Developing legal research skills: Expending the paradigm

Abstract

This article explores the development of tertiary legal research skills education in Australia in the underlying context of Australian legal education and the transformation of legal research resulting from advances in information technology. It argues that legal research is a fundamental skill for lawyers and that research training in a law degree must cater for the vocational needs of the individual student whether their ultimate focus is practice or higher degree research. It argues that the traditional doctrinal paradigm of legal research is no longer sufficient for modern lawyers and that exposure to additional methodologies needs to be included in research training units. This article argues that while legal research skills education has changed, it must continue to develop in order to better cater for the needs of students, the profession and the academy in the contemporary legal environment