Advance Legal Research Tips Maryvon Côté Nahum Gelber Law Library maryvon.cote@mcgill.ca

Where to Start? Where do you start? What are you searching? Google? / Legal Databases? / Library Catalogue? Ask a Professor? / A Friend? / A Librarian? What are you searching? Case Law / Jurisprudence? Legislation? Secondary Sources / Doctrinal Sources? Which Language do you use? French? / English? / Other? Which Legal Database do you start using? WestlawNext Canada? / LexisNexis QuickLaw? / HeinOnline? / SOQUIJ? / CanLII? Other? Case Law = Federal? Provincial? Foreign? International? Seondary Sources = Legal Treatises (Monographs)? / Scholarly Articles? / Commentaries?

Comparative Law Research Quebec is a Mixed Jurisdiction What does that mean? Examples: http://www.juriglobe.ca/eng/sys-juri/class-poli/sys-mixtes.php. Language of the Law Thesauri / Taxonomy Library of Congress Subject Heading (McGill Library Catalogue) Canadian Abridgment (WestlawNext) / Canada Digest (QuickLaw) Plan de Classification (SOQUIJ Recherche Juridique) Subject Searching in the Index to Canadian Legal Literature (WestlawNext Canada) Very limited taxonomy in CanLII. Mixed Jurisdiction in Quebec = Civil Law in the Area of Private Law (CCQ) and Common Law in the Area of Public Law (Constitutional, Criminal, Tax) Examples of Mixed Jurisdiction = Scotland, Louisianna, Porto Rico. Different Evolution of the Language of the Law / Concepts from one Civil Law / Common Law jurisdiction to the other Focus on the Presentation is to go beyond Keywords and use a taxonomy to bring your research at the next level while searching case law and the importance of using secondary sources.

Topic Comparative research on Private International Law and Marriage What does google indicate to us? Where to go next? Search: Private International Law and Marriage = Wikipedia Articles on Conflict of marriage laws and International matrimonial law. Interesting concepts. Have a look at the Wiki articles. Other results indicate: mostly foreign. Limit search to Quebec. Results = gvt. Barreau, and some journals available via Open Access.

Textbook example that Librarians and Legal Vendors will show you which is similar to the Social Sciences. E.g., Juge Dalphon from QCCA always re-reads sections of a legal treatises such as Les Obligations de P-G. Jobbin to ensure that he considers all the various elements when writing a decision in contract law. Another approach is to read a major decision from the SCC or Court of Appeal. Will include references to secondary sources (new trends) and other case law.

International Private Law Search Terms International Private Law (Civil Law) Private International Law (Civil Law) Droit International Privé (Civil Law Fr.) Conflicts of Law (Common Law) Conflits des Lois (Common Law Fr.) Other languages: Internationales Privatrecht (German) Internationaal Privaatrecht (Dutch) Etc… Using this example with marriage will give you: International Matrimonial Law / Conflict of marriage laws / Private international law on marriages .

Reference Materials Dictionaries Encyclopedias / Encyclopedic Digest / Restatements Acronyms / Abbreviations Legal Directories Style Manuals Thesauri Available in print and online via online via Law Subject, WestlawNext Canada, LexisNexis QuickLaw Helps to define your topic Learn new concepts which varies from jurisdiction to the other.

Major Legal Databases (WestlawNext Canada) Canadian Sources (LawSource): Canadian Abridgment Digest Canadian Encyclopedic Digest (CED) American Sources (WestlawNext US): Restatements of the Law (American Law Institute) Law Reviews & Journal Find more via the ‘International’ tab. If time available: WestlawNext Canada: CriminalSource / LabourSource / McGill Guide / KeyCite WestlawNext US: American Jurisprudence, 2d (equivalent to CED) / Corpus Juris Secundum (equivalent of Canadian Abridgment)

Major Legal Databases LexisNexis Quicklaw La Référence (Québec) Canada Digest Halsbury’s Laws of Canada / JurisClasseur Quebec Source Directory Tab La Référence (Québec) Yvon Blais titles under Doctrine link SOQUIJ Recherche Juridique (Québec) Plan de classification If time available: QuickLaw: QuickCITE

Library catalogue (s) Will enable you to: Access to what is available at McGill Library in print and in eBook format: Legal Treatises written by experts Festschrift / Mélanges Textbooks / Casebooks Thesis / Dissertations submitted at McGill Conference Publications / Worldcat Local Tip: Sort by Date / View all formats and languages Already cover in your first Legal Methodology Class. Show example of Mélanges using a Periodical Index.

Finding Articles E-journals and Periodical Indexes Full-Text Databases Index to Canadian Legal Periodicals (Canada) Index to Legal Periodicals & Books / LegalTrac Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals Full-Text Databases HeinOnline, WestlawNext Canada, LexisNexis QuickLaw Available via the Law Subject guide (via the McGill Library homepage) Focus on using Subject Headings in the Periodical Indexes and to look at the Abstract when available. Some things are only available in print (e.g., Supreme Court Law Review, Annals of Air and Space Law, book chapters indexed)

Foreign and International Law Foreign Sources Foreign Law Guide HeinOnline for primary sources in US, UK, Israel, International, Constitutional France & EU tab UK tab International Law Sources Arbitration tab Human Rights tab United Nations Law Collection via HeinOnline Oxford Reports on International All FYI. Focus on Foreign Sources if time permits.

Not sure where to start? Ask a librarian at the Nahum Gelber Law Library Service Desk Hours: Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Email: reference.law@mcgill.ca