Legal research
Encyclopedia
Legal research is "the process of identifying and retrieving information necessary to support legal decision-making. In its broadest sense, legal research includes each step of a course of action that begins with an analysis of the facts of a problem and concludes with the application and communication of the results of the investigation."
The processes of legal research vary according to the country and the legal system involved. However, legal research generally involves tasks such as: 1) finding primary sources of law
, or primary authority
, in a given jurisdiction
(cases
, statutes, regulations, etc.); 2) searching secondary authority
(for example, law review
s, legal dictionaries
, legal treatise
s, and legal encyclopedias such as American Jurisprudence
and Corpus Juris Secundum
), for background information about a legal topic; and 3) searching non-legal sources for investigative or supporting information.
Legal research is performed by anyone with a need for legal information, including lawyers, law librarians, and paralegals. Sources of legal information range from printed books, to free legal research websites (like CanLII
) and information portals to fee database vendors such as Wolters Kluwer
Chancery Law ChroniclesLexisNexis
and Westlaw
. Law libraries around the world provide research services to help their patrons find the legal information they need in law school
s, law firm
s and other research environments. Many law libraries and institutions provide free access to legal information on the web, either individually or via collective action
, such as with the Free Access to Law Movement
.
, WorldLII, etc.
The processes of legal research vary according to the country and the legal system involved. However, legal research generally involves tasks such as: 1) finding primary sources of law
Sources of law
Sources of law means the origin from which rules of human conduct come into existence and derive legal force or binding characters.It also refers to the sovereign or the state from which the law derives its force or validity....
, or primary authority
Primary authority
A primary authority is a document that establishes the law on a particular issue, such as a case decision or legislative act. The search for applicable primary authority is an important part of the process of legal research....
, in a given jurisdiction
Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...
(cases
Case law
In law, case law is the set of reported judicial decisions of selected appellate courts and other courts of first instance which make new interpretations of the law and, therefore, can be cited as precedents in a process known as stare decisis...
, statutes, regulations, etc.); 2) searching secondary authority
Secondary authority
In law, a secondary authority is an authority purporting to explain the meaning or applicability of the actual verbatim texts of primary authorities .Some secondary authority materials are written and published by governments to explain the laws in simple,...
(for example, law review
Law review
A law review is a scholarly journal focusing on legal issues, normally published by an organization of students at a law school or through a bar association...
s, legal dictionaries
Law dictionary
A law dictionary is a dictionary that is designed and compiled to give information about terms used in the field of law.Nielsen 1994 discusses different types of law dictionaries. A distinction is made between different types of law dictionaries. A monolingual law dictionary covers one language, a...
, legal treatise
Legal treatise
A legal treatise is a scholarly legal publication containing all the law relating to a particular area, such as criminal law or trusts and estates...
s, and legal encyclopedias such as American Jurisprudence
American Jurisprudence
American Jurisprudence is an encyclopedia of United States law, published by West. It was originated by Lawyers Cooperative Publishing, which was subsequently acquired by the Thomson Corporation. The series is now in its second edition, launched in 1962...
and Corpus Juris Secundum
Corpus Juris Secundum
Corpus Juris Secundum is an encyclopedia of U.S. law . Its full title is Corpus Juris Secundum: Complete Restatement Of The Entire American Law As Developed By All Reported Cases It contains an alphabetical arrangement of legal topics as developed by U.S...
), for background information about a legal topic; and 3) searching non-legal sources for investigative or supporting information.
Legal research is performed by anyone with a need for legal information, including lawyers, law librarians, and paralegals. Sources of legal information range from printed books, to free legal research websites (like CanLII
CanLII
The Canadian Legal Information Institute is a non-profit organization created and funded by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, on behalf of its 14 member law societies...
) and information portals to fee database vendors such as Wolters Kluwer
Wolters Kluwer
Wolters Kluwer N.V. is a global information services and publishing company. The company provides products and services for professionals in the health, tax, accounting, corporate, financial services, legal and regulatory sectors...
Chancery Law ChroniclesLexisNexis
LexisNexis
LexisNexis Group is a company providing computer-assisted legal research services. In 2006 it had the world's largest electronic database for legal and public-records related information...
and Westlaw
Westlaw
Westlaw is one of the primary online legal research services for lawyers and legal professionals in the United States and is a part of West. In addition, it provides proprietary database services...
. Law libraries around the world provide research services to help their patrons find the legal information they need in law school
Law school
A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...
s, law firm
Law firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...
s and other research environments. Many law libraries and institutions provide free access to legal information on the web, either individually or via collective action
Collective action
Collective action is the pursuit of a goal or set of goals by more than one person. It is a term which has formulations and theories in many areas of the social sciences.-In sociology:...
, such as with the Free Access to Law Movement
Free Access to Law Movement
The Free Access to Law Movement is the umbrella name for the collective of legal projects across several common law countries to provide free online access to legal information such as case law and legislation. The movement began in 1992 with the creation of the Cornell Law School Legal Information...
.
Databases and software
An Australian team created AustLII, a database collecting all primary sources from each Australian jurisdiction and some secondary sources, all freely available. It has now been replicated in many countries as BAILII, CanLIICanLII
The Canadian Legal Information Institute is a non-profit organization created and funded by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, on behalf of its 14 member law societies...
, WorldLII, etc.
See also
- IndexMasterIndexMasterIndexMaster is a legal research database that allows users find and preview legal publications. The search results allow the researcher to view the tables of contents and indexes online. IndexMaster received the Best New Product of the Year in 2000 from the American Association of Law Libraries....
(database) - Legal research in the United StatesLegal research in the United States-What is legal research?:"Legal research is the process of identifying and retrieving information necessary to support legal decision-making. In its broadest sense, legal research includes each step of a course of action that begins with an analysis of the facts of a problem and concludes with the...
- List of sources of law in the United States
- LawLawLaw is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
- Oxford Law CitatorOxford Law CitatorThe Oxford Law Citator, developed by Oxford University Press , is an example of an authority control system, used within legal research...