This document outlines the legal research process using the FILAC method. It describes each step of the method: Facts, Issues, Law, Analysis, and Conclusion. Under Facts, it explains how to identify the relevant parties, events, and claims of a legal problem using PEC (Parties, Events, Claims). It emphasizes defining the specific legal issues and then searching primary and secondary sources to find governing law. The Analysis step involves applying the law to the facts to determine an outcome. Finally, conclusions must be communicated verbally or in writing, with proper advocacy and writing skills. The process is described as circular, as new questions may arise at any step.

1. Legal Research
Taken from:
University of Ottawa. (2011). The Research Process. Principles of
Legal Research. Retrieved 22 October 2014, from
http://web5.uottawa.ca/www2/rl-lr/eng/index.html, and
University of Toronto. Legal Research Process. Bora Laskin Law
Library. Retrieved 23 October 2014, from
http://library.Law.Utoronto.Ca/legal-reseach-tutorial/legal-
research-process

2. Learning Objectives
• Organise the steps in your legal research using a model such as
the FILAC method;
• Identify the relevant facts and concepts in a problem and
determine the legal question or issue to be answered;
• Understand the importance of these initial steps and a
methodical, flexible approach to legal research; and
• Prepare to put a research plan into action.

3. The Research Process
• Legal research requires a methodical approach.
• Legal research is a process which should take place in a number of stages.
• It is essential to begin by evaluating the legal problem.
• Doing so enables you to determine the specific legal question or issue
you need to answer.
• Since this will be the focus of your attention, identifying it will put your
research on the right path and will help you choose the best research
tools and key word strategies.
• You will save time and improve your end result if you develop the legal
question(s) before you even pull a book off the shelf or access an online
database.

4. FILAC Method
• One common method to research legal issues is FILAC
• Facts
• Issue/s
• Law
• Analysis
• Communication/Conclusions

5. Facts
• Factual analysis isolates the relevant facts
• Helps to expose the legal question and issue/s
• PEC is a good starting point
• Parties
• Events
• Claims
• We will go through PEC individually with some example question
you can ask during the factual analysis stage

6. Facts: Parties
• Who are the people involved in the dispute?
• What are the existing relationships between the parties?
• Contractual relationships?
• Family relationships?
• Employee/employer relationsips?
• Legal duty towards another party?
• Government relationships?
• Is this a civil or criminal issue?
• What personal characteristics are known?
• Age, occupation, marital status, employment status…

7. Facts: Events
• What events gave rise to the dispute?
• To begin:
• What happened?
• Where and when did each event occur?
• Who was present?
• Do the events follow a sequence?
• Organise in chronological order
• Organise related events together (separate headings if necessary)
• Are there different version of the event?
• What is the legal history of the claim?
• Is it an appeal from a lower court, etc?

8. Facts: Claims
• What claims are the parties making?
• What are they seeking compensation for?
• Lost profits?
• Physical injury?
• Property damage?
• Are they seeking an injunction?
• Is a government agency seeking a fine or penalty?
• Is a jail sentence involved?
• How has each party characterised their claim?
• As a breach of contract, tort or an issue involving property?
• How will the claim likely be defended against?

9. Issue/s
• Legal issues are fact-dependent and defining the issues is a
creative process
• Depending on how you frame the facts, several legal issues may
take shape
• This is important for a client
• A claim may be more successful if the facts are frame in a certain way
• You can’t change facts – but you have control over issues
• Different legal issues will also naturally drive research in different
directions

10. Law
• Once you have framed the legal issues, you can begin searching for
the law that governs these issues
• Where do you look?
• Primary vs Secondary sources
• Primary sources are the actual law
• Legislation and case law (precedents)
• Secondary sources explain, comment on and critique the law
• Things that clarify and discuss legislation and precedents
• Eg. Textbooks, articles, etc

11. Analysis
• Analysing the law involves applying the relevant legal principles to the
issue/s in an effort to achieve an outcome
• Effective legal analysis is sometimes considered the most important part
of the legal research process
• It involves a determination of the relevance of certain cases and statutes
within a particular context
• You must:
• Compare, contrast and synthesise relevant cases
• Read and interpret statues, and
• Apply the law, as you understand it, to the facts of the case
• You may also find that more research is required at this point

12. Communication/Conclusions
• You need to communicate your findings
• If the research done appears to address the issue/s it is time to
draw conclusions and prepare you communication
• Depending on the context, in the real world you could be asked to
give your findings verbally in court, in a written document or in a
legal memo, explaining the law on a certain issue
• For school it will usually be in a written exam or in a written or
spoken assessment task
• Regardless of the context, proper communication requires solid
advocacy and writing skills

13. • Some of the steps shown may occur simultaneously, rather than
sequentially
• It is a circular process
• Even if you have followed FILAC in order, you may uncover new
something in your research that requires you to ask more
questions