I need to conduct legal research for a personal matter and have been rellying on Austli and Jade but I think I need a case citator like NexisLexis or Westlaw AU to help identify good law from bad and to access judgements published in law reports.
I've figured of enrolling in a short course at a university (that I'll actually study in any way) and get that access through the library.
Any recommendations?
Thanks
Yes, I tried. They said their licensing only permits access to current staff/students. The list that one access as alumni is quite the shortlist.
I don't know if anyone does this however Unis should consider offering something like a pre Masters application unit.
Bundle up some some submission coursework, access to resources for preliminary research and maybe a couple of hours face to face time to discuss your proposal.
May get a few people who have been in the workforce for a while and know things the ability to document and research stuff they have learnt.
Try visiting it from their library. Some uni allow access (via proxy ) from internal IP. If that failed ask the librarian there to help out and see if they have access
Offer to pay a law student for access through their account, as a learning opportunity
The firm I work at has access but I am certain it is a breach of the terms of use to share access.
Furthermore, my understanding is that student access is supposed to be limited to educational use only… I am also not sure if you can even access the law databases as an Arts, Science, Engineering, Medicine, other non-law student.
Alumni access via libraries usually does not provide access to the law databases.
I know a few of my colleagues at other firms only have access to free resources and they seem to do fine somehow, but I guess that is because they usually recommend to their client to obtain the services of a barrister who ultimately will have access to the databases. However, where their client cannot afford to retain a barrister, my guess is they just have to provide a second class service.
Depending on what your matter involves, the authorised reports that are publicly available on Jade may be sufficient. They are very unlikely to have been overturned recently, and if they have, a quick search on Google will usually have some commentary about the case being overturned and the name of the new case. Authorised reports are basically what the ordinary citizen would refer to as good law.
However, authorised reports may not be enough for your matter:
Ultimately I was working on a pro-bono social security case recently and the cases the government solicitor tried to cite against my client were deliberately obscure and unable to be accessed via the free resources. If you did not have access to westlaw you would not be able to properly assist your client to defend the allegations. I believe this is the tactic the government is using these days, which kind of defeats the idea of a model litigant when they know the ordinary citizen is unable to access the cases they cite.
That is a major problem with the current legal system. I can imagine a lot of the recent immigrants that were tricked to coming to Australia believing they would have a better life, only to be exploited by the rental crisis and then have their student visas cancelled, to appeal and be kicked in the teeth again by having an obscure case cited against them in the statement of reasons.
Engage a current law student to tutor you and not only get their help with your research but access to their data bases as well.
Enrol in a law degree yourself. Just because you start a degree, doesn't mean you have to finish it.
When I was at uni, could withdraw from courses up to 7 weeks after enrolment and not be charged for the course. If you only need access for short time, might be a way to go.
Are you an alum anywhere? They are often granted free or cheap access to their alma mater libraries.