Estate Planning

Legal Research and the Fine Art of Being a Lawyer

By Hull and Hull LLP

In the hallowed halls of law school, contrary to what some 'lay' people might expect, students are not taught 'what' to think but rather 'how' to think.  The law is a living thing and so for lawyers to truly add value they must be able to find and apply the law to their client's particular circumstances and legal problem.

While being a specialist greatly assists the ability to know answers to the questions that pop up regularly in one's area of expertise, we frequently find that there is a slight wrinkle in the facts that requires some research. 

The commercial services (LexisNexis and West) and the free CanLII are well used for case law, but there is no better place to start research than with secondary resources such as textbooks and journal articles.  Here are some online sources that that you might find useful:

• Irwin Law –  an online dictionary of terms from Irwin Law's 'Essentials Series' of textbooks; and 
• HeinOnline – an extensive digital collection of Canadian, US and International law journals as well as English Law Reports.  Free to members of the Law Society of Upper Canada.

For online guides to legal research in general, see:

• Catherine Best's 'Best Guide to Canadian Legal Research', which provides effective strategies and techniques for finding and using secondary sources, case law, statutes and regulations, and legal research in other countries. You can also find tips on legal writing, comparisons of online case law services and suggestions for effective electronic searching; and
• Ted Tjaden's Legal Research and Writing, which is a companion site to the third edition of his book of the same name.  

Sharon Davis
 

Full post as published by Toronto Estate Law Blog on July 26, 2010 (boomark / email).