Best Guide to Canadian Legal Research
Copyright © 1995-2008 Catherine P. Best
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Texts

Start by reviewing commentary

As a general rule, it is best to start your research with commentary, such as a text or legal encyclopedia. This will provide an overview of the topic, help to define the issues, refer to journal articles or primary sources, and suggest key words to use when searching indices or on-line. In addition to setting out general legal principles, commentary can also provide useful analysis in areas where the law is complex or unclear. Even if you start instead with searching case law, your next step should be to review some commentary. Review texts critically, with the recognition that coverage, accuracy, currency and orientation vary considerably from one text to another.

Finding leading texts

As you gain experience, you will become familiar with the leading texts in various areas. If you do not know of a good text on the subject you are researching, the usual entry point is to conduct a key word search in the library catalogue. However, there are other aids at your disposal.

Use key words

While conducting your research, generate a list of key words.

Use the index, table of contents and table of cases

Use your key words to search through the indices in texts and other secondary sources. In addition to the index, look at the table of contents for the texts you review. Sometimes the index is poor, and the table of contents will make it easier to locate relevant passages. Also, the table of contents will give you a better sense of the emphasis and orientation of the text. Another way to locate relevant passages is the table of cases and table of statutes included in the text. If you have a citation for a relevant primary source, look it up in these tables, and go directly to that section of the text.

Encyclopedias

 

When and how to use a legal encyclopedia

Legal encyclopedias contain a narrative summary of the law, supported by references to primary sources. A legal encyclopedia may be the fastest way for you to get a reasonably current summary of the law on a certain topic, and to obtain references to relevant primary sources.

There are comprehensive legal encyclopedias, that purport to cover all legal topics. Examples of comprehensive legal encyclopedias are the Canadian Encyclopedic Digest, and Halsbury's Laws of Canada. There are also topical encyclopedias, that purport to cover the law in a particular subject area. Couch on Insurance is an example of a topical encyclopedia. It is a multi-volume set covering American insurance law.

Unlike texts and periodicals, legal encyclopedias do not provide legal analysis or policy discussion. They seek only to summarize the law. Usually different titles are written by different authors, meaning that the quality of one title may vary considerably from the quality of another. Also, the currency of different titles may vary greatly. Always check to see who has written the title, and how current it is.

Before relying on a statement in a legal encyclopedia, review the primary sources cited to ensure the statement is supported by the sources. Often a bold statement of law in an encyclopedia or text is not fully supported by the authorities cited.

If there are other secondary sources covering your topic which are current, accurate and comprehensive, you may not need to use a legal encyclopedia. However, a legal encyclopedia can be particularly helpful in the following circumstances:

Canadian Encyclopedic Digest

The Canadian Encyclopedic Digest, or CED, is a comprehensive Canadian legal encyclopedia. It is published in a Western edition, and an Ontario edition. The Western edition covers the law of the four Western provinces. Although these two editions exist, the contents of many titles are exactly the same in both editions. The currency and quality of the content varies considerably from one title to the next.

Both the Western and Ontario editions are available electronically through LawSource on WestlaweCARSWELL. LawSource permits browsing by table of contents and full text searching of the CED, and includes references to the CED in KeyCite results.

Halsbury's Laws of Canada

Halsbury's Laws of Canada is a new publication that is being released gradually over several years. It covers all Canadian jurisdictions. It is published in print. Selected titles are also available through Quicklaw Practice Area pages, and to Quicklaw subscribers on a "pay as you go" basis.

This publication contains clearly written statements of Canadian legal principle based on common law and legislation, and indicates where the law differs as between jurisdictions. It is useful as a starting point or where a brief refresher on a particular area of law is required.

Halsbury's Laws of England

Halsbury's Laws of England is regarded as authoritative, and is often cited to the court. The CED is rarely cited and it is too early to predict how Halsbury's Laws of Canada will be received by the courts.

Both the 3rd (green) and 4th (brown) editions of Halsbury's are available in most law libraries. Although the 4th edition is considerably more recent, and therefore reflects current UK law more accurately than the 3rd, some Canadian lawyers prefer the 3rd edition. This is because the 3rd edition is based primarily on English common law. The 3rd edition is not affected by the divergent path English law has taken as a result of statutory reform and England's membership in the European Union.

The 3rd edition is also useful to Canadian lawyers because of the Canadian Converter. The Canadian Converter is reasonably current. It contains references to Canadian law, using the same subject titles and paragraph numbers as Halsbury's 3rd. If you want to use the Converter, you must first find the relevant paragraphs in Halsbury's 3rd. To find your topic in Halsbury's 3rd, use the General Index volumes for that edition. You can also review the table of contents for your topic in the hardcover volume for that topic.

You cannot rely on Halsbury's 3rd for an accurate statement of English law, as the volumes in this edition are over 40 years out of date. Therefore, if you are researching English law, it is necessary to use Halsbury's 4th. There are several access points:

The hardcover main volumes are updated by the Cumulative Supplement, and by the looseleaf Current Service.

