Sub sections:
LS 100 Introduction to Legal Systems and Methods
For information on how to use all of UNE's online legal tools, look at Online Legal Research at UNE. For hints and tutorials on how to write in a legal style, try Writing Skills for Law, from the UNE Academic Skills Office. For your referencing style you are expected to use the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (2nd).
This Subject Guide will help you to find information useful to you for your assignment for Introduction to Legal Systems and Methods LS 100. Below you will find hints on how to
- find a particular case
- use CaseBase to find more case information
- locate an online dictionary
- write in a legal style
- find authorised legislation
- learn about referencing
Finding a case
Your first assignment requires you to read and summarise a particular case from the NSW Court of Appeal, Consolidated Broken Hill Ltd v Edwards [2005]. There are two ways you can find this:
Use LawLink, the NSW Attorney General's website.
- Go to the Law Databases at http://www.une.edu.au/library/resources/guides/law/databases.php.
- Bookmark the list (make it one of your Favorites).
- Click on the link called LawLink.
- On the right hand side of the screen you will see 'Quick Links'.
- Click on the title Court Decisions and then on 'All decisions' underneath the Court of Appeal heading.
- Because you don't know the exact number of the case click on the 'QUICK SEARCH' button.
- Use the 'Clear all' button and then tick in the box next to 'NSW Court of Appeal'.
- In the search box type consolidated broken hill and click the 'SEARCH' button.
- There are twenty seven results, the case itself and others that have cited it. Click on the name Consolidated Broken Hill Ltd v Edwards [2005] NSWCA 380 to read the report.
Use AustLII, the Australasian Legal Information Institute's website.
- Go to the Law Databases and select AustLII.
- Click on the link [Advanced Search] underneath the search box at the top of the screen.
- You can select the AustLII database to search. Choose 'All case law databases' or 'New South Wales: All cases'.
- In the 'Find' box choose 'this case name' instead of the default 'this Boolean query'.
- Type consolidated broken hill into the 'Enter search query' box and click on 'Search'.
- There are thirty hits. Scan the titles and then click on the matching one to read the judgment.
- If you had the citation, another easy way to find the report would be to use this phrase and type 2005 nswca 380.
- For more help about law reports on AustLII, look here.
Using CaseBase to find more case information
UNE subscribes to CaseBase, which covers more than sixty Australian and overseas Law Reports titles. It also cites unreported decisions of the High Court, the Federal Court and all Australian Supreme Courts. As a bonus, CaseBase also indexes around 100 legal journals so you can find references to articles about some of the cases.
CaseBase is a case citator and annotator. It does not contain full-text case reports (except for NSW Law Reports) or journal articles. Its job is to tell you where specific case decisions or journal articles are published. If you want to then find a particular reference or citation then use the catalogue to search for the cited Title of the Law Report or Journal. This will tell you if it is available in print or online, enabling you to retrieve it yourself or request a copy from the Library.
- Go to the Law Databases and select LexisNexis AU (Butterworths) from the list.
- Look under the 'General Search Sources' for 'Cases/Legislation' and click on 'Search' next to 'CaseBase Cases and Journal Articles'.
- You should now see a search template with lots of options.
- As you have a particular case in mind, use the 'Case/Article Name' box to type the party name
consolidated broken hill. If you want to search for both party names then join them using the Boolean operator AND because 'v' will not give you results. Type, for example, consolidated broken hill and edwards. - You can also use the 'Citation' search box. Try 2005 NSWCA 380.
- A list of the 'Abbreviations' used in CaseBase is linked under 'Related Links > How do I?' on the right hand side of the screen.
- An excellent site to bookmark (add to Favorites) is the Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations at http://www.legalabbrevs.cardiff.ac.uk. You can search by abbreviation or full titles for legal publications from Australian, UK, US and other international jurisdictions.
The CaseBase entry for Consolidated Broken Hill Ltd v Edwards has the following sections:
- CaseBase tells you where Consolidated Broken Hill Ltd v Edwards has been reported, in Australian Torts Reports.
- 'Cases referring to this case' — other cases that have used Consolidated Broken Hill Ltd v Edwards in their submissions to Court.
- 'Journal articles referring to this case' — articles in Australian Civil Liability and Local Government Reporter cite Consolidated Broken Hill Ltd v Edwards.
- 'Cases considered by this case' — cases used by Consolidated Broken Hill Ltd v Edwards in its own submissions.
