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Law Research

Completing good quality and useful law research involves a particular set of skills and abilities. Research within the legal field is substantially different from that within a more scientific or clinical field, mainly due to the often subjective views that are expressed throughout legal developments.

Law research aims to provide you with a sufficient understanding of the appropriate issues and legal principles to enable you to produce a reasoned and justifiable position. When it comes to legal research, it is rare for there to be one conclusive answer that is universally applicable. Being able to balance results and opinions is one of the major factors involved in producing good quality law research.

Skills Used for Law Research

Unlike many other disciplines, law research requires a much more considered approach to the evidence being put forward. Law research involves the ability to sift through a wide range of information, ranging from a huge variety of different sources, before deciding on their validity and relative worth. This ability to be able to sift through and assimilate large amounts of often contradictory material is the key to law research.

Law Research Processes

Before undertaking any form of law process it is absolutely vital that the true reason for the research is understood. What are the aims of the research? Often law research is conducted either to prove or disprove a position that another individual has taken in relation to an area of law. Other law research may be conducted in order to ascertain the current thinking or standing of a certain area of law. The latter requires a much wider and more balanced report of the law and thus will require a greater degree of law research from multiple sources.

Once the exact question and aim of the law research exercise has been ascertained, the sources and approach that you are going to take to the research can be established. Break the sources down into primary and secondary. Generally speaking, primary sources will be those that are universally accepted such as statutes or case law. Secondary sources such as legal and academic opinion in journals and books are vital to supplement the primary sources and may themselves be primary sources for certain law research tasks. For example, where the question requires you to consider the validity of a commentary given by a legal expert, the primary source and initial place to begin with the law research task would be to read and consider the opinion in the context in which it was made.

Gathering the relevant information is the key to success with law research. In most areas of law there is an absolute wealth of information available and making the decision about what is (or is not) relevant will make all the difference when it comes to reporting back the results of your law research.

Where there is simply too much information to include in relation to a certain topic, careful consideration needs to be given as to which elements of the law research will be used to produce the final written piece. Narrow down the sources that you wish to use to two for every point that the final piece is going to cover. This ensures that there is balance throughout the argument. Resist the temptation to skew your law research by using too many sources for making one point as this can result in an overly biased piece. If the aim is to produce a subjective piece, then the number of resources used to make each point should be amended to reflect this.

Sources for Law Research

With many different sources available, selecting the resources upon which to base your law research will be crucial to the overall success of the project. The starting point for any law research is almost always the relevant legislation or the case that is central to the point of the final piece for decision. From this, the law research should spiral outwards considering decisions made in the courts in relation to the point and any legal journals that have considered the point. At all times, make sure you are clear as to how much of the law research comes from primary sources and how much comes from secondary sources such as opinions. Primary resources should always form the central point of any law research and additional research should be used to prove or disprove this central point. Remaining focussed on the central point will help make sure that the law research you are undertaking is both relevant and pertinent.

Top Tips for Conducting Law Research

Being organised and focussed is the main and most fundamental part of any law research. There is so much information available that being able to prioritise this information will become key to the success of the eventual piece. Take time to consider exactly what the aim of the law research is; without focus, you will end up with reams of information from a variety of sources that are virtually impossible to order into any sensible conclusion.

Make sure that you determine which sources you are using and that you retain the balance in your argument. Whilst the ultimate aim is almost always either to prove or disprove a theory, it is still important to put forward both sides of the argument, with equal emphasis, before drawing the ultimate conclusions.

Law research is a unique skill that requires years of practice in order to conduct an efficient process. As a starting point, it pays to write down the central argument and the pros and cons of the argument so that information, when found, can be clearly categorised. Not only will this approach ensure that the law research itself is focussed, but it will assist greatly when composing the eventual piece, as it will already have been largely structured.

The ultimate purpose of any law research will almost invariably be to come to a conclusion on a point of law. This not only involves conducting a thorough piece of law research on the current position, but also formulating your own original thought. This can only be accomplished when sufficient law research has been carried out to back up the chosen approach.

Law research is all about being methodical and focussed in your approach. If you keep the ultimate aim of your law research in mind at every juncture, the process of conducting law research will be much more efficient and in the end far more successful.

Law Research

Law Research

Skills Used for Law Research

Law Research Processes

Sources for Law Research

Top Tips for Conducting Law Research

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