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Resources for Corporations and Business law

Finding out about the law

The best way to start any legal assignment is to get a general understanding of the particular area of law you are interested in. To get an overview of legal principles and find out the key legislation and cases involved, try the following resources...

Legal encyclopaedias

Legal encyclopaedias are a great place to find information about the law, especially if you do not know the subject area well. They give a very detailed overview of all different areas of law and provide references to key cases, legislation and some secondary material.

There are two legal encyclopaedias that you can use. It is often a good idea to consult both as they differ in both the information provided and currency.

Laws of Australia

Available online here

Halsbury's Laws of Australia

Available online here

Books

Books are another source where you can find a detailed description of the legal principles involved in a particular area of law, such as corporations and business law. Some books will be basic textbooks that provide information about the law - others, known as casebooks, will also provide extracts of key cases. Other books may include essays which analyse the law or a legal issue.

To find books on corporations and business law, use the library catalogue and search by keyword or subject. A number of essential books and readings may also have been placed in the Law Readings / eReadings Collection - use the Readings search tab in the catalogue to find this material.

You could also browse the shelves in the Law Library at the following call numbers:

KN250                  Commercial law

KN261                  Company law

Some key texts for corporations and business law include:

Understanding company law

Lipton and Herzberg

KN261 L767u.13

Australian business law

Latimer

KN250 L357a.26

Law of partnership in Australia

Fletcher

KN267 H636.9

Ford's principles of corporations law

Austin and Ramsay

KN261 F699.13

Company law

Hinchy and McDermott

KN261 H659c

Corporate law

Boros and Duns

KN261 B736c

Corporations law in principle

Woodward, Bird and Sievers

KN261 W912c.7

Australian corporations legislation 2008 KN261 A936a 2008

Loose-leaf services

Loose-leaf services can be thought of as subject specific encyclopaedias and they are often referred to as 'practitioners' bibles' due to the depth of information included. They provide detailed commentary about a particular area of law and often include the full-text of key legislation (including detailed history) and cases.

Australian corporation law

KN250 A938

Australian corporations and securities law reporter Available online here

Finding journal articles

Journal articles are a great source for finding information about or an analysis of the law or a particular legal issue. When writing assignments at university, you are often required to refer to the work of others to support your own arguments and quality journal articles written by experts in the field are excellent resources you can refer to.

The best way to find journal articles is to use one of the many online journal indexes - otherwise known as databases. These allow you to search for interesting articles from many different journals at once. Some will provide you with the full-text of articles straight away - others will provide a citation, which you can then use to track down the full-text from another source.

Key databases for corporate and business law include:

AGIS Plus Text

The Attorney-General's Information Service is a great place to find information on any legal issue in Australia. It indexes over 120 Australian law journals, as well as selected international journal, and many conference papers, reports and book chapters. It provides the full-text of a select number of resources.

How to guide

 

Online tutorial

LegalTrac

LegalTrac is a bibliographic database which provides details from over 800 legal journals as well as law related articles from over 1,100 business and general interest journals. It includes material primarily from the U.S., but many Australian, British and Canadian articles are also indexed.

How to guide

ProQuest

ProQuest offers one of the world's largest collections of information, including summaries of articles from over 8,000 publications, with the full-text of many also available. It is an interdisciplinary database, so covers a range of subjects, including criminology and criminal justice.

How to guide

Lexis.com

Lexis.com is a comprehensive legal resource which provides access to the full-text of many U.S. law journals. Click on 'Secondary Legal' and then 'Law Reviews, CLE, Legal Journals & Periodicals, Combined' to search the largest range of these journals.

How to guide

Online tutorial

Most library databases index scholarly journals. Many also index magazines, newspapers and trade publications; some may also index conference papers, book chapters, theses and government reports.

Finding the law

Legislation

Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)

Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth)

Associations Incorporation Act 1985 (SA)

Business Names Act 1996 (SA)

Partnership Act 1891 (SA)
Trustee Companies Act 1988 (SA)

Websites

See the Library's Guide to Internet Research for how to find, evaluate and cite Internet information.

Australian Securities and Investments Commission

Australian Stock Exchange

Corporations

From AustLII

Corporations law

From WebLaw

Australian Corporate Lawyers Association

Need more help?

Not sure how to plan your research? Click here for some handy ideas...

Not sure how to use particular databases? Click here for some brief 'how to' guides...

Want some specific advice? Contact Heidi, the Law and Legal Studies Liaison Librarian, on 8201 2577 or email heidi.savilla@flinders.edu.au


Please direct all comments to author,
Heidi Savilla
Law and Legal Studies Liaison Librarian
Flinders University Library.