5 Legal Research Strategy
How you approach your research task may vary depending on your research question. However, the approach below works well with legal problem-solving methodologies such as IRAC.
What is IRAC?
IRAC is a legal problem-solving methodology commonly used in Australian law schools. Researchers using the IRAC method should identify the:
- Issue — state legal issues that are relevant
- Rule — state the legal rule found in legislation or case law
- Application — apply the rules to the facts
- Conclusion.
You can find a description of the IRAC method in A Practical Guide to Legal Research.
Analyse and plan
Analysing your research question involves identifying the appropriate area of law and any relevant legal issues at play. If you are researching a problem-based scenario, you should pay careful attention to:
- jurisdiction
- dates and timeline of events
- persons involved.
These facts will affect how you formulate your research question, as well as the sources of legal information you will need to consult.
Research the law
At this stage, you should focus on identifying the legal rules found in legislation and case law, because this is what you will need to restate in your writing.
Secondary to primary
When you are new to legal research or unfamiliar with an area of law, proceeding from general information (secondary sources) to more specific, authoritative information (primary sources) is a good approach. Secondary sources are written by subject-matter experts who can efficiently lead you to the key authorities you will need to use.
Alternatively, if you feel like you have a good grasp of the area of law and legal principles, you may wish to move straight to primary sources to answer your legal question.
Keeping up to date with the law
Once you have found your authorities, you need to make sure that they are up-to-date. Has the case you are relying on been reversed on appeal? Has the Act and provision you wish to cite been amended recently?
Apply the law
Apply the law to the facts. Use plain English to express your thoughts and to indicate the best course of action as well as the likely outcome of taking that course. It is important to:
- deal separately with each specific issue raised by the facts
- refer to the points of law extracted from the various cases, legislation, or texts
- have clarity of reasoning
- list authorities for and against the argument
- provide a conclusion.
Statements setting out principles of law should be supported by authoritative resources, preferably primary sources.
