Building an authorities list fast

Whether you’re preparing submissions, writing advice, or building a research memo, you need an authorities list. JADE can help you build one in minutes rather than hours.

The snowball method

Start with one case you know is on point. Open it in JADE and look at three things:

  1. Cases cited — the authorities the court relied on. These are your first-generation authorities.
  2. Cited by — later decisions that have cited your starting case. These show how the principle has developed.
  3. The visualisation (Professional) — click the precedent tracker to see the full citation network. This often surfaces second-degree connections you’d miss by reading the judgment alone.

For each promising case, open it and repeat. Within three or four iterations, you’ll have covered the field.

The legislation-first approach

If your issue turns on a statutory provision, start there instead. Open the provision in JADE, expand Section Citations, and you’ll see every case that has judicially considered it. Sort by date (newest first) for the most current analysis, or sort by court level if you need the highest authority.

Using JADEmarks to organise

As you find relevant cases, save them with JADEmarks. You can create folders for different issues or different matters. Add notes to each JADEmark so you remember why a case is relevant — “key authority on duty of care to third parties” is more useful than no note at all.

The 15-minute workflow

Here’s a practical workflow that builds a solid authorities list quickly:

  1. Minutes 1–3: Search for your key provision or leading case. Open it.
  2. Minutes 3–7: Review cited-by and section citations. Open the top 5–8 most relevant cases in new tabs. JADEmark each one.
  3. Minutes 7–12: Check the visualisation for each case. Follow any connections that look relevant. JADEmark new finds.
  4. Minutes 12–15: Review your JADEmarks folder. Check the “cited by” count for each case — if a recent decision has been cited 50+ times, it’s probably a leading authority you should read closely.

This won’t replace thorough research on complex issues, but it gives you a solid starting list that covers the key authorities in most areas.