Quick
overview of the legal research process
The research path you
follow will vary depending on the nature of your topic and legal issue. There
is no single “right” path to take in conducting legal research.
While there will be times when you will follow the research steps suggested herein
in a linear fashion, that will not always be the case.
Regardless of the path you
follow using the steps below, if you are thorough and flexible in your research
you will succeed!
1.
Identify the scope of the legal question. Ask specific
questions to identify:
(a) the relevant
jurisdiction
(b) key sources and search
terms
(c) the applicable time
period.
2.
Begin your research by consulting a secondary source.
Core texts, Halsbury’s
Laws, key articles, can give perspective on how your specific issue fits into a
broader legal context and will assist you in finding on-point primary
authority. These are particularly useful if you have no experience
of the area of law as they will act as a background. Note references to
pertinent statutes and case citations. Search for articles on the topic
using the main legal journal indexes. These include the Legal Journals
Index (on Westlaw), Index to Legal Periodicals via Oxlip+ and Google
Scholar. You can also widen the scope of your search to outside the legal
indexes and search the Social Science Citation Index as well.
3.
Identify relevant statutes.
If you located an
applicable statute in your review of secondary sources, review the annotations
for the applicable provision in Halsbury’s Statutes or on one of the various
databases (Westlaw, Lexis Library, Legislation.gov). Browse the contents of the
statute to identify any other pertinent sections. Browse the contents page of
the Halsbury's Statutes volume to find other relevant statutes. Look at
any analysis documents available on the databases.
4. Identify the cases that are on-point for your specific
facts.
When reading secondary
sources, note cases that relate to your set of facts. Follow up the cases,
checking headnotes and reading judgments that seem applicable. One good case
can be a great starting point for research on narrow topics.
5. Use digests and databases
to find more cases.
Digests provide another
excellent resource to identify relevant case law. The Digest is a good source
for finding English and Commonwealth cases by topic. It has the same subject
structure as Halsbury’s Laws. You can also search for cases on the
databases using subject terms. You may need to think about your search
terms carefully as the database are very large. Use Boolean operators and
connectors when possible to increase the accuracy of your results.
6. Confirm that your authority is still good law.
Use Westlaw Case Analysis,
Lexis Case Search or a print citator to check that your cases are still good
law and provide the most current, direct authority available for your set of
facts.
7.
Search other online sources to fill any gaps in your research.
There are many other
online sources other than Westlaw and Lexis Library. There are free
sources such as the Legal Scholarship Network which can be useful for recent
articles as well as Google Scholar, Bailii and Legislation.gov. Blogs, policy
websites and so on are also useful, depending on the topic but you must be
careful to evaluate the information you find on the web for accuracy.
8. Keep a record of your research trail.
Document all sources
reviewed, including all sections and page numbers, regardless of whether you
located relevant materials in them. This will help you later when you write up
your research and need to check points.
Some
keys to legal research success:
(a) Get to know your
librarian
(b) Take the courses on
topics/searching/endnote etc on offer
(c) Get out of the
Google-search mindset – ask us the tricks of each database
(d) Look beyond Lexis and
Westlaw
(e) Use secondary sources
(f) Know when to stop
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