In my last blog post, we looked at how to research sources to assist with your legal writing, which we will continue to examine in this blog post. Last time, we focused on the different types of sources that you might find and how to start your research. This time, we will be looking at how to find a wide variety of sources to research and support your work. Properly researching your legal writing is important for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it will help you to write a more engaging and persuasive piece of work as you will have a better depth of knowledge to draw on. Secondly, your reference list and your writing should both show your knowledge to the person marking it, giving you a better grade. We will now look at some points to bear in mind when you are researching.
Statutes
Once you have looked at some secondary sources to get some ideas, you can start looking for relevant statutes. The secondary sources you started with no doubt make reference to some, so try looking for these ones. There are a few different places you can look, such as Legislation.gov, Westlaw, or LexisLibrary. Westlaw and LexisLibrary are both paid subscription services, but you may have a subscription as part of your course. If not, Legislation.gov is free to access and has statutes in full, so this is absolutely fine if you just want the original text of the statute.
Statutes are organised into a number of sections and subsections, which should be listed in a table of contents. This makes it easier for you to navigate between particular areas of the statutes, as they are often quite long and unwieldy, so it’s difficult to find a particular piece of information. Taking a glance at the table of contents can also help you to quickly identify any areas you had not already considered. If your portal links to other statutes that are relevant, this can help you to expand your research to take new areas into account. If you are struggling to understand a statute or its implications, try looking for a detailed analysis on a legal database.
Cases
Secondary sources should also suggest several cases to you that would be relevant. If you find one that seems interesting while you are reading, make a note of it, along with a brief summary of the issues involved and the final judgment. You can then use these to find new lines of research and expand your discussion.
Another place to find cases is in databases such as Westlaw and LexisLibrary. You can search these to find cases that are relevant to your topic. Alternatively, you could look in The Digest, which collects case law by topic. However, both digests and databases can be difficult to search at first, so spend some time learning how to use them.
Other Secondary Sources
At this point, it is also useful to check for other secondary sources that tie back into the new statutes and cases you have found. These will often help to put primary sources into a more useful context, discussing their impact and how they work in practice. You can still use legal databases to help you find these, particularly journal articles and case notes. This is especially helpful if you are searching for sources concerning one specific case, for example. You may be able to find relevant textbooks by searching your institution’s library database if this is available to you. You might also find some new avenues to explore by doing this, but make sure you keep within the bounds of the question.
Online
You can also try looking at other places to find sources online, such as Google Scholar, which gives you access to lots of helpful resources and a new way to search. You could look at BAILII, which collects a number of legal sources, with a particular focus on case law. In addition, there are many blogs and websites devoted to particular areas of law that can help you to expand your research.
However, if you will be using online sources, do make sure that you check them carefully for accuracy and reliability. Not everything on the web is verified, so it is important to think about what you are including. Check who the author of the source is and whether they are unbiased, as well as how well-researched the source is. Also, check that sources are still current and don’t contain outdated information.
Reference
As you are doing your research, make sure you keep track of what you have used. This will make it much easier if you want to check anything later. It also helps to write out the reference for each source as you use it. Not only does this make it possible to refer back, it means that it is easier when it is time to create your reference list.
Wrapping Up
Legal writing is an important skill to have and I hope these tips will help you. In my next blog post, we will be looking at what actus reus is in criminal law, so come back in two weeks for that!
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