skills and tools we covered in class that week. Those assignments really allowed us to dig into the resources and think about how we could best approach solving the issue at hand.

There was also a discussion board component where all students were able to discuss the research strategies they used and ask any questions of classmates, like if they were experiencing some of the same issues or if they found any good workarounds. Ana would pop into those discussions and offer feedback and guidance, as well.

Overall, I loved it, and I’m thankful for the opportunity!

– Amy Backes, Summer 2020