LEGAL

RESEARCH
AND WRITING

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 1. Review
2. Style of Cause (name of a case)
3. Citation:
Today’s ◦ Reported Cases,
Agenda ◦ Neutral Citations,
◦ Unreported Cases without neutral
citation
4. Searching Cases online

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Review
1. Why do we research cases?
2. What cases are important?
3. What is the rule of precedent (stare
decisis)?
4. What are the 7 elements of a case?

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Citing Cases

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Legal Citation
Proper citation is expected in:
◦ Legal memoranda
◦ Court documents, and filings with tribunals or regulatory
authorities
◦ legal publications or research
Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (“McGill Guide”)
The appendices to the McGill Guide include the abbreviations
that are used in citing cases. The McGill Guide is available to
you through WestLaw

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The name of the case, or
“Style of Cause”
The names of the parties (the “Style of Cause”)
In the case of individuals, last names only
If there are numerous parties, sometimes “et al” (and
others) is used
If there are confidentiality issues (such as cases involving
minors), the party may be identified by initials only.

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Style of Cause
• First: the plaintiff or applicant, or in criminal cases the
Government
• v : meaning “versus” but pronounced “and” in Canada for
civil cases; “against” or “and” for criminal cases
• Last: the defendant or respondent, or in criminal cases, the
accused

Northcote v Starbucks
Smith, Jones, et al v Northcote

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Style of Cause
◦ The case may say “ex parte” – an application by one
party, or “Re: [Name]” – meaning “in the matter of” – a
determination of one person’s rights

◦ In criminal cases, the first name may be “R” (for Regina –

the Queen – meaning the Government)

Re: Northcote Estate

R v Northcote

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Citation Style - Rules
1. Most cases since the year 2010 (varies depending on
the court), have a neutral citation – always use if available
2. Reported Citation: Older cases are cited by referring to
the reports that they are published in. The practice is to cite at
least 2 reports, if possible, with the “official” reporter first
Reports should be ordered – most authoritative first
3. IF there is NO neutral citation, and NO reported
citation, THEN online, database citations may be used

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Neutral Citation
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Neutral Citation - Elements
Canadian courts now assign neutral citations to judicial decisions
(started at various times, by 2010 all courts adopted)
It consists of the following four elements:
1. style of cause (names of the parties),
2. year of the decision,
3. an abbreviation of the name of the court or tribunal, and
4. chronological number of that case in the sequence of cases decided
in that year.
Possible Pinpoint:
5. Pinpoint – paragraph number (pinpoint is only used if directing the
reader to a specific point in the decision (ratio, decision etc.) it is not
included in the citation if citing the entire case/decision.
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Neutral Citation - Examples
Example:

1. The style of cause

2. The year of the decision
3. The unique jurisdiction and court abbreviation
4. The decision number
(5.) The pinpoint paragraph numbers

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Neutral Citation - Examples
Examples:

Conde v Ripley, 2015 ONSC 3342 at paras 29-31

How would you cite Smith suing Starbucks, if the case was
the 345th case heard by the Supreme Court of Canada in
2013?

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Neutral Citation - Examples
Examples:

Smith v Starbucks, 2013 SCC 345 at paras 25-31

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Reported Citation
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Reported Citation
If no neutral citation is available, you must use a reported
citation.
This is citing the case by reference to the law report it was
published in
Always start with the “official report” or most reputable
report – the law reports published by the particular court
(SCR) or provincial law societies (ORs).(identified with * in
McGill appendices)
Reported citations should include at least 2 reports – with
the most authoritative first

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Reported Citation – Elements
1. Style of Cause
2. Year of Decision (in round brackets, if there is no year in the
volume number) then a comma
3. [Year] and Volume of the Law Report,
4. Law Report Abbreviation
5. Law Report Series (or edition), if applicable
6. Page number case starts at
7. Pinpoint Page (i.e. “at 34”)
8. Jurisdiction and Court [Note jurisdiction or court is omitted if
it is in the name of the law reports]
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Reported Citations - Examples
Examples:
Malette v Shulman (1990), 67 DLR (4th) 321 at 359 (Ont CA)

Howard v Canada (Attorney General) (2019), 146 OR (3d) 445

(CA)
R v Mathieu, [2008] 1 SCR 723 at 727
For the SCRs the year is in square brackets because it is part of
the volume number (it is the year of the publication, not the
case)
Abbreviations are listed in appendices to the McGill Guide

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Case Citation Videos
Neutral Citation Intro (Guelph-Humber)

