Course resource help for Law

Click here to access Westlaw. If prompted, log in with your Brookes student number and password.

The first time you access Westlaw you will be asked for your name and email address.

The homepage contains a single search box. This searches everything in Westlaw, but you can click on options to narrow your search down. However, you will have greater control over your search if you use the tabs along the top of the screen (cases, legislation etc.).

You can return to the homepage from anywhere in Westlaw by clicking on the Westlaw icon in the top left of the screen.

On the Westlaw homepage you'll see the option to browse by topic followed by an alphabetical list of areas of law.

If you click on one of these, you can then see:

• A new search box, allowing you search for materials just in this area of law
• A summary of what this area of law covers
• Latest developments - the most recent cases and publications in this area of law
• Link to the most important legislation on this topic
• Links to more specific areas of law

If you click on one of these more specific areas, you'll see an overview article as well as a selection of recent, relevant cases and journal articles. These overview articles are great places to start researching a topic. They are short posts written by legal experts.

Westlaw overview articles are not sources you should be citing in your coursework. Instead, they are a starting point to help you find other, more scholarly material. This process works in two ways:

• There are links throughout overview articles to key cases and legislation elsewhere in Westlaw. This is a quick way to see what the significant sources of law are in a particular field.
• Reading an overview article on an unfamiliar topic can be a great way to get an overview of the topic and learn some of the vocabulary used in it. You can then go on to use some of this vocabulary in the search boxes in the cases, legislation or journals tabs of Westlaw.

Download a one-page guide (contains screenshots) of how to best use topics on Westlaw (PDF).

Download a two-page guide (contains screenshots) about how to find and use cases in Westlaw (PDF).

Click on Cases in the dark blue bar at the top of any page in Westlaw.

You can search for cases by the names of the parties, citation (e.g. [1967] 1 WLR 716), or just put your topic of interest in the Free Text box. You do not need to fill in every box.

The results list displays a list of results matching your query. Each result includes the case name, subject, keywords and tells you where the case has been reported

You can see an abstract and the history of each case by clicking on the Case Analysis link at the bottom of each result

Westlaw can also provide you with the full text of law report. If a law report is available for the cases in your results list, a link will be included underneath bottom each result.

Down the right hand side of any case, you will be able to download a PDF of the case, print it, or save it to your personal Westlaw folder. You can also click on the alarm bell icon to create an alert. This means if something significant happens with this case in the future, Westlaw will email you and let you know.

English cases are published in law reports and there are many different series of law reports. Westlaw contain a wide variety of law reports but does not contain all law reports. Have a look at the library's case law information to learn more about law reports and case law.

If you have a long or complicated case name, try just using a couple of keywords from your reference. Alternatively you can search for the citation e.g. [1981] 1 WLR 711.

European case law:

• Click on EU in the dark blue bar at the top of any Westlaw page.

• Tick cases, then use the search boxes. You can search by the case name, case citation or a topic.

• If you get too many results you can use the filters down the left hand side of your results to narrow them down. Click on the title of any case to read it.

• Download a two-page guide (contains screenshots) about how to find and use EU content in Westlaw (PDF).
• Watch a video that walks you through finding EU sources on Westlaw and EUR-Lex.

US case law:

• Click on the Westlaw US link on the right of the Westlaw homepage. This will now open in a new window.

• Underneath browse, click on the word cases.

• You can now either use the search box to search all federal and state case law, or pick an individual court or case.

• As you move through categories, the left hand tab on the search box changes name to show you what you'll be searching.

• If you get too many results you can use the filters down the left hand side of your results to narrow them down. Click on the title of any case to read it.

Other international case law

• Click on the Westlaw International link on the right of the Westlaw homepage. This will now open in a new window..

• Underneath browse, click on the word cases.

• You can use the search box to search across multiple countries, or pick an individual country. Note that many countries' cases are not included on Westlaw.

• As you move through categories, the second tab on the search box changes name to show you what you're searching.

• To find multinational materials (e.g. International Court of Justice decisions): use the International materials index on the right of the screen to browse a full list of all sources, including ICJ decisions.

Click on Legislation in the dark blue bar at the top of any Westlaw page.

You can search for the title of the Act or SI (e.g. Equality Act 2010) or search for a phrase or word in the free text box (e.g. "houses in multiple occupation")

If you want a particular section, you can put the name of the Act/SI in the title box and then the section number in the provision number box. Remember to select the appropriate description (e.g. section) from the drop-down provision number box. You will then skip the screen with multiple results and jump directly to that section. You can get back to the whole Act by clicking on the Act's title at the top of the page.

Legislation is always evolving. Westlaw allows you to compare two versions of the same piece of legislation, and highlights the changes for you. Learn more about comparing legislation on Westlaw (PDF).

