Introduction

Legal research is only effective when the results can be communicated clearly and accurately. Legal professionals are frequently required to record and convey their findings, both verbally and in writing, and must do so in a manner that is concise, professional, and accessible (Blatt et al., 2020).

This chapter provides a foundational overview of how to report legal research findings across different formats of communication. Innes (2011) identifies core competencies that underpin effective legal communication: drafting documents free from grammatical and usage errors, demonstrating attention to detail, treating emails as professional work product, and presenting ideas in a clear, concise, and organized manner. These competencies serve as the framework for understanding how legal research is transformed into a written or verbal work product.

The sections that follow outline the stages of the writing process: planning, drafting, and revising, before turning to practical strategies for reporting findings to both legal professionals and clients. Throughout, attention will also be given to professional responsibilities such as confidentiality, accuracy, and the limits of a paralegal’s or legal assistant’s role in order to ensure that research findings are communicated ethically and within the scope of practice – we do not give legal advice!

Practical Steps: Defining and Answering a Research Question

Before beginning the writing process, it is important to clearly define the research question. A well-defined question ensures that your research remains focused, organized, and relevant to the task you have been asked to complete. Ambiguity at this stage can lead to wasted time, incomplete answers, or miscommunication with the supervising lawyer or client.

By following the above steps, legal professionals can ensure that their research responses are clear, accurate, and aligned with the needs of the supervising lawyer or client.

The Writing Process

One of your primary responsibilities in the legal research process will be to effectively communicate your research findings to lawyers, other legal professionals, and clients. Your research findings have the ability to impact a client’s case or the lawyer’s legal strategy – but only if the research is done well, and done right. Effective multitasking, organization, and time management are foundational to your success in this process. To consistently maximize your time, it helps to organize your writing process into basic steps. Starting with a broad and straightforward framework ensures an approach that applies to nearly every form of writing. Fitzgerald (2010) names three basic stages in the legal writing process, which are familiar with academic writing processes. Those basic stages include the following steps: 1) Planning, 2) Writing, and 3) Revising. Those steps are outlined in the sections below. Click on the “+” in the image below to learn more about each process.

In addition to the steps listed above, the writing process also depends heavily on your intended audience. How you communicate research findings to your client or your supervising lawyer should differ. For example, well-known case law and legal tests in your area of law won’t need to be explained to your supervising lawyer, but very likely will need to be explained to the client. When necessary, direct clients to a lawyer when required, note your role as a non-lawyer (paralegal, legal assistant, etc.), and provide specific instructions on next steps to contact the lawyer to receive legal advice.

Ethical Considerations

One important constraint in reporting research findings is that legal assistants and paralegals in Alberta cannot provide legal advice. Section 107 of the Legal Profession Act, reinforced by the Law Society of Alberta, prohibits anyone who is not a lawyer from providing legal advice, and doing so may be considered the unauthorized practice of law with serious consequences.

In addition, legal professionals must uphold confidentiality in accordance with the Law Society of Alberta’s Code of Conduct, especially if legal professionals are working under the supervision of a lawyer. In the absence of a supervising lawyer, practising paralegals must continue to practice with ethics and professionalism in mind. Although paralegals are not regulated in Alberta, independent paralegals practising in Alberta are encouraged to review and abide by the Code of Ethics outlined on the Alberta Association of Professional Paralegals (AAPP) website.

Part of maintaining confidentiality involves ensuring that your research, whether from Westlaw or CanLII, is accurate and accountable by properly citing sources and avoiding any mischaracterization of cases. Equally important in today’s digital age is the safeguarding of client information by never sharing it with open-source generative AI platforms, and by carefully reviewing all AI-generated outputs to verify citations and arguments and to identify any potential hallucinations.

By maintaining a clear distinction between presenting factual research findings and offering legal advice, paralegals and legal assistants support the lawyer’s role while ensuring they remain within the ethical and professional boundaries of their practice.

Analyzing Research Findings

Once you have collected sources, the next step is to analyze the material. Analysis means going beyond summarizing the law and requires identifying patterns, drawing connections, and evaluating the weight of each authority. For example, a Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) decision carries greater precedential value than a provincial court decision (like one made in the Court of Justice, for instance). Similarly, legislation will generally prevail over case law where the two conflict; case law is used to interpret the legislation.

Legal assistants and paralegals cannot provide independent legal advice, but you can analyze sources to highlight how they connect to the research question. Consider the following:

• Does the case establish a binding precedent, or is it persuasive?

• Do multiple cases point in the same direction, or do they conflict?

• What facts in the case are analogous (similar) to your client’s or lawyer’s situation?

• How does the legislation apply to the identified facts?

This type of analysis prepares the foundation for a lawyer to apply the law to the client’s issue.

The Writing Process (Writing)

Developing a Draft

Transforming research findings into a cohesive written piece often starts with some level of planning, such as prewriting or outlining. Rather than a systematic approach, consider the following lists as tools that may aid throughout various stages of the writing process.

• Identify main arguments and supporting points from the planning stage
• Freewriting: write freely to explore concepts in depth, focusing less on “perfection”
• Use research notes to support arguments
• Track citations while writing, using a research log (e.g., index cards, tables, templates) or citation management software, is helpful for this step.
  • Research Logs: Templates
    • Research Resource Worksheet (Illinois Eastern Community College)
    • Scholarly Research Log (Capella University)
  • Citation Management Software & Tools
    • Zotero
    • EndNote
    • Mendeley
• Visualize connections between ideas: create mind maps or brainstorms
• Arrange sources in order of relevance and importance
• Ask questions about your written material to uncover new perspectives
• Identify gaps in arguments that need additional support (argumentative writing)

Common Challenges → Potential Solutions

• Writer’s block → combat with timed writing sessions or a change in environment
• Information overload → create detailed outlines to organize thoughts
• Incoherence → use transition sentences and paragraphs effectively
• Weak arguments → return to research and find stronger supporting evidence
  • What does this look like in legal research?

