SMP Law – Researching Cases on Canlii
So you want to be my lawyer? How many Cases have you had published on the legal research site CanLii.org?
Whether representing yourself or if you hire a lawyer, you will at some point need to do some legal research into other cases. When in court, judges will sometimes ask “what cases are you relying on” with the assumption that you have done some research into other cases.
When researching a case on CanLii, you can choose Ontario as your province to search and then use keywords to search for your specific issue or topic. Given the hundreds of cases heard daily in Ontario, it is not surprising that not every case is published on Canlii, as such, there is a system in place that selects which cases are placed on CanLii.
How Do Cases Get Published on Canlii.org?
The exact mechanism as to how cases get selected and published on Canlii is not easily understood. It is our understanding that it is up to the specific judge to submit the case to be published on Canlii.
It is notable that judges have placed a large proportion of SMP Law’s cases on Canlii. As of the date of this blog, we have 75 published cases on CanLii.
As such, one way to get to know your potential lawyer is to look up the lawyer’s cases on Canlii and see how many cases have been published and what type of cases the lawyer has done recently.
How To Use Canlii.org?
When you search canlii.org, the below screenshot is what you will see. You can click on Ontario.
After you click on Ontario, you will be directed to the below screen. In the first search bar that says “document text” you can type in the lawyer’s name and the cases they have been involved in will come up for your review.
As an example, when you type in “shawn philbert” you can see below how the search looks:
Feel free to explore Canlii and do some research on lawyers you are considering for your matter.
Contact us anytime at SMP Law to help SiMPlify your legal matter at 905-565-9494 or email info@smplaw.ca if you have any questions or would like to book an appointment to meet and discuss your situation and how we can help.
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