Researching with CaseBase

This page aims to develop your case law research skills.

For more information please consult the various support materials accessible from every page.

LN Training Materials, LN Help files and CaseBase Related Links are located on the CaseBase search screen.

Finding your case

1. Know the citation or party names and want quick access to the CaseBase entry?

1. Select ‘Find a case in CaseBase’ from the dropdown task menu.

2. Enter party names or citation and click ‘Go’ to link directly to the CaseBase entry.

2. Want the transcript of the case?

Once you have located your case, simply -

1. Click on the BC number to access the full text of the unreported judgment.

2. If you subscribe to an LN report series, click on the citation hypertext link to access the full text of the reported judgment.

3. Need to find a case but don’t know the party names or citation but do know a few case details?

The ‘CaseBase search screen’ allows you to find cases or journal articles using a variety of fields depending on how much/little you know. Simply fill in as many fields as you can and click ‘Search’.

1. Use the drop down arrow to make your date search as specific or wide as you need.
2. ‘Catchwords/Summary’  searches the CaseBase catchwords and digest.
3. Selecting a jurisdiction(s) will automatically bring up all courts covered in that jurisdiction in the ‘Court’ field.
4. Simply tick however many courts you want to include in your search.

4. Doing research on a general topic and don’t know where to start?

For example, your research topic might be remedies for breach of contract with particular reference to contracts of employment and specific performance.

* Tip: start broad and use the edit and narrow search functions to refine your search, otherwise you run the risk of missing cases/articles of potential relevance to the argument you want to present.

Use the ‘Search Terms’ field on your CaseBase search screen to do a general search. This searches the full text of all entries and thereby increases your hit rate.
* Note: the ‘!’ will pick up remedy, remedies etc.

Result: 286 hits.

5. Need to refine your search?

Use the various editing, grouping and sorting functions available on your search results page to refine your search and group your results in ways that best suit your question.

1. To edit your original search, select ‘Edit Search’ in the Next Steps field and click Go. Simply add another search term and click Search.

   By adding ‘and employment’ to your original search terms you will reduce your hits to 32.
   
         OR

2. To narrow your search, simply add additional search terms in the Narrow Search field and click ‘Go’

   By entering 'specific performance' you will further reduce your hit list to 5 items.

1. Use the dropdown arrows to select the display options you require. For example, selectig 'View' using ‘List with Catchwords’ will give you the case details and the top-level catchwords used to describe the case, which will give you an indication of what it's about.
   Sorting by ‘Relevance’ will list the results according to the number of hits in each entry.

2. Use the dropdown arrow  to select a grouping option. For example, grouping by ‘Source’ will divide the content into cases and journals, so if you are only interested in cases you have further limited your results.

3. You can print, email and download your documents and can also use the 'Create Alert' function to send yourself an automatic email if a particular case you are interested in has been updated in any way, eg. if it has been judicially considered by a new case or referred to in a journal article.

How to get the most out of your CaseBase entries

6. Need to find the reported version of a case and can’t find volume you know its reported in?

Use the CaseBase entry of the case to find parallel citations for your case.

As you can see, Milpurrurru has been reported in four report series.

Linked citations are LexisNexis report series and you can link to the full text if the series is part of your subscription.

7. Don’t know what a citation stands for? (AIPC)

The Abbreviations/Subject list located on the CaseBase search screen provides a comprehensive list of citations and court abbreviations included in CaseBase.

To return to the CaseBase search screen, simply click 'Go' on 'Next Steps/Edit Search'.

Click on the link and scroll down to find your citation.

8. Is your case still good law/Does it still have precedential value?

To use a case to support your argument, you must demonstrate either that the case is still authoritative or good law or that perhaps even subsequently distinguished in some way it is still persuasive. How do you do that?

CaseBase does more than provide you with case details, parallel citations, lists of cases and legislative provisions that were judicially considered in the case and a brief summary of the key facts and legal issues involved. The 'Cases referring to this case' section of your entry also lists cases that have subsequently discussed your case. Each case has an annotation which will tell you whether a subsequent case has considered it favourably or otherwise. 

Assume you’ve been asked to discuss whether Robinson v Harman is still good law.

Simply link or simply scroll down to the list of cases that have subsequently considered your case to see what recent case law has to say about it.

1. The annotation is an indication of the treatment which the subsequent case gave Robinson. As you can see, it was applied as recently as 7/11/2007.

2. Click on the citation of any case to access the full text.

3. Click here to go directly to its CaseBase entry.

4. Use ‘Filter by Annotation’ to group cases according to treatment to quickly  identify cases that support/refute your argument. As you can see, Robinson has been applied in Australia eight times in the last seven years.

5. Use ‘Sort By’ to further group the cases. For example, sorting by court would allow you to easily identify decisions that have greater precedential value: eg those handed down by the High Court, FCA, NSWCA, VSCA and QCA.

9. What are the CaseBase signals?

To further assist you to determine the precedential value of a case, every CaseBase entry also has a signal. This is an indication of its current legal status. Remember the signal is only a guide, it is not a substitute for researching the subsequent case law.

1.     Simply click on 'Show Signals' to display the signal.

2.     For an explanation of the signal, simply click on 'Signals Help'.

10. What are the most important signals and how does the case get its overall signal?

For the purposes of legal research, it is most important that you are aware of anything that has commented negatively on a case which you wish you use to support your argument.

If a case has been overruled by the High Court, no amount of positive treatment in the lower courts will assist you.

1. Even though Robinson has eight positive comments it still has a ‘Cautionary’ signal. This means it is still good law, but it has been commented or distinguished in some way which could override that.

2. Group your 'Cases referring to this case' by negative or cautionary signal only to display all cases that have commented negatively on Robinson in some way. This will reveal, for example, that it has been ‘explained’ by a UK House of Lords case, McAlpine.

3. Although UK cases aren't binding in Australia, they are persuasive. So it would be wise to look at McAlpine to see what it has to say, especially as the positive signal on the right indicates that McAlpline itself has subsequently received positive treatment.