- 'Legislation considered by this case' — s 5R of the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) and the Suitors' Fund Act 1951 (NSW) were important in Consolidated Broken Hill Ltd v Edwards
- 'Catchwords/Digest' — Catchwords are Halsbury's Laws of Australia subjects and the Digest a brief description of the legal issues that arose in Consolidated Broken Hill Ltd v Edwards.
CaseBase Signals are annotations that tell you how a case has been judicially considered in later judgments. Click on 'Signal Help' at the top of a case's screen to find out what these visual clues mean.
- You can print your results in HTML format (as a web page), email yourself an attachment (Word, HTML or RTF) or save (Word, HTML or RTF) using the 'Print', 'Email' or 'Save' icons on the LexisNexis AU (Butterworths) toolbar.
- For in-context Help use the hints on the right hand side of the screen or for the complete Help manual click on 'Help' at the top right of the LexisNexis AU (Butterworths) screen.
- When you have finished using LexisNexis AU (Butterworths) click on 'Sign Out' at the top right of the screen.
Finding an online dictionary
One of your questions requires you to know a legal definition.
- Go to the Law Databases and select LexisNexis AU (Butterworths) from the list.
- Click on the red 'Dictionaries' tab at the top of the screen.
- In the search box called 'Defined Terms' type
ratio decidendi
and click on the red Search button (with the small torch) to the top right of the screen. - You will see the legal definition and related terms.
- If the 'Defined Terms' search does not give you the results you want, try the 'Search Terms' box at the top of the screen.
- Use the 'New Search' or 'Back to Search' links on the grey toolbar to look for other definitions.
- You can print, email or save your results using the icons above each definition.
- When you have finished using LexisNexis AU (Butterworths) click on the 'Sign off' link at the top right of the screen.
You can find links to many other online legal dictionaries and encyclopedias in the Reference section of the Law Research Guide.
Writing in a legal style
Help and examples of how to write letters of advice or memoranda to clients are found in the following sources:
Books:
Call number: 808.06634/F175w
Author: Fajans, Elizabeth
Title: Writing for law practice / Elizabeth Fajans, Mary R. Falk and Helene S. Shapo.
Publication: New York : Foundation Press, 2004.
Chapter 7: Informing and persuading: Letters pp. 215-251
Call number: 808.06634/N492L/2005
Author: Neumann, Richard K., 1947-
Title: Legal reasoning and legal writing : structure, strategy, and style / Richard K. Neumann, Jr.
Edition: 5th ed.
Publication New York : Aspen Law & Business, c2005
Chapter 21: Client Advice Letters pp 279-283; Appendix D: Sample Client Advice Letter pp 477-480
Call number: 808.06634/A738t
Author: Armstrong, Stephen V.
Title: Thinking like a writer : a lawyer's guide to effective writing and editing / by Stephen V. Armstrong and Timothy P. Terrell.
Publication: Deerfield, Il. : Clark Boardman Callaghan, c1992
Chapter 10: More advice for common types of legal writing pp. 10-1 to 10-26
Call number: 346.94407/C697/2005
Title: The College of Law practice papers.
Publication: Chatswood, N.S.W. : LexisNexis Butterworths, 2005.
Vol 1. Skills S2.130-S2.220 pp 36-43
Books on legal drafting include:
Call Number 808.06634/B988m/2006
Author Butt, Peter.
Title Modern legal drafting : a guide to using clearer language / Peter Butt, Richard Castle.
Edition 2nd ed.
Publication Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Call Number 808.066347/P624e/2004
Author Aitken, J. K. (James K.)
Title Piesse, the elements of drafting / by J.K. Aitken and Peter Butt.
Title Elements of drafting
Edition 10th ed.
Publication Sydney : Lawbook Co., 2004
Call Number 346.4107/C556d/2004
Author Christou, Richard.
Title Drafting commercial agreements / Richard Christou.
Edition 3rd ed.
Publication London : Sweet & Maxwell, 2004.
Call Number 808.06634/G234L
Author Garner, Bryan A.
Title Legal writing in plain English : a text with exercises / Bryan A. Garner.
Publication Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2001.
Call Number 808.06634/S795w
Author Stark, Steven D.
Title Writing to win : the legal writer : the complete guide to writing strategies in court and in the office that will make your case and win it / Steven D. Stark.
Edition 1st ed.
Publication New York : Main Street Books, 1999.