Legal Journals

The role of journals in legal research

If the texts and encyclopedia entries you find are too general, are outdated, or don't deal specifically with your jurisdiction, concentrate on finding journal articles or continuing legal education seminar papers. If you are writing an academic paper, periodicals research is essential. Journals should also be reviewed if there has been new legislation, or an interesting case that might be the subject of a case comment.

Journal articles are particularly useful for developing policy arguments, and for close analysis of difficult cases. A narrow issue covered in a passing footnote in a text may be the subject of several pages of discussion in a journal article. Articles are usually well-footnoted, with references to primary sources or other secondary sources.

Finding the article once you have a citation

Older periodical articles will be available either in print or through Hein Online. If you have trouble locating a periodical at your library, check WorldCat or the publication Periodicals in Canadian Law Libraries for other libraries which subscribe to the periodical.

More recent articles are likely to be available electronically. An alphabetical list of periodicals available in electronic form is maintained by the Bora Laskin Law Library. This list includes periodicals available on Lexis, Westlaw, Quicklaw, and the Internet and specifies where they are available. The WashLaw WEB law journal resource page also maintains an extensive listing of law journals with links to those available online.

Searching journals in full text

Many journals are now available in full text electronic form. This permits you to search directly using the words in the articles themselves to find relevant articles. The leading journal collections available in full text are as follows:

 The Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia has made its seminar papers since 2001 available online in full text through CLE Online.

The Internet is a growing source for full text periodical searches. You can search full text legal periodicals on the Web using the University Law Review Project. In addition, comments on recent legal developments in law firm newsletters published freely on the Internet can be a useful source of information. However, these articles are usually written for lay readers and are not a sophisticated review of the subject. For quick access to the sites of several leading firms, search the Major Canadian Law Firms page.

Legal periodical indices

References in cases or texts may lead you to relevant journal articles. Full text databases of journal articles provide the easiest way to search for journals published electronically. However, many journals are not published electronically. Another common way to find journal articles is to look in a periodicals index.

The leading Canadian index is the Index to Canadian Legal Literature (ICLL). This site has a table that provides information about the most commonly used print and electronic legal periodical indices.

Searching periodicals indices in print and electronic media requires creativity and persistence in generating search terms.

So try your search in a variety of indices. You may find it helpful to acquaint yourself with the subject classification scheme for the index by looking at the print version before you carry out your electronic search. When offered random keyword searching, as well as a more structured classification scheme approach, try both methods.

Contents pages from the most current legal journals are made available by the Tarlton Law Library.

Using automated clipping services

Lexis, WestlaweCARSWELL, Quicklaw and Westlaw each have an automated clipping service that permits you to conduct periodic searches of particular databases and have the results delivered to you by e-mail. This is useful for conducting regular searches of periodicals indices and full text periodicals on topics you are following.

Wikis, blogs and newsletters

Wikis

A wiki is a website that is created collaboratively using software that allows individuals to add and edit content. One of the best known research sites created this way is Wikipedia. Just as when evaluating the content on web sites, care must be taken when relying on content published in a wiki.

Legal Tree is a Canadian website using wiki technology to collect and publish Canadian legal information. JD Supra is another example of a legal site, with contributions from lawyers including pleadings and other documents. It is primarily American, but has some Canadian content.

Blogs

Blogs are websites containing a series of postings. Blogs focusing on a legal subject area are useful for keeping current on specialized topics. You can subscribe to an RSS feed so that you will be notified of new postings.

A good search engine for the general universe of blogs is Technorati. To restrict your search to legal blogs, use BlawgSearch. In addition to being searchable, BlawgSearch has a directory with categories. Several Canadian legal blogs are listed under the category for Canada. Canadian legal blogs are also listed on the Canadian Law Blogs List.

Law firm newsletters

Newsletters published by law firms can provide useful commentary on recent cases. The Major Canadian Law Firms page allows you to search within the websites of several leading Canadian law firms. A broader range of firms is searched by Fee Fie Foe Firm Canada. That site links to similar services for law firms from other jurisdictions.

References

Best's Legal Bookmarks, Legal Publishers.

Best, Periodicals Indexes.

Bora Laskin Law Library, Alphabetical Listing of Electronic Journals.

Bora Laskin Law Library Guide to Legal Research, Canadian Legal Resources.

Castel & Latchman, The Practical Guide to Canadian Legal Research, 2nd ed. (Toronto: Carswell, 1996).

Findlaw, University Law Review Project.

Best, Suggested Textbooks.

Iosipescu & Whitehead, Legal Writing and Research Manual, 6th ed. (Toronto: LexisNexis Butterworths, 2004).

MacEllven, Legal Research Handbook, 5th ed. (Toronto: LexisNexis Canada, 2003).

Queen's University Faculty of Law, Legal Research Materials, Secondary Sources.

University of Calgary, Law Library Research Guides, Periodical Articles.

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This page was last modified  August 15, 2008
Copyright © 1995-2008 Catherine P. Best
Conditions and terms of use