Download a two-page guide (contains screenshots) about how to find and use legislation in Westlaw (PDF).

Journals covering English and EU law:

• Click on journals in the dark blue bar along the top of any Westlaw page.
• You can search for journal articles by title and author, or search for a topic or phrase in the Free Text box.
• The results list displays a list of results matching your query. Each result includes the article title, citation, subject and keywords.
• If you get too many results, use the filters down the left hand side to narrow your results down. Alternatively, click on edit search to go back to the search page and put in additional search terms or  more precise search terms.
• You can look at an abstract (summary) of each article by clicking on Abstract.
• Westlaw may also provide you with the full text of journal articles. Look for a Full Text link will be included at the bottom of each result.
• If you only want the results list to include articles that have their full text in Westlaw, tick full text available down the left hand side of the results list.
• Remember, if the full text of an article isn't in Westlaw we may still have access to it through another database. To check, search for the journal title in the Journal Titles tab on the search box on the library homepage.
  
• Get more information and advice about using law journals and journal articles.

Download a one page guide (contains screenshots) about how to find and use journals in Westlaw (PDF).

If you search for cases or journal articles on a particular topic, then you may want to know when anything new is published on that topic. To avoid having to return to Westlaw and repeat the search, you can create an alert.

At the top of the results page, click on the alarm bell icon, give your search a name and save it. Westlaw will then regularly repeat the search for you and email you when any new results are found.

If you want to snooze or delete an alert, click on alerts at the top of Westlaw.

Look for the alarm bell icon down the right-hand side of a case. If you click on this, you can ask Westlaw to alert you by email if the case is appealed, cited by another case etc.

You can keep track of all of your research by saving documents into folders. You can have a folder for each module or assignment, to keep things organised.

To add something to a folder, look for the folder icon to the right of any document on Westlaw.

Click on folders at the top of the Westlaw to see all your research in one place.

Do you get too many search results in Westlaw? Are the useful results buried in lots of irrelevant results? One solution might be to use some of these tools.

You don't need to remember any of these. Just remember that next to every search box in Westlaw is a link labelled terms and connectors. This will remind you of all these tricks.

Finding words near each other:

• Use " " to glue words together into a phrase. For example, "gig economy" will find results where the words occur as a phrase.
• Use /s to find words in the same sentence. For example, jury /s reform will find results where both words occur in the same sentence.
• Use /p to find words in the same paragraph. For example, police /p review will find results where both words occur in the same paragraph.

Combining words:

• Use and to combine words and narrow down your search. For example, arbitration and medical will find results where both words occur in the same document.
• Use or to broaden your search. This is useful if there are a number of similar words (synonyms) to describe the same idea. For example, arbitration or mediation will find results where either word occurs.
• Use % to exclude a term. For instance, drugs % narcotics will find results which contain the word drugs but do not contain the word narcotics.

Truncation

• Use ! after the start a root of a word to retrieve all possible endings. For instance, employ! will find employ, employee, employer, employment and employing.

Universal character

• The symbol * represents 1 character. For example, wom*n will retrieve woman or women. When you place the character at the end of a word, you specify the maximum length of the word. For instance, object*** retrieves object, objects, objected, objective, objection and objecting.

A note about using connectors in the International and EU sections of Westlaw:

If you put more than one word in a search box, Westlaw  and Westlaw International will respond differently. Westlaw  assumes all your words are linked with 'and' so will only retrieve results where all your words occur. In contrast, Westlaw International assumes they are linked with 'or' so will retrieve results where at least one of your words occurs. To avoid this in Westlaw International, use and between words.

In the black bar at the bottom of every Westlaw page is a link to user guides. Here you will find step-by-step illustrated guides to using different parts of Westlaw.

You can also download or print the library's PDF guide to using Westlaw for English law.

If you are a GDL, LLB, Law Foundation or LLM student you will receive training from the Academic Liaison Librarian for Law at the start of your course. The slides from this training will be available in Moodle for you to refer back to throughout your course.

The library runs Lexis and Westlaw workshops, at both a basic and advanced level. These are open to all students in all years. If you want to come to the advanced workshop without attending the basic one first, make sure you are confident with the content of the basic workshop, as the advanced workshop builds on this. Book your place.

Westlaw UK Certification Training gives you an interactive walk-through of Westlaw UK with the option to then test your skills and become certified. There is no fee to certify, and it shows prospective employers that you are comfortable using this important legal database.

Firstly, step-by-step videos walk you through everything you need to know to be a Westlaw UK power user. You then complete a short online test. If you pass, you'll be sent a certificate in the post to demonstrate your skills, which you can add to your CV.

You can get certification at both basic and advanced levels.