Often, the issues will be framed in terms of the question to be answered (e.g., "On what grounds may the police search the contents of a vehicle's trunk?" Before actual research begins, think about and analyze the problem. The easier it is to understand your documents, the more convincing your legal arguments will be. As mentioned elsewhere, it is usually more effective to start your research by consulting secondary sources such as books, journal articles or encyclopedias to see what others have said about your issues. In many cases, the issues will be quite obvious or may be directly identified by the lawyer you are working with. When performing legal research, its important to understand the Supreme Court Briefs. finding relevant cases and legislation (primary sources of law) using textbooks, journal articles, encyclopedias and other reference tools (secondary sources of law). 78 Queen's Park, Toronto, ON M5S 2C5 Copyright 2020 LexisNexis. Sometimes, at the beginning of the process, you may not know enough law to be able to determine what facts are relevant, so it may be that you will re-evaluate the facts once you have started to actually conduct the hands-on research. When legal documents are poorly written, the judge has difficulty understanding your situation and your legal arguments might be lost. 2)Primary versus secondary resources 3)Print versus online research 4)The research and writing process. To help students better prepare for Bar admission we have developed a Legal Research and Writing (LRW) course that provides students with insights and best practices as well as an opportunity to apply their learnings throughout the course. (Dal. Legal research is more than just the effective use of books and online resources; it is also the analysis and thought processes that occur as part of conducting legal research. ), M.L.I.S., is the Chief Law Librarian in the Sir James Dunn Law Library, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University. ), began working for Legal Research Council as a full-time researcher in 2000 and became Director of Research in January of 2003. Online resources are often more up-to-date than their print equivalents, The U of T library catalogue provides access to online books and journal articles and well as print material. or "Did our client have reasonable grounds to dismiss Mr. Smith from his employment on the basis of Mr. Smith's conviction on theft charges?). Secondary sources of law are: textbooks, journals, encyclopedias, reference or finding tools. The issues as identified will drive the legal research by affecting the type of resources to be consulted, the jurisdictions to be covered and the type of information to be obtained. Some material is in the Robarts library and some is in storage. Primary sources of law are : legislation, case law and decisions of administrative tribunals. No spaces allowed. Philip Whitehead, B.Sc., LL.B. (Hons. if the age of the child becomes relevant in the case law or legislation). Organize Your Writing. Issues: Once the necessary facts have been uncovered, it is equally important to then identify the relevant issues arising from the facts. Cannot include your user id. In real life, it is also important to realize that legal research problems are often not clearly stated. The need for comprehensive research and clear, effective writing spans all areas of legal practice, which is what makes this latest edition of, Legal Writing and Research Manual, 8th Edition, Student Edition, Ontario Family Law Practice, 2021 Edition (Volume 1) + Related Materials (Volume 2), Halsbury's Laws of Canada Trade-marks, Passing Off and Unfair Competition (2020 Reissue), Legal Writing and Research Manual, 8th Edition, Discover the sources of primary and secondary legal materials, Learn the research techniques used to locate statutes, regulations and cases, Understand how to research a legal problem and prepare a legal memorandum, Explore the continually developing world of online legal research, Master the citation of case and statutory authorities, as well as the general rules of style in legal writing, Review sample legal documents to gain additional insight, Discussion of new online research tools and databases such as Lexis Advance Quicklaw, WestlawNext, Codify, Legisinfo, Revised sample legal documents as helpful references: Factum, Legal Brief, Legal Memorandum, Discusses new platforms for Canadian Encyclopedic Digest (CED) Ontario and CED Western and how to access them, Useful websites for searching UK legislation, Contains relevant new, revised and amended legislation for each province and territory such as interpretation acts, New information on how to cite legislative documents from First Nations. Effective writing. However, navigating the world of case law and legislation can be overwhelming especially for law students and new lawyers. All rights reserved. Comprehensive research. Analysis/Application: When the various bits of research have been uncovered, it is then time to analyze the research, and where necessary, conduct more research. Part of the analysis process involves applying the legal research to the facts of the case in order to answer the questions raised by the issues you have already identified. 4) The research and writing process 1) What is legal research? Start your research using secondary sources of law to locate a broad overview or explanation of the law. Legal Writing Research Basic Legal Research. Organization is the key to successful legal writing. Conclusions: If the research done appears to address the various issues raised by the problem, it is then time for the researcher to draw conclusions from the research and, depending on for whom the research is being conducted, prepare a legal research memo based on the research. It is therefore important for the legal researcher to ensure that he or she has all the necessary facts before proceeding further in the legal research process. ^ _ ` { | }~ . @ . Successful practice. In many situations, proper representation of a client's interests depends on the lawyer's ability to identify and research the relevant issues, and then persuasively communicate the points that support the client's case. Legal writing is the style of writing used when youre writing a document thats filed or presented at court. 