E. Finding Case Law

• Author: Ted Tjaden
• Profession: National Director of Knowledge Management McMillan LLP
• Pages: 108-109

Page 108

There are a number of ways to find relevant cases. In the list that follows, note that searching by keyword on full-text case law databases is the last method listed since, although convenient and often powerful, searching full text by keyword is not always the best or most effective starting point to find cases. Here are some ways to find relevant cases:

· Books and treatises: Legal textbooks usually provide some access to case law since most authors provide footnoted citations to important cases that support the points they are making in the textbook. Textbooks are discussed in more detail in Chapter 2, Section A.

· Journal articles and CLE papers: Articles written by law students or law professors will often discuss important or leading cases and can be used to identify relevant cases. Law journals are discussed in more detail in Chapter 2, Section B. Likewise, papers presented at legal symposia will often discuss important court decisions. Continuing legal education and seminar papers are discussed in more detail in Chapter 2, Section C. In addition, searching on law firm bulletins on the Internet can also sometimes help identify relevant cases.¹⁶· Legal encyclopedias: Legal encyclopedias are also a good way of finding cases, especially by topic, since the various articles or paragraphs in the encyclopedia on a particular topic are usually supported in the footnotes by citations to the cases that support the principles discussed in the main text. In Canada, the major legal encyclopedias are Carswell’s Canadian Encyclopedic Digest and LEXISNEXIS Canada’s Halsbury’s Laws of Canada and JURISCLASSEUR Québec, discussed in more detail in Chapter 2, Section D.

Law Library Journal 661; and Allan F. Hanson, "From Key Numbers to Keywords: How Automation Has Transformed the Law" (2002) 94 Law Library Journal 563.

Page 109

· Words and phrases services: If you are researching the meaning of particular legal terminology, words and phrases services, discussed in more detail in Chapter 2, Section F, can help identify cases that have interpreted that particular legal terminology.

· Case law digests: Simply put, a digest in the context of legal literature is a summary (or digest) of case law, arranged by topic and by case name. In Canada, the leading print-based case law digest is the Canadian Abridgment (also available on Westlaw Canada), discussed in more detail in Chapter 2, Section E. Other well-known case digest systems in Canada...