Legal Research: A Practitioner's Handbook

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. This third edition has been thoroughly updated, taking into account the increasing popularity of commercial databases aimed at UK law practitioners; the overhaul of a number of government and other official sites (national and international); and significant changes to directions by UK courts relating to the conduct and presentation of legal research. New material on the use of social media in legal research, business information and making use of a law firm’s internal precedents has also been added. Part A covers problem identification and analysis, followed by advice on how to select the best sources and formats (paper or electronic) for 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 by Part D, which describes in non-technical language how a practitioner might get the best value for money when buying information, whether print or online, from commercial law publishers. Extensive appendices provide 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; a table of guidance on how to devise more effective searches on the four most popular commercial databases; and a popular names index for legislation and cases relating to the UK and the EU