1)What is legal research? Product description. Comprehensive research. Checklists will help trigger the standard steps you should be taking when conducting legal research. finding relevant cases and legislation (primary sources of law) using textbooks, journal articles, encyclopedias and other reference tools (secondary sources of law). If you have questions about legal research and writing arising from this module, please see any of the law library reference staff. Please Note: Not all the material listed in these tutorials is available for consultation at the library while we are in our temporary location. Start with a Secondary Source 8 By taking a systematized, logical approach to legal research, you will minimize the risk of inadvertently overlooking something. Tel: 416-978-1073, Current Index to Legal Periodicals (e.legal), Database of Law Journals Available Electronically and at the Bora Laskin Law Library, Tables of Contents for Canadian Law Journals, Step 1: Secondary Sources - Legal Encyclopedias, Step 1: Secondary Sources - Journals and Journal Indexes, Step 1: Secondary Sources - Dictionaries, Words and Phrases, Abbreviations, Step 1: Secondary Sources - Other Sources, Step 2: Primary Sources of Law: Canadian Case Law, Step 2: Primary Sources of Law: Canadian Legislation, Lawyers, Law Firms and Government Departments (External Borrowers), Students and Faculty from Other Universities, Collection of Documents on Gender Discrimination and the Indian Act, Collection of Documents Relating to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women In Canada, Special Projects and Collections of Documents, Women's Human Rights Resources Programme (WHRR). Legal writing is a backbone of a well researched legal document services and both legal research and writing greatly complement each other. Legal research and writing are fundamental skills required of practising lawyers in Canada. The need for comprehensive research and clear, effective writing spans all areas of legal practice, from civil litigation and constitutional law to family law and criminal appeals. Speed up your checkout, save your information for future purchases and receive exclusive discounts by registering for a secure online account. The vast majority of legal internships and permanent positions will require the deployment of legal writing skills. Create a roadmap for Previously, Ms. Matthewman was the Library Manager/Executive Director of the Toronto Lawyers Association for several years. Even if you have followed the FILAC steps in order, when at the "law" or "legal research" stage, you may uncover something in your research that requires you to ask more questions (e.g., "How old was the child at the time of the incident?" verifying that the law one has found is still valid and not overruled, repealed or otherwise questioned or criticized. She has been involved in law library associations and served as President of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries and the Treasurer of the American Association of Law Libraries. In those cases, the legal researcher should engage in some analysis to identify the relevant facts and issues; plan the necessary legal research required, and then to analyze and draw conclusions from the research conducted. Must contain one character from three of the following four groups: Upper case letter (A-Z), Lower case letter (a-z), Number (0-9), Special characters like ! # $ % & ' * + - / = ? The First-Year Legal Research and Writing Program (LRW) is a series of sequenced, interrelated exercises introducing students to the way lawyers conduct legal research, analyze and frame legal positions, and present their work in writing and in oral argument. The need for comprehensive research and clear, effective writing spans all areas of legal practice, from civil litigation and constitutional law to family law and criminal appeals. It is important to be able to properly integrate both print and online research resources and to know when to use one source over the other. Think of this process as circular, not linear. Law/Legal Research: Once the facts and issues have been defined, the legal research can begin by using the various techniques and resources discussed throughout this tutorial. Legal writing refers generally to the analysis of fact patterns and presentation of arguments in legal memos and briefs. RELX Group and the RE symbol are trade marks of RELX Intellectual Properties SA, used under license. Effective writing. Anne Matthewman, B.A. For many simple legal research problems, however, some of these steps may occur almost simultaneously, rather than sequentially. Bora Laskin Law Library, University of Toronto Successful practice. Please check the library catalogue to ensure that the material you are looking for is available. Sources of information that describe or interpret the law, such as legal treatises, law review articles, and other scholarly legal writings, cited by lawyers to persuade a court to reach a particular decision in a case, but which the court is not obligated to follow. some material, especially textbooks, older cases and journal articles, is only available in print. You can then start to read, analyze and verify relevant primary sources of law such as case law and legislation. The password must be 8-50 characters. She also co-teaches the research section of the legal writing and research course for first year law students and teaches advanced legal research to students in upper years. The Practical Guide to Canadian Legal Research by Nancy MacCormack, John Papdopoulos and Catherine Cotter [KE250 .C37 2010 Course Reserves, provides a legal research checklist in Chapter 2 that will guide you through the research process. That's what makes this latest edition of Legal Writing and Research Manual required reading, and a necessary addition to law libraries across Canada. This comprehensive guide from Legal Research: Mandatory v. Persuasive Authority. Mr. Whitehead is a practising member of the Nova Scotia Bar with Whitehead and Associates where appears before various levels of the Nova Scotia courts in the areas of property, wills and estates, family, employment and civil litigation. In many situations, proper representation of a client's interests depends on the lawyer's ability to identify and research the relevant issues, and then verifying that the law one has found is still valid and not overruled, repealed or otherwise questioned or criticized. Then finish your research by consulting and verifying primary sources of law. Maureen Fitzgerald, in her book Legal Problem Solving: Reasoning, Research & Writing (5th ed) [ KE250 .F57 2010 Course Reserves] identifies a five-step legal research process that she identifies as F - I - L - A - C: Facts: Many legal research questions are driven by the specific facts underlying the question. Legal research is a critical factor of competent law practice. In real life situations, it is important you ask questions to determine what actually happened in the client's situation. If the facts are changed, the entire approach to answering the question - and the answer itself - will most likely change. Finally, consider using a legal research checklist.