Use Plain Language

It is important to note that when you are writing, use plain language. Most clients will not know the legal jargon that is used in legal writing, so it is important to write it in clear, plain language and to define any legal terms that are used. Using plain language might look like:

• omit surplus words
• use base verbs, not nominalizations
• use short sentences
• arrange your words with care
• choose your words with care
• avoid language quirks
• punctuate carefully

Organize

• revisit the overall structure, ensuring the organization flows logically
• topic discussion: general → specific
• clear organization also makes the revision process easier

Additional Writing Resources:

• The Writing Process (Purdue OWL)
• The Writing Process (MIT)

Writing is an iterative process; multiple drafts and revisions might be needed before reaching a finished version.

Reporting Your Findings

The objective of your research could be, for example, to record the results of your research in the form of a memo, submit a deliverable, gather more information on a legal matter, or answer an inquiry. Ensure that the content and organization of the final draft fulfill the pre-determined goal or objective. Research findings may be communicated in several written formats. These include:

• Legal Memorandum: A structured, formal document for lawyers that includes issues, brief answers, detailed analysis, and a conclusion.

• Case Brief or Case Note: A short summary of a decision, including facts, issues, decision, and reasoning. Useful when multiple cases are being compared.

  • Note: this is less likely to be a common reporting method in the future due to the advancement of AI technology and CanLII’s AI-generated case summary feature.

• Client Correspondence: A plain-language letter or email explaining updates, next steps, or the outcome of research. This must avoid legal advice but can summarize the law in accessible terms. If working under the supervision of a lawyer, do not send client correspondence outlining findings without the lawyer’s oversight.

• Internal Email or Summary Note: Concise updates to colleagues or supervising lawyers, often highlighting deadlines, sources found, and recommendations for further research.

In addition to written formats, there will be situations where you need to communicate research findings verbally, often in a quick one-on-one meeting with a supervising lawyer. These conversations usually occur when timelines are tight and a lawyer needs the essential information immediately to make a decision or move a matter forward. To communicate effectively in this context:

• Be Prepared: Review your notes in advance and identify the key issue, the most relevant authorities, and your conclusion.

• Be Concise: Begin with a direct summary of your findings with a conclusion. This is the most important!

• Support with Key Sources: Be ready to reference the legislation or cases that support your answer, including citations.

• Highlight Limitations: If further research is needed, or if there are conflicting authorities, state this clearly so the lawyer is aware of the limits of your findings.

• Optional – Follow Up in Writing: After the meeting, consider sending a brief email or note summarizing what you discussed. This ensures accuracy, provides a record, and allows the lawyer to revisit your findings later.

Communicating verbally in this way requires confidence, accuracy, and brevity. The goal is not to provide every detail of your research but to give the lawyer the essential information needed to proceed, while still respecting your professional boundaries as a legal assistant or paralegal.

Effective Revision Strategies (Revising)

What is a legal research paper? A legal research paper is a type of paper that involves many types of legal sources, such as primary and secondary sources. This is where you cite past legal precedents to support your paper. You can refer to the chapter: Analyzing & Reporting Research Findings.

This is a step-by-step structure on how to start revising your legal research paper.

In general, there are three different stages to your editing process:

Revision Strategies

• Take breaks between drafts to gain a fresh perspective
• Read your work aloud to check flow and coherence
• Get feedback from peers or writing groups
• Focus on one aspect (structure, argument, evidence) per revision

Final Polish (Revision)

• Check for logical flow and argument consistency
• Verify all citations and references
• Review formatting and style requirements
• Proofread for grammar, spelling, and punctuation

Online Resources to help with Citation and Formatting

Grammarly is a great resource for revision because it looks over your paper for you and makes grammatical changes and suggestions to make your writing stronger. Furthermore, it is an excellent resource as it provides many tips and goes into depth on how to revise your paper further, giving you step-by-step instructions and explaining why it is essential to take the time at this stage of your writing to revise because although you might think that you are finished with the contents of your paper overall, it can always be improved.

• Copy Editing vs. Proofreading: What’s the Difference? | Grammarly
• How to Edit Writing in 3 Steps, With Examples | Grammarly
• How to Revise: A Step-by-Guide to Revising Your Writing | Grammarly

Purdue Owl is a free website that has excellent resources and guides on how to format your papers, whether that be in APA or MLA. As well as how to cite your sources to ensure that there is no plagiarism present in your paper.

• Steps for Revising Your Paper
• Feedback – Purdue OWL

Other online resources:

• Revising Essays & Research Papers

Summary

Communicating legal research effectively requires not only strong writing skills but also ethical awareness and an understanding of your professional role. By planning carefully, analyzing sources, revising thoroughly, and tailoring your communication to your audience, you can ensure that your research findings are accurate, professional, and useful to the lawyer and client.

Reflection Questions

1. Think of a time when you were given instructions for a task that were unclear. How did that affect your ability to complete the task? How does this compare to the importance of defining a clear research question before starting legal research?

2. When reporting research findings, how might your approach differ when writing to a supervising lawyer compared to writing to a client?

3. What are some risks of failing to distinguish between presenting factual research and providing legal advice? How might this impact your role as a paralegal or legal assistant?

4. How do you personally balance the need for detail with the need for conciseness when writing?

References