The Library runs regular legal research training sessions available to all Inns of Court members.
All sessions qualify for CPD under the CPD rules’ learning objectives as Legal Knowledge and Skills.
We also offer legal research training as Qualifying Sessions, which can be delivered in and outside of London, remotely or in-person.
Library staff are happy to accommodate 1-2-1 training sessions for Inns of Court members; these can conducted in-person or remotely. Please email the library at library@middletemple.org.uk to arrange.
More information on dates for upcoming sessions can be found on the Inn’s calendar and social media.
Details on current training sessions are below.
CPD Sessions
3-Part Introductory Training Courses for CPD
Case Law Research:
- Highlights how to decipher citations
- Provides an overview of print and electronic resources for case law research within UK jurisdiction
- Reviews commentary material
- Covers searching international case law
- Points out case law resources freely available online
Legislation Research
- Gives an overview of print and electronic resources for legislation research within UK jurisdiction
- Examines how to locate commentary information
- Focuses on searching for Parliamentary material, including conducting Pepper v Hart research
- Goes into locating international legislation
- Describes legislative resources freely available online
Current Awareness
- Highlights key resources to use to keep track of latest legal developments
- Points out freely available current awareness resources
- Demonstrates how to set up alerts on various current awareness resources
- Discusses how to utilise RSS feeds
Qualifying Sessions
Effective Legal Research
- Discusses legal research strategies
- Looks at using Boolean logic
- Details the citation of authorities
- Goes through searching for case law and legislation on subscription databases
- Examines free legal gateway websites
Employment Law Research
- Introduces legal issues connected with this practice area
- Identifies secondary resources for research
- Demonstrates searching practice databases and online resources for employment law material
- Includes a guided discussion of a mock employment injunction scenario
European Legal Research
- Outlines the basic structure of EU law
- Demonstrates where to locate EU legislation using a range of search techniques
- Demonstrates where to locate EU case law using a range of search techniques
- Focuses on how to navigate EUR-Lex and CURIA: the two main EU databases
- Outlines the main sources where to look for retained EU law
Human Rights Law
- Includes an overview of print and electronic resources available for researching human rights
- Reviews how to find commentary resources
- Looks at material from the European Court of Human Rights
- Shows United Nations documents relating to human rights
- Highlights resources freely available online
Parliamentary Papers Session
- Gives an overview of where to locate Parliamentary materials in print and online
- Reviews how to trace legislative changes
- Provides an introduction to Pepper v Hart research
- Goes into locating international legislation
US Legal Research
- Reviews the key features of the US legal system at both Federal and State levels
- How to research the Constitution
- Outlines where and how to find Federal and State statutes, regulations and cases
- Highlights the usefulness of various secondary sources of US legal research
You v Google: Using the Internet in Legal Research
- How you can apply Google more effectively and appropriately in legal research
- How to successfully filter information and apply Boolean logic
- Searching across sites in Google’s search bar
- How to retrieve “lost” and “removed” information
- Learn about open-access databases available to those working in a legal context