Legal Research Synopsis

Part 1: Legal Research Synopsis

This Part serves as a summary that you can use when reporting to a supervising lawyer
or use as a tool when taking the next step, such as a reporting meeting with a client,
drafting a research memo, an advocacy letter, an opinion letter, or a legal argument.

You will likely go back and forth from this Part to Part 2: Case Briefs. For example, some
students first do the research objectives, facts and issues in the Synopsis and then start
their research. Once the research is done and their case briefs are complete, they
return to the Synopsis.

PART 1: LEGAL RESEARCH SYNOPSIS

The template for the Legal Research Synopsis follows – you can save this document
and use it as your template, filling in each section as applicable to your LRW
Assignment:

LEGAL RESARCH SYNOPSIS

Research Objective:
(what is the goal of the research)

Facts:
(what are the relevant facts of the matter)

Issues:
(what legal issues are involved in the matter)

Non-Legal Issues:
(non-legal issues focus on external influences on the matter, such as circumstances of the client
or client goals. Consider what the file content so far adds contextually to the matter that does
not speak to a legal issue)

Research:
(Briefly summarize the key research outcomes you identified and why it may help the client’s
position or why it is important to know about).

Application to the Facts:

(Explain how the research applies to the client’s situation. If applicable, outline the legal tests
and note how and whether these tests are met based on the client’s situation).

Tentative Conclusion:
(In a few lines or bullets, what legal conclusions can be drawn for the client based on the law
you have identified through your research, and its application to the facts.)

Options/Next Steps:
(What are your suggestions to the supervising lawyer of what should be done next on the file or
by the client, flesh those out and consider the practicalities of each along with the positives and
negatives of each option. Consider any non-legal issues here. Is there a direction you believe

the client should take? Can you indicate if the client’s expectations/goals are realistic or
unrealistic?).

Part 2: CASE BRIEFS

In a legal practice, each case you rely on should be briefed as that helps you and the
supervising lawyer decide how relevant each case is, and acts as a quick reference
where further research may be needed. For the LRW course purposes, please brief at
least 3 cases. A case brief is a summary of the case, with a focus on those aspects that
relate to your client’s fact scenario or legal issue and should not be a copy of the case
note.

Below is a template for one case brief. Please reproduce the template for each case
you are using (minimum of three cases are to be briefed).

Case Brief Template

Name & Citation:
Facts:
(what happened factually and procedurally, what facts would make this case analogous to the
client’s case or distinguish it from the client’s case, and the judgment that is important for the
research you are doing)

Issues:
(what is in dispute)

Decision:
(what did the court decide; how was the issue analyzed or what was the legal test developed)

Rationale:
(the why behind the decision – in law)

Part 3: RESEARCH OUTLINE / MAP:

This section is where you provide an outline of the steps you took to conduct your
research and provide a list of the cases, statutes and secondary sources relied on. This
helps you and the supervising lawyers understand the steps taken by you to do the
research. Research maps from LexisNexis can be copied into here, but you can also
draft your own web or steps. It helps to include the searches you did on the sites visited
(i.e.: terms you searched).

Research Steps Taken / Research Map Template

(include websites/ research tools used, the order you worked through, searches you performed,
etc., search terms)

List of Research sources relied on:

(using the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation, list and properly cite all secondary
sources relied on as well as any statutes and case law).