Research Strategies for Articling Students

If you're feeling stuck in your research, get in touch with us at the CCLA Library. We might be able to present a new approach to your research that can move you onto a new path, locate a resource or citation you can't seem to find anywhere, or anything else that might help get you un-stuck.

email: library@ccla-abcc.ca

phone: 613-233-7386

hours: M-F, 9-4

location: 161 Elgin St, Suite 2004, Ottawa, ON

"I've spent hours searching in the case law and can't find anything."

We hear this often from students, so if this is you right now, let's fix it!

Case law searching can give you everything or nothing. There are options to try before keyword searching through thousands of cases, however, so consider the following ideas to help you:

• Consult a book on the topic: A leading text on the subject you're looking into can provide you with more context for your search, the proper keywords or terms to use when searching, the leading cases on the topic, or an answer as to why you aren't finding any case law at all. 20 minutes with the proper text can save hours of keyword searching in case law. If you don't know which book to use, ask us!
• Use a case digest service: Instead of starting your search from a position of all the cases on every topic, use a case digest service (like the Canadian Abridgment on Westlaw) to narrow your search down to specific points of law. 
• Note up your legislation: If you're dealing with a matter that is grounded in legislation, check to see if there is an annotated version of that legislation available. If there is, refer to any cases mentioned in the relevant sections. These cases will be the leading cases (at the time the book was published) and are a great starting point for your research.

Lawyers love to give students legislative research tasks, so if this has happened to you and you're not sure what to do next, let us help.

Here are some sample questions that are very common that that we're highly experienced in answering. 

• "What did this legislation look like on X date?"
• "Are there any amendments to this legislation?"
• "When did this legislation come into force?"
• "Are there debates on this legislation?"