BASIC LEGAL RESEARCH

FOR LEGAL SECRETARIES

AT BELDEN
16 APRIL 2013
Prepared by Shaikh Mohamed
Noordin
Library Consultant
10 TOP LEGAL SECRETARIES SKILLS
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6.
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Transcript
ion Skills
 Lawyer ability is
deciding quickly and
getting somebody
else
do the work

by John G. Pollard

Remember
Remember !! Youre
Youre on
on
the
the front
front line,
line, you
you are
are
assets
assets of
of the
the Firm
Firm !!
You cant know all the law on a particular
topic at any given point in time but you
can know how to find it !
By Beatrice A. Tice
Foreign an Comparative Law Librarian
University of Michigan Law Library
WHY RESEARCH SKILLS IS IMPORTANT
TO SECRETARIES
Legal secretaries are parts of legal team
Legal secretaries also involve in
preparation of court documents
Usually court documents required legal
authorities
Secretaries need know where to get
these authorities to complete the
documents
Legal authorities can be found either in
the Firms library or legal database or
online sources or outside the Firm.
Therefore, it is essential for secretaries
to know how and where to obtain those
authorities as requested by the lawyers
 PREREQUISITE TRAITS TO BECOME
COMPETENT IN LEGAL RESEARCH

Must
Must be
be willing
willing to
to learn
learn new
new
things
things
1. Must
Must be
be pro-active
pro-active and
and
Attitude independence learner
independence learner
Must have knowledge about legal
Must have knowledge about legal
resources
2. resources
Must have knowledge about how
Knowled Must have knowledge about how
ge lawyers works and their needs
lawyers works and their needs
Must have skills in tracking legal
Must have skills in tracking legal
resources
3. resources
Must have skills in finding legal
Skills Must have skills in finding legal
authorities
authorities
QUESTIONS YOU SHOULD ASK BEFORE
LOOKING FOR LEGAL AUTHORITIES

What types of legal authorities the

lawyers need; cases or legislation?
Can you find these authorities in
the library or subscription database
or in the Internet?
What format lawyers prefer; photocopy
from the book or pdf copy from online?
Why lawyers need these authorities for;
just for verification and validation of the
authorities or for the court submission?
 FINDING LEGAL
AUTHORITY
CASE LAW & LEGISLATION
 WHAT IS LEGAL AUTHORITY?

Legal authority is a proof of

lawful presence.

Precedent is a courts past decision,

recognized as authority.

.
TYPES OF LEGAL AUTHORITY

Legal THEY
ASSISTANCE NEEDED BY THE LAWYERS,
Legal THEY
Authoritie
ASSISTANCE NEEDED BY THE LAWYERS,
MAY ASK YOU TO FIND
Authoritie
MAY ASK YOU TO FINDs s

Statutory
Judicial Statutory
Judicial Authoritie
Authoritie Authoritie
USUALLY REFER Authoritie
TOsCASES AND ACTS s
USUALLY REFER TOsCASES AND ACTS s
(Legislatio
(Cases) (Legislatio
(Cases) n)
n)
Foreign
Malaysian Foreign
Cases Acts of
Malaysian Cases Acts of
Parliament
cases (Specialise Parliament
SOURCE
casesOF AUTORITIES
(Specialise &
(MLJ, CLJ &OF AUTORITIES
SOURCE case & &
Subsidiary
(MLJ,
AMR)CLJ & case &
general Subsidiary
AMR) general Legislation
cases) Legislation
cases)

Malaysian Highest
Court
 DIFFERENT TERMS REFER TO THE
SAME THINGS
Legislation also refers to Statutes
or Statutory Law or Acts of
Parliaments or Acts

Judicial Opinions also refers to

Judgments, Court Decision or Cases
or Case Law
 WHAT IS CASE LAW?
Case law is the interpretation of law by
the judge, or how that law has been
interpreted, enforced or used in a
particular case or legal issue.

We needs to find examples of how a

particular law has been used or
interpreted by a judge after the
legislature made it a law.
 WHAT IS LAW REPORTS?
Law Reports are series of
books that contain judicial
opinions or judgments from a
selection of cases decided by
the courts.

When a particular case is

cited, it is may also referred
to any of the law reports
series as indicated in the
case citation format.
 WHAT ARE GENERAL SERIES
LAW REPORTS WE HAVE?
Law Reports (LR) started in
1865
Appeal Cases
Chancery Division
Queens Bench Division (1891 - 1901,
1952 onwards)/Kings Bench Division
(1901 - 1952)
Probate (Replaced in 1972 by a series
called Family, due to the creation of
the Family Division of the High Court)
All England Law Reports (All ER)
The All England Law Reports began in
1936. They are published by
Butterworths/Lexis Nexis, and are a
rival publication to the Law Reports.
 WHAT ARE SPECIALISED
LAW REPORTS WE HAVE?

