The afternoon began with an interesting and entertaining talk by Victor Tunkel, barrister and lecturer at the Queen Mary and William College, on the court structure in England and Wales. He explained, with the use of his invaluable diagram of the courts, how the criminal and civil court system operates, and how each court relates to the other. This was an invaluable insight into the complexities of the court system, for new and experienced information professionals alike.

Julia Robertson from the Supreme Court Library went on to explain which courts one must go to for transcripts of judgments. She brought our attention to the booklet produced by the Supreme Court Library which gives contact details for the various sources, including those for older judgments. She also pointed out some of the useful Internet sites available, such as Smith Bernal and the Court Service.

It is not often we get a chance to stand back and get an overview of the various electronic sources now on offer for obtaining case transcripts, but the talk by Liz Hawkes from Field Fisher Waterhouse offered just that opportunity. She took us through the CD-ROM, online and Internet sources, some well established such as Butterworths Direct, and others very new, such as Westlaw and the exciting new project BAILI.

After a break for tea, Robert Williams, editor of the ICLR law report series, gave us a history of the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting and explained just why some cases are chosen over others for inclusion in their law reports. Cases which have great entertainment and interest value are often left out as they do not contain important points of law. However, these cases often make it into the newspaper law reports, particularly the Times, which the next speaker, Paul Magrath is involved in. Paul, also from ICLR and who writes for the Times newspaper, took us through the structure of a law report, explaining headnotes and catchwords, their relevance and how to use them.

The rest of the afternoon was given over to an introduction to the Justis.com website from two representatives from Context, with the opportunity of a hands-on session to assess the site for ourselves. It was also a chance for the attendees to chat with some of the speakers.

The feedback from the seminar has been very encouraging, and it is hoped that the afternoon will be run on an annual basis. It is a good opportunity to get to grips with some of the complexities of the English legal system and provides an aid to navigating the maze of sources for case reports and transcripts.