Cite a Case with Neutral Citation

Cite a case without Neutral Citation

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Parallel
Citations

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Parallel Citations
Important cases are often reported in more than 1 set of
law reports
For reported cases, it is proper to list at least two law
reports, with the most important one first
For cases with neutral citations, the neutral citation may
stand alone, but it is not uncommon to include at least one
reported citation
The pinpoint only goes with the first citation

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Parallel Citation – Neutral
citation goes first
Parallel - Neutral and Print Report Citations

Smith v Starbucks, 2018 ONCA 134 at para 3, 45 OR (3d)

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Notice: The court doesn’t appear again at the end – you
don’t repeat information that is already in the citation

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Parallel Citations – Two Reports
A parallel citation tells you about other reports where the same
case can be found. They are separated by commas.
Example:
R v Carosella, [1997] 1 SCR 80, 142 DLR (4th) 595,
112 CCC (3d) 289
This citation means that the case can be found in the Supreme
Court Reports, the Dominion Law Reports, and Canadian Criminal
Cases.
The official law report (authorized by the court) appears first;
general reports appear before subject matter reports

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Parallel Citation – Two
Reports – Example
Northcote v Starbucks (2000), 27 OR (2d) 18 at 21, 34 CCEL
177 (CA)
What are 1-8 below?

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Answers
1. Style of cause
2. Year of decision
3. Volume number
4. Name of Law Report
5. Series or Edition
6. Page
7. Pinpoint
8. Court (jurisdiction is already stated)

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Citation with Case History
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Citation with Case History
If you are citing a case that has been appealed to higher
courts, the citation should include a complete appeal history
or case history.
Example:
Alliance Toward Equality v Vancouver Sun (1975), Report of a
Board of Inquiry under the Human Rights Code of British
Columbia, aff’d [1976] WWR 160 (BCSC), rev’d (1977), 77
DLR (3d) 487 (BCCA), rev’d [1979] 2 SCR 435
This means that you are citing a Board of Inquiry decision,
which was affirmed by the BCSC, but the Board of Inquiry
was reversed by the BCCA and the SCC

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Citation with Case History
If your primary citation is the higher level court, and then
you may cite the history (if relevant)

Example:
Queen v Cognos Inc, [1993] 1 SCR 87, rev’g (1990), 74 OR
(2d) 176 (CA), aff ’g (1987), 63 OR (2d) 389 (H Ct J)

This means 1993 Supreme Court of Canada decision is

reversing the 1990 decision from the Ontario Court of
Appeal, but affirming the 1987 decision of the Ontario High
Court of Justice.

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Electronic Databases – Citations and
Searching

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 Electronic Database Citations
Computerized sources use their own case identifiers in their
databases.
If you find a case in a database that was not reported, and does
not have a neutral citation, use the database identifiers
Be familiar with the computerized source’s case identifier, but
use it only when no law report series or neutral citation exists.

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 Electronic Database Citations
Example: LexisNexis Quicklaw
Bank of Nova Scotia v Visentin, [1996] OJ No 4563 (Ct J (Gen
Div))
“OJ” (Ontario Judgments) is the Quicklaw identifier and
indicates that the case is from Ontario; however, the court level
is not indicated, so “Ct J (Gen Div)” is needed at the end.

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Electronic Database Citations
Example: WestlawNext Canada
Edwards v Shuber Estate, 2002 CarswellOnt 9764 (Sup Ct J)
“CarswellOnt” is the Westlaw identifier for unreported Ontario
cases. The province is indicated, however, the court level is not,
so “(Sup Ct J)” is needed at the end.

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Researching Cases
Example: CanLII
Courtcliffe Parks Ltd. v. Flamborough (Town), 1991 CanLII
7133 (ONCA)
“CanLII” is the CanLII identifier for cases. The province and
court are not indicated, so “(ONCA)” is needed at the end.

Remember – only use the database citation if there is no

neutral citation, and the case was not reported

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Case Citation Videos

Neutral Citations

Without Neutral Citation

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Computer Searches
CanLII, Quicklaw and Westlaw all maintain databases of
cases from recent years
We will spend more time with the databases and how to
use them effectively
Today we will just look at them and see where the cases are

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Finding Cases on Databases
Students to sign on to
◦ WestLaw
◦ Quicklaw
◦ Canlii
In each case we will try and find
◦ a case from OCJ in August,
◦ a Divisional Court decision from 2018 dealing with the
Human Rights Code (Ontario), and
◦ a SCC case involving affirmative action and a fisherman
named Kapp

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Today’s 1. Understand how to cite cases
Learning 2. Understand how to find case law online
Outcomes

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For Next
Class….
Next class:
Analyzing Fact Situations
and Identifying Issues

Homework:
Assignment 1 due
tomorrow
Read Chapter 5
Practice Finding Cases
online

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