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Secondary Sources

Secondary Sources. Finding the law using sources that share the expertise of others Jane Cavanagh, Alberta Law Libraries and Shaunna Mireau, Field Law. Source: http:// web5.uottawa.ca/www2/rl-lr/eng/secondary-sources/5_1-dictionaries_books.html. Why a secondary source? .

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Secondary Sources

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  1. Secondary Sources Finding the law using sources that share the expertise of others Jane Cavanagh, Alberta Law Libraries and Shaunna Mireau, Field Law

  2. Source: http://web5.uottawa.ca/www2/rl-lr/eng/secondary-sources/5_1-dictionaries_books.html

  3. Why a secondary source? When you don’t have a starting point, Secondary sources help you : • gatherinformation on a new or unfamiliar topic • situate and contextualize the legal problem or debate; • define the legal issue(s) • identifylegal subjects, concepts or issues not yet considered • developsearch strategies and effectivekeywords and search strings • save time

  4. Why a secondary source? When you do have a starting point, secondary sources help: • gain context: backgroundinformation not likely to be stated in cases, statutes, or other legal authorities • narrow the scope of your research • identify further precedents • save time

  5. A Question Our clients hold shares in a corporation and disagree with the plan of arrangement that the board is proposing. There was an SCC case called BCE Inc. v. 1976 Debentureholders, 2008 SCC 69, that talked about directors fiduciary duties and fair treatment of security holders. You have been assigned several tasks: • Find the ABCA equivalent of the CBCA s.122 and see if there is commentary more recent than 2008 • Are there any judicial definitions of "best interests" in the corporate law context • Look for commentary on the case and see how BCE is being applied in Alberta regarding fiduciary duties • What do the Alberta Courts say about fiduciary duties of directors

  6. Annotated Legislation • Find the ABCA equivalent of the CBCA s.122 and see if there is commentary more recent than 2008

  7. Annotated Legislation • Annotated legislation provides context • Lots of federal acts are annotated (Criminal Code, Income Tax Act, Business Corporations) • Sometimes have a concordance with jurisdictional equivalents

  8. Annotated Legislation

  9. Annotated Legislation

  10. Annotated Legislation – Rules of Civil Procedure

  11. Annotated Legislation – Rules of Civil Procedure

  12. Judicial definitions • Are there any judicial definitions of “best interests” in the corporate law context • Legal Dictionaries • Words and Phrases dictionaries

  13. Legal Dictionaries

  14. Print and online

  15. Blacks Law Dictionary Is American…

  16. Words and Phrases Judicial definition dictionary or a search template • WNC – Part of the Canadian Abridgment (print and online) • National Reporter System search (online) • LNQL – search template (online)

  17. Couldn’t we just note it up?

  18. Legal commentary • Strategy when you have a case 1st • Link to newer/same jurisdiction cases using digests links • Link from case to commentary using WNC or LNQL Noting Up tools • Strategy when there is no starting decision or there is too much data • Find encyclopedia references • Find Textbook references • Browse case digests by topic

  19. Digests • How is BCE being applied in Alberta regarding fiduciary duties? • Look at case digests • In WNC, when viewing the case select Abridgement link and look for your point of law – all digests are collected by category • In LNQL, go to the Canada Digests • In the National Reporter System search Key Numbers • Look for our jurisdiction under the same digest heading

  20. Canadian Abridgment Digests

  21. LNQL Canada Digest

  22. LNQL Links to digests

  23. Browsing for Digests • Controlled language • “All” cases on an issue in one spot • Three product options • WNC – Canadian Abridgment Digests • LNQL – The Canada Digest • MLB – Topic and Key Number System

  24. Commentary What do the Alberta Courts say about fiduciary duties of directors? Look to legal commentary. • Commentary is found in • Conference Proceedings • Textbooks • Encyclopedias • Journals • Blogs

  25. Which Textbook? • Suggested Texts from http://legalresearch.org/essentials/process/commentary/texts/suggested-textbooks/ • Library Catalogue • Research Guides

  26. Library Resources

  27. Library Research Guides

  28. Library Catalogue

  29. Library Catalogue

  30. Library Catalogue Conference Proceedings

  31. Conference Proceedings

  32. Conference Proceedings

  33. Conference Proceedings

  34. Textbooks • Don’t be afraid to use more than one for the same question • Find out what your firm owns • Electronic texts work the same as print • Sometimes print is faster

  35. Link to Encyclopedias • LNQL - Halsbury’s Laws of Canada • WNC – The CED (Canadian Encyclopedic Digest)

  36. Halsbury’s Laws of Canada - Quicklaw

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