Legal Research Skills For Practical Problem Solving Training

Objectives:
• Understand the purpose and scope of legal research in practical problem solving
• Identify the key components of the South African legal system
• Recognise the role of legal research in supporting legal arguments and decisions
• Distinguish between primary and secondary legal sources
• Apply basic problem-solving frameworks to legal issues

Topics:
• Overview of the South African legal system
• Sources of law: Constitution, legislation, common law, case law
• Introduction to legal research methodology
• Legal problem-solving models: IRAC, FIRAC
• Ethical considerations in legal research
• Practical exercise: Identifying legal issues in a scenario

Objectives:
• Locate and interpret Acts, regulations, and by-laws
• Understand the hierarchy of legislation
• Use official government publications for legislative research
• Apply principles of statutory interpretation
• Identify relevant legislation for a given problem

Topics:
• Structure of legislation: long title, preamble, sections, schedules
• How to find legislation: Government Gazette, official websites
• Interpretation of statutes: literal, purposive, and contextual approaches
• Delegated legislation: regulations, proclamations, notices
• Practical exercise: Finding and analysing a relevant Act

Objectives:
• Understand the doctrine of judicial precedent (stare decisis)
• Identify the components of a reported judgment
• Navigate law reports and citation systems
• Analyse case law for ratio decidendi and obiter dicta
• Apply case law to factual scenarios

Topics:
• Structure of a judgment: headnote, facts, issue, reasoning, order
• Law reports: SA Law Reports, All SA, specialised reports
• Citation formats: year, volume, series, page
• Distinguishing ratio from obiter
• Practical exercise: Reading and summarising a case

Objectives:
• Evaluate the authority and relevance of secondary sources
• Use legal encyclopedias for background research
• Access law journals and academic commentary
• Integrate secondary sources to support legal arguments
• Cite secondary sources correctly

Topics:
• Types of secondary sources: textbooks, journal articles, loose-leaf services
• Legal encyclopedias: LAWSA, Halsbury’s Laws of SA
• Law journals: SALJ, THRHR, De Jure
• Finding articles via databases and indexes
• Practical exercise: Using secondary sources to clarify a legal concept

Objectives:
• Navigate online legal databases effectively
• Use search techniques: Boolean operators, filters, keywords
• Access free and subscription-based resources
• Manage research results and create bibliographies
• Evaluate the credibility of online legal information

Topics:
• Overview of databases: Sabinet, LexisNexis, Juta, Google Scholar
• Search strategies: natural language vs. Boolean
• Using citators to check case validity
• Reference management tools: Zotero, Mendeley
• Practical exercise: Conducting a targeted database search

Objectives:
• Apply interpretative aids: intrinsic and extrinsic
• Use the Constitution as a guiding framework
• Analyse legislative history and explanatory memoranda
• Resolve ambiguities using canons of construction
• Draft a brief interpretation note

Topics:
• Intrinsic aids: definitions, headings, schedules
• Extrinsic aids: Hansard, Law Commission reports
• Constitutional interpretation: Section 39 of the Constitution
• Canons of construction: eiusdem generis, expressio unius
• Practical exercise: Interpreting a complex statutory provision

Objectives:
• Synthesise multiple cases on a point of law
• Identify conflicting authorities and obiter dicta
• Use case law to predict outcomes
• Build a logical chain of reasoning
• Prepare a case brief for argument

Topics:
• Techniques for comparing and contrasting cases
• Handling conflicting precedents: overruling, distinguishing
• Using case law to support both sides of an argument
• Structuring a legal argument with authority
• Practical exercise: Building an argument from a set of cases

Objectives:
• Diagnose legal issues from a client’s narrative
• Formulate research questions from facts
• Locate and apply relevant law
• Develop a solution or advice based on research
• Communicate findings clearly

Topics:
• Step-by-step problem-solving process
• From facts to legal issues: issue spotting
• Formulating research questions
• Integrating legislation and case law
• Practical exercise: Solving a mock client problem

Objectives:
• Research constitutional issues and Bill of Rights jurisprudence
• Understand the role of the Constitutional Court
• Use international law and foreign law as interpretive aids
• Analyse limitations clauses and justifiability
• Apply proportionality analysis

Topics:
• Constitutional research: Section 39(1) and international law
• Finding Constitutional Court judgments
• Bill of Rights: structure and interpretation
• Limitation analysis: Section 36
• Practical exercise: Researching a constitutional question

Objectives:
• Conduct comprehensive legal research on a given problem
• Synthesise primary and secondary sources
• Produce a written legal opinion or memorandum
• Present findings and justify conclusions
• Receive and incorporate feedback

Topics:
• Project brief: a practical legal problem
• Research plan and time management
• Drafting a legal memorandum: structure, style, citations
• Peer review and feedback session
• Revision and finalisation of the research product

Objectives:
• Apply ethical standards in legal research
• Master citation formats (e.g., OSCOLA, SA style)
• Avoid plagiarism and ensure academic integrity
• Understand continuing professional development in research
• Prepare for real-world application of skills

Topics:
• Ethics in legal research: confidentiality, impartiality
• Citation styles: footnotes, bibliography, referencing
• Plagiarism: definition, consequences, prevention
• Keeping up to date: alerts, journals, CPD
• Course wrap-up and evaluation