Emily Allbon
LEGAL RESEARCH
What will I be able to do at the end?
Understand the limitations of Google
Be able to find cases, legislation and journal articles via Westlaw
Know which other resources are available
Be able to plan your searching & choose keywords wisely
Use advanced search techniques
Everything’s on google now isn’t it?
Remember…
Information on the internet can be:
Out of date
Unreliable
Biased
It can be moved or removed without warning
There are no standards or index online
Google scholar ď ˝
http://scholar.google.com/
ď ˝
References to peerreviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations.
So why are databases so vital?
Easier to search by subject Access to more material than in the library Easier to print than photocopy Access 24/7 Value added, up to date info Authoritative (unlike Google!) Used in all major law firms and chambers
w o h r e b r m o f e y m Re we pa ! es h c c i u v r m e s e thes
What do we have at City?
Lexis
Westlaw
HeinOnline
i-law
…plus content on Lawbore
How to access?
WESTLAW
Your profile
Westlaw
What is Westlaw?
Online searchable database
1000’s of sources of legal information
Legislation, law reports
Books &…
Brilliant for journals
CASES
Phrase searching
Try ipe” c e r t “secre
Your turn ď ˝
Find this case:
Airedale NHS Trust v Bland [1993] AC 789
No need for the ‘v’
Find cases where a word has been defined (e.g. guardian)
Case Analysis
Journal articles
‘Traffic light’ coding system: • Red no entry = negative judicial treatment – at least one point of law has been overruled or reversed on appeal. • Yellow exclamation mark = mixed or mildly negative judicial treatment • Green C = Positive or neutral judicial treatment received
Additional views within case analysis
These can sometimes look complicated!
LEGISLATION
Looking for acts…
Look for Welfare Reform Act 2007
Finds statutes & SI’s
Sections of the Act It’s those traffic lights again! • • • • • •
Tick = In force N = Not yet in force P = Partially in force R = Repealed ! = Amendment pending No entry = Provision superseded
Amendments pending?
Use the version button to see how it WILL look‌
Looking for acts…
Your turn!
Look for The Freedom of Information Act…
Finding legislation
JOURNAL ARTICLES
Journal searching LEGAL JOURNALS INDEX
Summaries of articles from 400 legal journals.
Comprehensive search.
Articles not on Westlaw could be in library or on Lexis or HeinOnline.
Frustrating if no access to full text.
FULL TEXT
Full text articles from 111 legal journals.
Gets straight to the article.
Not comprehensive – coverage never goes back further than 1986.
Journal searching – browse or search
Your turn! Look for‌ Self-standing actions for judicial review and the Swedish Factortame by Xavier Groussot
Full text available
Looking for journals ď ˝
Email it to yourself!
Email options
t ’ n o d I ) ; t i t n wa
Commentary
Several key practitioner texts
Chitty, Clerk & Lindsell, Benjamin Sale of Goods etc
Some we do not subscribe to…
More detailed searching
Thinking about keywords It’s hard!
What about these?
Cartwheel step
Possible search terms
1. Broader words
Bankruptcy
2. Narrower words
Administration, termination, extinguish
3.Synonyms
Liquidation, restructuring
4. Antonyms – might give useful cross-ref
Solvent, credit, profit, cash flow
5. Closely related words
Debts, arrears, assets, estate, trustee, creditor, debenture, property
6a. Terms of procedure
Winding-up, receivership
6b. Terms of remedy
Voluntary arrangement, liquidator, administrator
7. Courts and agencies
Companies House, Central Registry for Company Winding Up Petitions, Register of Insolvencies
8. Long shots
Fraud, disqualification order
Applying those principles…See if you can find this case…
An appeal on behalf of two men getting their own back on a gang who broke into their home with weapons… weapons.
Improving your search
OR
Phrases
Wildcards
Truncation
And
Proximity
*Use the Terms in Context to help you filter*
Combining words – and e.g. defamation and internet ded n a p ex Use option list
“Emily Allbon knows zilch about law”
Using OR Think like a thesaurus!
OR searching
medical negligence baby infant and
or
Connectors
and • •
NARROWS SEARCH Use when both words HAVE to appear Use when both words have to appear but not next to each other
or • • •
BROADENS SEARCH Use for synonyms Use for abbreviations Use when you don’t mind which word appears so long as one of them does
Truncation
startoftheword! Will find all endings of the word
Truncation continued… borrow!
tax!
borrower
taxation
borrowing
taxes
borrowed
taxed
But also…
taxi
taxidermist
Your turn Search for cases on:
Unfair dismissal and pregnan!
Queen Victoria Seaman’s Rest Ltd v Ward (2009)
What issues did the claimant have with her workspace?
What was the result of the appeal?
Wildcards “dr*nk driving� Drink driving or drunk driving
Your turn ď ˝
Search for cases involving:
g*psy and caravan
When did the claimant in Doherty and Others v Birmingham City Council [2008] UKHL 57 obtain a licence to station a caravan on plot 12?
Your turn‌ ď ˝
Search for a judgment by Lord Denning that talks about a red hand.
Advanced searching keywords
Name of judge
A better hit list!
Your turn‌ Search for cases that discuss the: Criminal Justice Act 1991 s.28
Proximity searching = the best one of all!
Westlaw /p /s /3
Your turn…
Search for cases of negligence in swimming pools…
Cut a big list down with proximity search!
Try /s or /5 to get the list down further‌
Other jurisdictions? Patchy and well hidden
UK & EU as standard
US, Australia, Canada more limited
International materials available
Some silly ones to finish with Westlaw‌ •
Find a case involving midgets, who were on exhibition at a circus when an elephant knocked them down.
And another…
Find a case about dodgy cabbage seeds where Lord Denning quotes the walrus from Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass…
An insult…?
Can you find the name of the case where the defendant called someone a ‘monkey-faced tart’?
And another!
In which case did a well-known actor, director and writer bring an action against a journalist for writing statements which purported him to be ‘hideously ugly’?
Saving your research
• New feature allows you to save your research in Westlaw. • My folders
HeinOnline
American service – obvious emphasis on US materials
Easy-to-use
Brilliant for journals
Includes English Reports
Find this CLJ article (1955)
Find this pre-1865 case – 3 Ma n & G. 842
What is the name of the case and its ER reference?
Using e-journals on Lawbore
The stuff here!
Journals are confusing‌