Resize text  Large text Regular text  |  See us on Facebook  Follow us on Twitter

Finding legal information on the Web

The Internet has become an important tool for conducting legal research, but to ensure the information you are relying on is from a legitimate source, evaluate the site for credibility and accuracy. To quickly evaluate a website, ask yourself the following:

  • Does the site cover the geographic location I need?
    • Use websites that primarily contain information relating to BC or Canada as a whole.
  • Who created the information?
    • Look for who provides the information and what their credentials are, often found under "About us." Credible resources include the websites of government, the courts, educational institutions, libraries, bar associations, law societies, non-profits, and public interest law groups.
    • Legitimate websites will also have a way to contact the organization or webmaster. Be careful about providing your e-mail address or other personal information on websites that you don't know.
  • Is the website accurate and clear?
    • Does the author/provider of the website cite their sources, tell the reader where they got their information, or on what they based their opinions?
    • Look for unbiased legal information. You should be able to confirm the information you find on one website with that of other websites or print sources. Testimonials are not reliable.
  • Is the information up to date?
    • Most good websites tell you when the information was written or last updated on the site. In most fields, anything more than five years old is considered outdated.
    • Also consider how current the information is that the author has used.
  • Does the website ask for money?
    • There are many websites of high quality that provide information free of charge. Make sure you are not asked to pay any fees or charges.
  • Does the website claim to offer advice?
    • Beware of websites that claim to offer legal advice or ask for personal information. Nothing replaces the advice of a lawyer. Look for a disclaimer that describes the limitations and authority of the site's content.
  • Is it easy to use?
    • Look for useful features such as a glossary, Help menu, search function, legal dictionary, or list of additional resources and links.
    • If a site is difficult to navigate or the links are slow and/or many are broken, it may not be worth your time to use it.
    • Note that any links provided to other sites will say a lot about the legitimacy of the original website. Evaluate each new site it's linked to.