IPP Unit 4 Reading Notes PDF

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IPP Unit 4 Reading Notes...

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IPP Unit 4 Reading Notes Skills for Lawyers – Chapters 2-9 Steps to Practical Legal Research 1. Devise search terms/keywords carefully  May need to look up keywords in a printed index, or type them into database search engine  Do not try to find the precedent which exactly matches the details facts of the client’s problem  A legal dictionary might come in handy as the published versions of cases or statutes will use words preferred by the judge or draftsperson  Expand any abbreviations  Consider possible synonyms  Also consider terms that might be used in EU law – for example a bank is commonly referred to as a ‘credit institution’ 2. Knowing where to look  A useful starting point to find a general overview of the law is Halsbury’s Laws of England o Could also use key practitioner texts and academic textbooks which provide commentary on the law and are called secondary resources  Once you have a good understanding of the relevant law, move on to primary sources: o statutues o statutory instruments o case law 3. Using Indexes  Most effective way to access the information content  Most paper and online sources will have one or more ‘tables of primary sources’ and a ‘subject index’  A TPS is an index to locate cases, statutes or statutory instruments 4. Record the research trail  It is vital to record the progress of your research and the methods used to location information and using the correct citations  Record: o NAME OF RESOURCE USED o KEYWORDS o DATE YOU CARRIED OUT THE RESEARCH Example: Halsbury’s Laws on LexisLibrary keywords ‘party wall’ and ‘statutory definition’, Vol 4, para 377, date accessed 25/2/20.

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Update Your Information The law changes constantly Make sure the law you cite in your research is up to date Make methodical notes of new information as your research progresses, including full citations and references

6. Presenting your findings in an appropriate format  Present your findings in writing where possible  It’s a good idea to put a summary of your findings at the TOP of your report, and to reference your sources clearly and consistently Chapter 3 ONLINE VERSUS PRINTED SOURCES

Advantages

Online Sources Westlaw and LexisLibrary may be more up-to-date Allow you to search quickly and print or download results

Can access them from anywhere with internet access Faster speed of updating

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Printed Sources Less costly – subscriptions to databases are expensive Good to start with a printed secondary resource, i.e Halsbury’s Laws of England as an index can help structure your research, give you an overview of a subject and identity key legislation and cases – then move on to online database to find and update primary sources Not affected by technological failure Easy to access – no passwords or training in search software needed Convenience

The main online databases are LexisLibrary and Westlaw

Online Resources Google – not as good as Westlaw or LexisLibrary as anyone can post on free websites so they are not fact-checked  Put terms in inverted commas to ONLY find that phrase, i.e. “litigation funding”  ‘site:’ searches only a particular site, i.e. ‘site:www.law.ac.uk’  ‘-site:’ excludes results from a particular site, i.e ‘-site: Wikipedia.org’

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intitle: words in the title of the page, e.g. “environment act” Use advanced search on Google Use https://scholar.google.co.uk – specifically for academic material

Official Websites  bailiii.org  EUR-Lex Europe  legislation.gov.uk  Ministry of Justice  UK Parliament  UK Supreme Court Portals and directories  a good example is Venables.co.uk Social Media and Web 2.0  Good example: infolaw.co.uk/lawfinder Finding company/business information  www.ft.com  Companies House  The Gazette.co.uk Collections  law.com/resources/  Researchgate.net  SSRN – ssrn.com/index.cfm/en/lsn

GETTING STARTED WITH RESEARCH Halsbury’s Laws of England  Gives an overview and highlights key legislation and case law  Available on LexisLibrary  Helps answer day to day legal questions and research questions  Provides the only complete narrative statement of the law...