Shining a light on the digital revolution

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Over the next few months at CPD Interactive, we will be shining a light on the digital revolution. From Bitcoin to e-trial process to online legal research we will give you a little taste of the legal landscape in the context of digital change.

As lawyers building online learning we feel we are right in the thick of it.  Since our inception around 8 years ago as one of the first kids on the block with interactive online learning in the legal space, we have had quite a ride in experiencing the digital revolution first hand. When we first launched, smart phones and iPads had not yet hit the marketplace and access was all by desktop or laptops.  Making the leap to a multitude of platforms and search engines and getting it all to work seamlessly was never an easy feat but one we had no choice but to embrace and conquer.  Since then, we have completely rebuilt our learning management system to create a unique solution for our product and to meet the needs of our customers and now utilise a unique video editing tool called Vidversity to create our courses.   For all businesses, professions and organisations, changes in the ‘digital landscape’ constantly throws up challenges – do we change how we learn, teach, transact and process?  Do we take up digital solutions, do we stay with what we know or do we do a little of both?

Ultimately we are all humans adapting to change and the challenge for all digital solutions is to make sense to those using it and to make life easier, more efficient and to improve the quality of our experiences in and outside the workplace.

So with this framework in mind, follow us on our journey in the next month or so as we explore the digital revolution in substantive law issues that directly impact on lawyers and their clients, plus new ways of delivering learning to staff including legal research in the digital era.   We will explore New Law and ways firms can use digital platforms for the growth of their practice and their skills.  

Subscribe to our blog for more or you can follow us on LinkedIN, Facebook or Twitter.  Look forward to seeing you out there in the digital world!  

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Legal publishers – who are they and who were they?

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As part of the ‘How to really be a lawyer’ video blog series, Natalie gives a brief summary of the legal publishers and how they have changed their names over time.

Why is this important? The legal publishers have evolved and lawyers may refer to them differently.

In this video Natalie reviews the current legal publishing companies and gives you a history of what they have been called in the past. So, if you are given instructions to find an article using a particular publisher you may not be familiar with, you may find they are the same company under a different name.

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Understanding Case Citators

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In this latest video blog Natalie gives a brief overview of some of the differences between databases on the market and in particular the case citators including CaseBase, FirstPoint, LawCite and Jade Barnet.

A case citator provides a summary of the case, and importantly tells us what has happened since the case. Specifically, have the courts continued to follow the principal of law from a specific case?

You need to be aware that each product has its positive points and limitations. For example, the scope of the service – particularly in relation to timeframe, and to the editor’s selection of cases listed. Natalie discusses when you may use one resource over another, and gives some examples.

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Find Australian cases using Jade

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Find Australian cases using Jade, Jade is a case database published by the NSW Bar Association. It’s free and it does some really amazing things. You’ll find it here – https://jade.barnet.com.au.

Up until about 1957, the Bar Association have scanned the Commonwealth Law Reports for the High Court cases. So if you need to cite earlier decisions, you have the official page numbers. If you click the Jade Browser, you’ll see that there’s quite a lot of jurisdictions available.

Another nice feature is the citator (ie what’s happened subsequently). One of the problems with our common law system is that we might know that 27 cases have considered our case, but it’s about knowing exactly which part of the case they’ve considered.

Watch the video and keep the tips handy by downloading – Tip Sheet 3 – Finding cases using Jade.

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Finding obscure legal cases in Australia

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Keep these steps handy by downloading – Tip Sheet 2 – How to find obscure legal cases in Australia.

This video shows you how to find Supreme Court cases you can’t find elsewhere. These are often old, unreported decisions that haven’t been made widely available. There will often be no other place you’ll find these cases, unless you go to the Supreme Court yourself.

We’re using the Supreme Court Library catalogue available at http://www.supremecourt.vic.gov.au/.

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Finding Commonwealth Legislation

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Watch a short video from Natalie about how to find Commonwealth Legislation.

You need to use the official version of legislation – at a Commonwealth level, this is produce by CommLaw.

Watch out for more hints and tips from Natalie about legal research and whatever else takes her fancy.

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