Building Law Reports

(BLR)
Construction Law
Reports (CLR)
Lloyds Law Reports
 WHAT ARE MALAYSIAN
LAW REPORTS WE HAVE?

MLJ Maroon Series - 1932

1989
MLJ Green Series 1990 to
current
 LAW REPORTS WE DO NOT HAVE
Current Law Journal (CLJ) from 1982 to current,
BUT we are subscribing CLJ Online. Therefore,
you can still get pdf copy of the case from CLJ
Online.

All Malaysia Reports (AMR) from 1992 to

current.
Online version available in WestLaw Malaysia,
BUT we do not subscribe it. You may need to
obtain the case from outside the Firm if the same
case is NOT reported in MLJ or CLJ.
WHAT YOU WILL ASKED TO DO?
As a secretary, you are likely to
be asked to find cases for the
lawyer.
If you are lucky, you may get full
citation of the case from the
lawyer.
If you are still lucky, the cases
may be available in the library or
somewhere in the Firm
But what happen if lawyer only
gives you part of the citation or
cases not in the law reports that
available in the library or
unreported cases?
 FINDING AUTHORITIES
OUTSIDE THE FIRM
Which outside libraries may have the
required legal authorities?
How much do photocopies cost?
Do you have any cheaper alternative to
get the legal authorities?
Can you absorb the photocopies cost
into the clients disbursements?
 HOW TO PHOTOCOPY
LEGAL AUTHORITIES
Begin with starting page of the case
until the last page of the case or the
page that contains the section of the
Acts that required by the lawyer
FRONT PAGE
Ensure photocopy must be CLEAR and
covered the whole page of the reports or
section of the Acts
Include Front Page of the Law Reports
if the case authority is to be used for
court submission (see the right image)
WHAT QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE YOU FIND
LEGISLATION OR AN ACT

Is this legislation or Act already in

force?
When did this Act come into
force?
Have there been any
amendments to this Act,
particularly to the section that the
lawyer wants?
Is the Act available in the library
or where can you get a copy of
this Act urgently if it is NOT
available in the library?
 WHERE WE KEEP OUR ACTS?

Selected Acts which frequently used by the

lawyers are kept in their respective boxes in
alphabetical order. They are located in the
library.

The less frequently used Acts can be retrieved

from LawNet in the pdf format as published by
the Government Printer (PNMB) in the Warta
Kerajaan.
HOW TO READ
LEGAL CITATION
 WHAT IS LEGAL CITATION?

Legal citation is the practice of referring to

legal authority and sources. The most
common sources of legal authority are cases
(law reports) and statutes (Acts of Parliament).

The important elements of a case citation are

the case name, the abbreviation of the law
reports (in which the case was published), the
volume number which is placed before the
law reports abbreviation and the page number
which is placed after the abbreviation.
 WHAT IS LEGAL ABBREVIATION?

It is common practice in legal authority to

cite to other publications by using standard
abbreviations for the title of each source.

Such citations and abbreviations are found

in cases, statutes, journal articles, books,
and other documents.
 WHERE TO CHECK
LEGAL ABBREVIATION?
Use the following links or Google
Legal Abbreviation.com
http://www.legal-abbreviations.org/

Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations

http://www.legalabbrevs.cardiff.ac.uk/

Singapore Legal Abbreviations

http://
libportal.nus.edu.sg/frontend/ms/c-j-koh-law-l
ibrary/research/legal-resources-on-the-web/law
-in-singapore/glossaries-and-indexes/singapore
-legal-abbreviations
HOW DOES LAWYER CITE A CASE?

Name of parties, date, volume number, law

report, page number
Abdul Rahman v Soon Ah Hai [1978] 2 MLJ
31.

| <pg#>
HOW DOES LAWYER CITE AN ACT?

Short title, enactment year, Act number,

section number

Copyright Act 1987, Act 332, s36, (b), (ii).

| <pg#>
 WHAT IS PARALLEL CITATION

Parallel citation is an alternate citation to

the same case.

The purpose of a parallel citation is to help

you to find the same case in any of law
reports which is readily available to you.

