Kenya Legal Research :Importance of Research to Legal Studies and Practice

Lawyers spend a great deal of their time reading and writing, preparing briefs,
reports, letters, and they engage in numerous writing projects/assignments. It is
important, therefore, to ensure that the written work produced by a law
student or a lawyer is up-to-date and structurally accurate, since the work of
the lawyer goes a long way to shaping agreements and policies for public and
private sector institutions.
The research materials relevant to lawyers for the execution of their jobs are
mostly documents that deal with legal issues, such as legislations, case reports,
and legal agreements. During their legal training, lawyers learn where and how
to find these materials which are known as sources. It is after finding these
sources that the lawyer can develop his/her document based on relevant
information collected from the sources.

Legal research therefore involves three very important processes, the first of
which is finding the relevant sources. This can be done in a library, at a law
office or government office, online, or anywhere that the lawyer can find
authentic legal sources. Finding the right materials is a very important step,
because knowing what to look for can ‘make or break’ the resulting document.
The law student or lawyer can be assisted here by a reliable law librarian or
research assistant with a good general knowledge of available sources on
different legal subjects. After finding the materials, the lawyer must know how
to use them, that is, he/she must know how to find the relevant information
from the sources which he/she has. There are different ways to get
information from sources, and if the researcher does not know where or how
to look within any particular source, then he/she might get little or no
information from the correct source, or end up collecting irrelevant or wrong
information. Even where the researcher has found the right source and the
right information, they must know how to use that information. Important
issues such as citation, language and arrangement, among others, can greatly
reduce the value of the hard work of a researcher.
When research is well-undertaken and concluded, it can produce very
insightful material that is expected to contribute to the body of knowledge in
any particular field of legal studies and practice.

Legal research is important
for the following reasons:
a) Discovery: Research is all about discovery. Through research, the law
student or the lawyer discovers new arguments, legal provisions, positions on
relevant topics, and new ways of doing things. Research can also reveal new
aspects and approaches to old issues. For instance, where a general idea has been developed on a particular issue, effective research can enable the
researcher discover and reveal new perspectives on such issues.
b) Clarification: Good research helps the researcher to clarify their ideas on
issues pertinent to their work. Where a researcher is able to find reliable
sources on an issue, these can enlighten the researcher, especially where there
had been confusion or misconceptions about any issue.
c) Advancement: Effective research contributes to the general advancement
of knowledge, understanding and processes. Where a good law student or
lawyer discovers new issues or errors in old thinking, they can reveal this
constructively, so as to correct/clarify the position and advance knowledge in
that area. This is a very important way legal systems have developed over time.
d) Comparison: Research helps compare different ideas, especially where they
are conflicting. It develops the researcher’s analytical skills by providing them
with different ways of addressing any particular issue. It also helps compare
different sources, documents, and even legal systems. This broadens the scope
of the researcher’s thinking, helping them discover more, clarify issues and
advance theirs and general knowledge.
e) Authentication: Research is important for the purpose of authenticating the
thoughts, ideas, and positions of the researcher. While thoughts and opinions
are generally expressed in different for a, when research has been undertaken
on a particular issue, the results of the research possess a considerable level of
authenticity, depending on the quality of the research, which mere thoughts
and opinions may not possess.
There are several more reasons why research is important to the law student or
lawyer, especially since the job of the lawyer in an adversarial system is to build
his case and fall that of his opponent. Research helps the lawyer find material
to do this, and when combined with strong analytical skills, success is
practically guaranteed.