In law school, much of your early course work is focused on litigation practice. Litigation practice involves cases arising out of legal disputes that took place in the past. Transactional practice is more forward looking. A transactional lawyer works with clients to accomplish goals such as forming a business, completing a business transaction, or complying with state and federal laws. Transactional law encompasses a variety of different practice areas like mergers & acquisitions, capital markets, finance, private equity/venture capital, tax, real estate, and intellectual property. Common tasks for transactional lawyers may include drafting and negotiating agreements, counseling clients, and legal research. This guide provides and overview of starting points for a transactional law research project and provides instruction on specific research tasks commonly associated with transactional practice. It also highlights specialized research platforms that are designed for efficiently conducting research related to transactional tasks.
If you are new to transactional practice you may encounter unfamiliar legal or business terms. There are a number of dictionaries and glossaries that can assist you in understanding these terms.
Practical guidance materials are a unique type of secondary source. Unlike traditional legal treatises that take a more scholarly approach to a topic, practical guidance materials are written for practitioners and provide "how to" information that explains how to carry out common legal tasks along with discussion of applicable legal authorities. Practical guidance is often authored by practicing attorneys. Practical guidance platforms are organized by practice area and legal task and can be searched by keyword.
Boston College Law Library provides students with access to a number of practical guidance resources, the major platforms are listed below.
Imagine you're a summer associate and are part of a team that will be conducting due diligence as part of a merger and you just received your first assignment. You've never conducted due diligence and don't really understand what your responsibilities are. This is where practical guidance can be of assistance. Practical guidance will provide you with an explanation of when and why due diligence is conducted in the merger process along with tools to help you organize and complete the tasks you've been assigned. For example, see Due Diligence for Public Mergers and Acquisitions, by Practical Law.
Practical guidance materials cover a number of transactional practice areas including, but not limited to, real estate, M&A, intellectual property, corporate governance, labor & employment, finance, and healthcare. There are also a variety of different types of practical guidance including practice notes, checklists, and annotated agreements. The type of guidance that will be most useful to you will depend on your assignment. See the chart below for a description of the different types along with links to examples.
| Resource Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Toolkit/Resource Kit |
A toolkit or resource kit is a resource that cites and links to a variety of relevant practical guidance materials on a single legal topic or task. They are a good starting point for identifying a wide range of practical guidance for your particular assignment. |
Trademark Registration and Maintenance Resource Kit (Lexis Practical Guidance); Shareholder Proposal Toolkit (West Practical Law) |
| Practice Note | Practice notes provide an overview of a topic or issue, may give you a broad overview or address a narrow topic, help prepare for handling a legal task, and cite to relevant legal authorities. | Due Diligence for Public Mergers and Acquisitions (West Practical Law); Incorporation Documents and Actions for Start-Ups (Lexis Practical Guidance) |
| Checklist/Flowchart | Resources that can help you identify key issues you need to consider or address. Also includes tools that can help you organize and plan for your legal task. | U.S. Trademark Application Flowchart (Lexis Practical Law); Form Check Guide: Form 10-K Checklist (West Practical Law) |
| Standard Agreement/Clause | Form contracts, agreements, policies and other legal documents with annotations including practice notes and citations to relevant primary authority that can help prepare for a drafting assignment. | Patent License Agreement (West Practical Law); Franchise Agreement (Lexis Practical Law) |
There are multiple ways to locate relevant practical guidance resources;
Watch the short video below for tips on navigating practical guidance platforms and searching for helpful materials.
Hotshot Legal Another helpful resource when faced with a transactional assignment is Hotshot. Hotshot is a learning platform with short, interactive videos covering a variety of transactional practices including venture financing, commercial transactions, restructuring, securities offerings and mergers & acquisitions. The videos provide an explanation of transactional topics and practical skills for completing related tasks. Hotshot videos provide important context for understanding and conducting related research. You can sign up for access to BC Law's account using your BC email here. If you need assistance contact a Teaching & Research librarian at lawresearchhelp@bc.edu.
Lexis Practical Guidance provid
es practice videos on a wide range of transactional law topics including entity formation, capital markets, mergers and private equity practice. The videos are all short, usually no more that 5 minutes in length and contain a transcript and links to related practical guidance available on the Lexis Practical Guidance platform. You can find the videos organized by practice area in Lexis Practical Guidance. They are also searchable to aid in locating a video on your topic.