Legal Method Westlaw/HeinOnline Emily Allbon
Westlaw
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What is Westlaw?
Online searchable database 1000’s of sources of legal information Legislation, law reports Books &… Brilliant for journals
CASE S
Phrase searching
Try ipe” c e r t e “secr
Your turn
Look for Pepper v Hart [1993] AC 593
No need for the ‘v’
Find cases where a word has been defined (e.g. guardian)
‘Traffic light’ coding system: • Red no entry = negative judicial treatment •Yellow exclamation mark = mixed or mildly negative judicial treatment •Green C = Positive or neutral judicial treatment received
Case analysis – journal articles
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 • Tick = In force • N = Not yet in force • P = Partially in force • R = Repealed • !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
Amendments pending?
Use the version button to see how it WILL look…
Looking for acts…
Your turn!
Look for The Freedom of Information Act…
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
Looking for journals… Look for:
Selfstanding actions for judicial review and the Swedish Factortame Xavier Groussot
Full text available
Looking for journals
Email it to yourself!
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t ’ n o d I ) ; t i t n wa
Commentary
Several key practitioner texts including Archbold (for Crime) Be aware that we only have the basic subscription for books…We don’t have access to Chitty (Contracts) or Clerk & Lindsell (Tort) amongst others.
More detailed searching
Your turn…
Search for a judgment by Lord Denning that talks about a red hand.
Advanced searching keyword s
Name of judge
A better hit list!
Your turn… Search for cases that discuss the: Criminal Justice Act 1991 s.28
Improving your search
OR Phrases Wildcards Truncation And Proximity
*Use the Terms in Context to help you filter*
Phrase searching
In Westlaw: drink driving = drink AND driving (not necessarily together)
If searching for a phrase: “drink driving”
Truncation Search for cases on: hijack! and aeroplane or plane How many cases do you find?
Wildcards “dr*nk driving” Drink driving or drunk driving
Proximity searching Lexis
w/3 w/p w/s
Westlaw
/3 /p /s
Your turn…
Search for cases of negligence in swimming pools…
Cut a big list down with proximit y 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…
•
Find a case involving midgets, who were on exhibition at a circus when an elephant knocked them down.
Saving your research
• New feature allows you to save your research in Westlaw. • My folders
And another…
Find a case about dodgy cabbage seeds where Lord Denning quotes the walrus from Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass…
Westlaw rep Aurore In law library lab: Tuesday and Thursday 111 See her blogpost on Lawbore Future Lawyer
HeinOnline
American service – obvious emphasis on US materials Easytouse Brilliant for journals Includes English Reports
Find this CLJ article (1955)
Find this pre1865 case – 3 Man & G. 842
What is the name of the case and its
Using ejournals on Lawbore
The stuff here!
They’re not abbreviations!
Journals are confusing…
Which database can you find these in? Parliamentary Affairs 1965 Journal of Law and Society 1985 International and Comparative Law
Quarterly 2001 Common Market Law Review 1997 Journal of International Economic Law 1995
Final Coursework Online Resources Workbook
Find cases, legislation & journal articles ½ marks for right answer ½ marks for the method
Example question Q. Which Act or Acts did Middlebrook Mushrooms Ltd v Transport & General Workers Union cite? A. Answer: Trade Union & Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 s.219, 219(1) & 220. Database used: Westlaw Which part: Cases tab Search terms: Search by Party Names middlebrook mushrooms
Do the survey!