Call Number 347.94072/Y75r
Author Young, P. W. (Peter Wolstenholme), 1940-
Title Rose's pleadings without tears in Australia : a guide to legal drafting / Peter Young and Hugh Selby.
Title Pleadings without tears in Australia.
Edition Australian ed.
Publication Leichhardt, N.S.W. : Federation Press, 1997.
Call Number 347.94072/D926p
Author Dunstone, Shelley.
Title A practical guide to drafting pleadings / by Shelley Dunstone.
Publication North Ryde, N.S.W. : LBC Information Services, 1997
Websites:
- The Law Society of New South Wales has sample precedent documents at http://www.lawsociety.com.au/page.asp?partid=16472.
- The Law and Justice Foundation of NSW has guides on legal writing at http://www.lawfoundation.net.au/ljf/app/&id=7EB68E446AF893CBCA25714C00068C44.
- Professor Bryan Horrigan, 'Client-Focused Legal Research : Lessons From The Trenches', edited transcript of a guest lecture for the QUT Legal Practice Course on Client-Focused Legal Research, 14 March 2000 (edited by Research One, copyright Bryan Horrigan and QUT, reprinted with permission) has a section on 'Common Partner and Client Complaints about Research-Based Letters and Memoranda of Advice' at http://www.research-one.com.au/client-focused+legal+research.aspx?PageContentID=7.
- A Canadian sample of how to write legal memoranda is at http://legalresearch.org/docs/process13.html
- A 'Memorandum of Advice' on the Sedition laws written for Mediawatch at the ABC is at http://abc.net.au/mediawatch/img/2005/ep34/advice.pdf. The story itself, the legal advice and other links are at http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s1489465.htm.
- lawskool.com.au has a model of a case note at http://www.lawskool.com.au/free_models.php.
- Examples of Blake Dawson & Waldron memoranda on the Human Rights Law Resource Centre website are at http://www.hrlrc.org.au/html/s02_article/default.asp?nav_cat_id=142&nav_top_id=62&dsb=279.
Finding authorised legislation
Your second assignment requires you to find a particular act, the Sporting Venues (Pitch Invasions) Act 2003 (NSW). AustLII has legislation on its website but it is not always kept up to date, so it is better to use the authorised sources.
Authorised NSW legislation is available online from the Parliamentary Counsel's Office through the Law Databases or go to http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/. The NSW Legislation site provides the most current version of NSW Acts, Regulations and Environmental Planning Instruments and historical versions as far back as 1990.
Here is an example of how to search for a current NSW Act:
- Click on 'Browse A-Z In Force' on the blue toolbar at the top left of the screen. 'As Made' provides Acts as they were originally passed by Parliament and assented to by the Governor from 1990, not the latest version.
- Click on the 'S' underneath 'Acts in force'.
- The Acts are arranged alphabetically, so scroll down until you see Sporting Venues (Pitch Invasions) Act 2003 No 44 and click on the title.
- The screen splits into two - the Table of Contents on the left and text on the right.
- Click on the 'Status information' button to see the currency of an Act.
- Click on 'Whole instrument' if you want to see the entire Act (it is a web page, not in PDF).
- 'List regs etc' lists the regulations associated with a particular Act.
- 'Historical versions' provides you with earlier versions of the Act.
- 'Historical Notes' shows you the history of amendments of a particular Act.
- 'Search Title' allows you to look for keywords within the Sporting Venues (Pitch Invasions) Act 2003.
- If you only need to see a particular section of an Act use the Table of Contents on the left of the screen and click on the relevant section title, such as s 4 Pitch invasions prohibited
- To print, click your cursor onto the right hand page of text.
- Then go up to 'File' on your browser and select 'Print Preview'.
- To print the correct pages you will need to use the pull-down options in the centre of the screen.
Select 'Only the selected frame' instead of 'As laid out on screen' and finally click on 'Print'.
Because the website uses frames it is not easy to find the identifying URL (web address) for an Act if you need to cite it correctly in your references. You will find the instructions on how to link directly to an Act within the FAQs in NSW Legislation's Help at http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/faqs.html#faq20.
Referencing
When you use material written by other people for your assignments, it is important to acknowledge their work and use the correct style. Click here for more information about referencing and plagiarism. The UNE School of Law requires the use of the Australian legal referencing system found in the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (2nd ed).
Further assistance
Library staff are happy to help you. Phone 02 6773 2322 during Law Library opening hours or Ask a Librarian online.