Summer RA Training: Case Law Research Alexia Loumankis May 21, 2019
What will you learn today? • How to find cases in Canada, UK, and US • Books • Journals • Encyclopedias • Boolean searching • Unreported cases • Noting up • Before we start: any particular areas or tools you have questions about?
Do yourself a favour Bookmark the Library’s website library.law.utoronto.ca *Make note of the Quick Links option in the main menu
Finding Leading Cases: Books • To find texts: • Course Reading Lists (Copies at Library’s Circulation Desk) • Research Guides on Library’s website • U of T Catalogue • Before you read the text, browse: • Table of Contents • Index • Don’t forget to consult • Annotated acts
Finding Leading Cases: Journals • Indexes • Index to Canadian Legal Literature WLNC/LAQ • LegalTrac • Full ‐ text databases • Lexis Advance Quicklaw, WestlawNext Canada, HeinOnline • Guide to Finding Law Journals and Articles
Finding Leading Cases: Encyclopedias • Canadian Encyclopedic Digest WLNC/Print • Halsbury’s Laws of Canada LAQ/Print
Boolean Searching 1. Determine the Keywords of the fact scenario/problem 2. Think of all Synonyms for the keywords 3. Relate the groups of keywords and synonyms using Connectors (/p, /n, AND, OR, etc.) *Don’t forget to truncate and use wildcards *Look for keywords in statutes and regulations *Bookmark Thesaurus.com
You are summering at a criminal firm and counsel has asked you to help prepare for the sentencing hearing of a 16 ‐ year ‐ old who was convicted of stealing a car. What’s the typical sentence for this situation? sentence AND (youth or teen! or young) AND (car or automobile or vehicle) AND (theft or steal! or stole) sentence /50 (youth or teen! or young) /20 (car or automobile or vehicle) /20 (theft or steal! or stole)
Finding Unreported Cases • Not all cases are reported in printed case law reports (e.g., Canadian Criminal Cases, Ontario Reports, etc.) • They may be published directly online (CanLII, Quicklaw, WestlawNext, etc.) • If not online, to obtain a copy of the decision you will have to contact the court where the case was heard • You will need as much information as possible: style of cause, dates, file number, judge, etc. • You will need to pay for copies • You may find it faster/easier to contact counsel on the case as they often have a copy of the decision on hand
United Kingdom
UK Court System • No state/provincial–federal court system • UK courts not unified: England and Wales; Scotland; and Northern Ireland have separate systems • Exceptions are for immigration cases, employment tribunals, and military court • Decisions from English CA and its top court UKSC (formerly HOL) given great respect abroad • There are actually two top courts: • The UK Supreme Court (est. 2009) hears appeals from England, Wales, Scotland (civil), and Northern Ireland • The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (incl. justices from UKSC) hears appeals from British territories and some Commonwealth countries
UK Sources • Encyclopedias • Halsbury’s Laws of England LAQ/Print • Books • Sweet & Maxwell Print • Journals • Legal Journals Index WLNC • Journals and Law Reviews LAQ • International & Non ‐ US Law Journals HeinOnline
UK Sources • Cases • ICLR • JustisOne (use to note ‐ up cases) • All United Kingdom Cases WLNC • UK Cases LAQ • How to cite? • See Chapter 7, Foreign Sources, in McGill Guide
Halsbury’s Laws of England
Halsbury’s Laws of England
Halsbury’s Laws of England
UK Books Search the U of T catalogue for Sweet & Maxwell books
UK Books
UK Books
UK Cases: ICLR
UK Cases: ICLR
UK Cases: ICLR
UK Cases: ICLR
UK Cases: JustisOne
UK Cases: JustisOne
UK Cases: JustisOne
UK Cases: JustisOne
UK Cases: JustisOne
UK Cases: JustisOne
United States
US Sources • Encyclopedias • Corpus Juris Secundum (CJS) WLNC/Print • American Jurisprudence 2d (Am Jur 2d) WLNC • Books • Texts & Treatises WLNC • Treatises LAQ • Nutshell series Print • Journals • Law Reviews & Journals WLNC • Law Reviews & Journals LAQ • Law Journal Library HeinOnline
US Sources • Cases • US Cases WLNC • US Cases LAQ • Google Scholar • How to Cite? • See Chapter 7, Foreign Sources, in McGill Guide
US Court System • Parallel federal and state court system depending on the subject matter • Broadly, three levels of court: trial, intermediate appeal, and court of last resort, although much more variation at the state level • Court of last resort in each state often (but not always) called State Supreme Court (there can also be an intermediate State Court of Appeals) • State courts have wide jurisdiction, any cases not specifically prohibited by federal law (federal courts exclusive jurisdiction for trademark and bankruptcy matters) • Can only appeal to USSC where there is an issue of federal law, for example, constitutional matters
US Court System • Federal system has 94 districts of trial courts (US District Courts) • Intermediate federal appeals are heard at 13 US Courts of Appeal (Federal Judicial Circuit Courts) • 11 geographical + District of Columbia (administrative agencies appeals) + Federal Circuit (fed matters, e.g., patents, gov’t contracts, etc.) • United States Supreme Court (just as with Canada very few cases get here)
Thirteen Federal Judicial Circuits
US Encyclopedias
US Encyclopedias
US Encyclopedias
US Encyclopedias
Corpus Juris Secundum
American Law Reports
American Law Reports
US Books Search the U of T catalogue for the Nutshell series of books
US Cases: WLNC
US Cases: WLNC
US Cases: WLNC
US Cases: WLNC
US Cases: WLNC
US Cases: WLNC
US Cases: LAQ
US Cases: LAQ
US Cases: LAQ
US Cases: LAQ
US Cases: LAQ
Questions?
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