For example, Tan Guek Tian & Anor v

Tan Kim Kiat can be found at [2007] 3
MLJ 521; AND [2007] 8 CLJ 215; AND
ALSO [2007] 3 AMR 758
 WHERE TO CHECK PARALLEL
CITATION?
Use All Malaysia Reports
Law Index
Monthly Index
Yearly Index
What else
we have in
the library
 LOCATING SECONDARY SOURCES
IN OUR LIBRARY USING INTRANET

A. Law textbooks
B. Legal dictionaries
C. Serials encyclopedias
D. Periodicals - Law reviews / law
journals / law magazines
E. Forms and Precedents
F. Standard form construction
contracts
G. Technical construction guidelines
H. Conference / Seminar papers
I. Articles on construction law
 EXAMPLE OF TEXTBOOKS
Hudsons Building And Engineering
Contracts
by Sweet & Maxwell

Keating on Building Contracts

by Sweet & Maxwell

| <pg#>
 SUBJECT HEADINGS FOR TEXTBOOKS
MAIN SUBJECT HEADINGS Sub-subject headings
ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTIONS
Construction Arbitration
(ADR) Construction Contracts
BUILDING & ENGINEERING CONTRACTS Companies
Partnership
CONSTRUCTION CLAIMS
Agency
CONSTRUCTION STANDARD FORMS
CONTRACTS
Damages
Drafting
CONSTRUCTION LAW
Hire Purchase
CONSTRUCTION PROJECT RISK
Sale of Goods
MANAGEMENT
Civil Procedure
CORPORATION
Equitable Remedies
EMPLOYMENT LAW Evidence
FAMILY LAW Limitation
FINANCING Professional Liability Claims
INSPLVENCY Administrative law
INSURANCE Conflict of law
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Commercial law
LAW OF CONTRACTS
Criminal
Health & Safety
LAND & PROPERTY LAW
Shipping
LITIGATION
Succession
TORTIOUS CLAIMS & NEGLIGENCE Others
MISCELLANEOUS
 EXAMPLE OF LAW DICTIONARY
Provide definitions of words
in their legal sense or use.
Some may include citation
of authorities

Include tables defining legal

abbreviations and acronyms

Single or multi-volume titles

| <pg#>
 EXAMPLE OF LEGAL ENCYCLOPEDIA

Halsburys Laws of Halsburys Laws of

| <pg#>
England Malaysia
STANDARD FORM CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT

Malaysian standard International standard

forms forms
CIDB - Construction FIDIC International
Industry Development Federation of Consulting
Board Engineers

IEM Institution of GCC General Condition of

Engineers Malaysia Contract

JKR/PWD - Jabatan Kerja JCT Joint Contracts Tribunal

Raja

PSSCOS Public Sector

PAM Pertubuhan Akitek Standard Condition of Contract
Malaysia

RIBA Royal Institute of

Putrajaya _ Perbadanan
 WHAT INDEX WE HAVE
List of textbooks
List of reference books, serials,
law reports, loose leaf materials
and law journals
List of statutes
List of standard form contracts
List of technical construction
guidelines
Index to construction articles
List of seminar/conference papers

Note: All material can be searched

PAPER VS ELECTRONIC RESEARCH

Why you will need both resources

to help you finding the authorities
Sometimes only print resources are
available
In many cases, print resources are
better (easy to read and photocopy)
Online search is based on print
system you can use online
resources better if you know how
the print system works.
 FREE LEGAL RESOURCES
Australasian Legal Information Institute -
http://www.austlii.edu.au/
British and Irish Legal Information
Institute - http://www.bailii.org/
New Zealand Legal Information Institut -
http://www.nzlii.org/
Canadian Legal Information Institute -
http://www.canlii.org/
Asian Legal Information Institute -
http://www.asianlii.org/
Commonwealth Legal Information
Institute - http://www.commonlii.org/
World Legal Information Institute -
http://www.worldlii.org/
 FREE LEGAL RESOURCES

Legislation Malaysia (available in full text & arranged by

subjects)
http://www.lexadin.nl/wlg/legis/nofr/oeur/lxwemal.htm
Malaysian Legislation
http://www.commonlii.org/my/legis/consol_act/
List of Bill of Parliament
http://www.parlimen.gov.my/index.php?
modload=document&uweb=dr&doc=bills&lang=en
Malaysian Appellate Court Judgments (full judgments
without head notes)
http://portal.kehakiman.gov.my/
FEE-BASED LEGAL RESOURCES

On
On
subscription
subscription

On
On
subscription
subscription

On
On
subscription
subscription

Reconsider
Reconsider
 "YOU'RE NO GOOD UNLESS
YOU ARE A GOOD ASSISTANT;
AND IF YOU ARE, YOU'RE TOO
GOOD TO BE AN ASSISTANT

QUOTES BY MARTIN H. FISCHER

it is easier to
do a job right
than to explain
why you didn't
Martin Van Buren
 THE INSTITUTE OF
LEGAL
SECRETARIES AND
PAs
http://www.institutelegalsecretarirs.com

Professionalism: Its NOT the job you

DO, Its HOW you DO the job.
Anonymous
If you wish to achieve
worthwhile things in
your personal and
career life, you must
become a worthwhile
person in your own self-
development. - Brian
Desire! That's the one
Tracy
secret of every man's
career. Not education.
http://www.legalsecretaryjournal.com/?page=2
Not being born with
hidden talents. Desire.
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