1. Advance Legal Research Tips
Maryvon Côté
Nahum Gelber Law Library

2. 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?

3. Comparative Law Research
Quebec is a Mixed Jurisdiction
What does that mean?
Examples:
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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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 .

7. 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.

8. 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)

9. 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

10. 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.

11. 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)

12. 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.

13. Not sure where to start?
Ask a librarian at the Nahum Gelber Law Library Service Desk
Hours: Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.