Guide to Legal Research and Writing from the Transnational Perspective

The twenty-first century global world order creates fundamental challenges for the American model of legal education. This professional model cannot focus only on one domestic legal system isolated from the rest of the world. American law students need a realistic exposure to a transnational legal perspective in the contemporary global legal environment. This objective can be achieved in three stages. The first step requires a first year introductory course setting the foundation in public and private international law with the fundamental understanding of the comparative law methodology to grasp legal problems and institutions transcending through national boundaries. In the second stage, the transnational perspective should be emphasized in every domestic course, in the expanded coverage of public and private international law, and in the comparative law curriculum. Finally, in the third stage, law students should have the opportunity to apply their transnational learning experience by selecting an intellectually and professionally stimulating topic for academic research. Through this research, the student should focus not only on developing a thesis and writing a research quality seminar paper, but also on the potential for publication of the paper in law reviews and other legal journals. This concise Guide to Legal Research and Writing from the Transnational Perspective can be used as a practical tool in the critical third stage of the transnational legal education process. Concise practical tips will assist students in the research and writing process. Samples of articles written by the author will provide a model for scholarly writing. Professor Francis A. Gabor, is a Professor of Law at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and a regular visiting professor at the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. He has been teaching in the area of public and private international law and comparative and immigration law. Professor Gabor's research interest is focused on current issues of international trade and investments in Central-Eastern Europe. His treatise on Foreign Investment in Hungary was published by Parker School of Foreign and Comparative Law at Columbia University of New York.