Legal Research

Legal Research: A Practitioner’s Handbook provides practical advice on every aspect of effective legal research: problem analysis, selecting and finding the best sources, and presenting results effectively.

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This comprehensive reference is specifically aimed at busy practitioners (solicitors, barristers and professional support lawyers), particularly those who do not have the benefit of access to a law librarian or information officer. It provides practical advice on every aspect of effective legal research: problem analysis, selecting and finding the best sources, and presenting results effectively.

Part A covers problem identification and analysis, followed by advice on how to select the best sources and formats or research. Part B deals with the information most frequently sought by practitioners, listing sources with analytical comments and, for a selection of the most complex, `how to use’ instructions developed to a standard template. Jurisdictional coverage includes England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the European Union, with the addition of information on key sources in European human rights and international law. Part C details sources on how to make the presentation of the results of legal research more effective. These three parts are supplemented with other information, mainly in the extensive appendices providing:

• guidance on where to find information • indexes to abbreviations for Acts, journals and law reports • a glossary of technical terms used in legal research • a summary of the practice directions, statements and decisions of the UK courts relating to legal research • guidance on how to devise more effective searches on the three most popular commercial databases • a popular names index for legislation and cases relating to the UK and the EU • advice on purchasing legal information, whether print or online