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Authorities

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The Authorities section keeps the cases, legislation and secondary material a matter relies on in one list — found for you in the brief, or added by hand — with each entry recording how you're using it and, where you have it, the judgment itself a click away.

Finding authorities in the brief

Click Detect and Lexware scans document names, email-attachment names, extracted document text and your notes for Australian case citations and legislation references. The scan runs entirely on this computer, including its checks against the bundled legislation catalogue; it makes no online lookup.

Review the results before choosing Add authority. Filter by kind or title, or change the default Full documents first ordering. A source link lets you check the document or note where a citation was found; a document opens at the detected page when one is available. If a title or citation was misread, use Edit and add… to correct it in the authority form and return to the same scan.

Dismiss removes a row from this scan, and Restore dismissed brings it back. Closing the scan discards its unsaved results and dismissals; the authorities you added remain in the matter. A later scan may offer a dismissed reference again.

Full document, or reference only

Full document marks a result detected as an authority document in the matter; adding it attaches that source. Reference only records a citation without attaching a judgment or instrument. Check both the identity and the proposed attachment before adding: the scan reads names and extracted text, and these can be imperfect. A reference-only entry can still have links to the documents or notes that cite it.

When the judgment turns up later — often as an email attachment or a loose PDF — the pieces find each other: a fresh scan offers Attach judgment against the saved entry rather than creating a duplicate, and a judgment PDF landing in the Intray with a citation in its file name is suggested straight for Authorities, arriving with its name, citation and year already filled in.

A recognised medium-neutral case citation can provide Open on AustLII. Authorities can also carry a saved source URL, and supported legislation may offer an official-source link or an AustLII link. These open in your browser: the website receives the requested authority URL, while Lexware does not upload the brief or download a source into the matter. Save and attach the document yourself if you want it available here.

Adding one by hand

Add authority opens the form for a case, legislation or secondary material. Record its name, identifying details, pinpoints, propositions and notes, and attach a document from the brief where you have one. Cases and secondary works have separate name and citation fields; secondary material can also record its author, publisher and edition. Paste a recognised case citation and Use recognised details offers to fill the court, jurisdiction and year in the form. Save with Add authority; a recognised duplicate is named and blocked.

For legislation, enter the Act / instrument name and its separate Jurisdiction. Lexware composes the recorded citation from those fields and shows you the result. A defined term can stay in your working name without being repeated in the citation.

The local legislation catalogue offers title suggestions and jurisdiction checks in the form and in Detect. If a title is ambiguous, review the proposed jurisdiction or continue with manual details. Coverage is incomplete, especially for State and Territory instruments; an unrecognised or out-of-scope result does not mean the instrument is invalid and does not prevent a manual entry. These checks identify catalogue records; they do not verify that your attached PDF is the applicable reprint.

A Treatment badge records how you use an authority — Relied on, Against us, Cited by opponent or Background. The ledger groups cases, legislation and secondary material separately, with alphabetical or date ordering within each group. Its C/L/S numbers are working handles for the rows currently shown: sorting or filtering can change them.

A working library, not just a list

Each authority carries its own working context, all saved with the matter: the propositions it stands for, each with its pinpoint; the key passages you'll come back to; and a note of how the other side uses it and your answer. For legislation, you can record the reprint you're working from and the provisions in play. So by the time you're on your feet, the entry holds not just the citation but the argument you built around it.

Refresh citations rebuilds each authority's Cited in this matter references from recognised citations in the matter. Open a reference to check its source and any available page pinpoint. It is a finding aid: an unusual citation form or poorly extracted text can leave a mention unmatched.

Set out the argument — the Board

Beyond the list, the Authorities section gives you two more ways to work: the Reading lens for reading an authority in place — including secondary material — and the Board for marshalling your authorities into the shape of the argument. On the Board you set out the grounds of the argument and, under each, line up the authorities that support your side and those the other side relies on — Ours and Theirs side by side, so it's plain where you're strong and where you'll have to answer.

Put an authority on a ground by dragging it onto Ours or Theirs — or, without a mouse, select it and choose Link selected. Each link carries its own pinpoint and a one-line note of how the authority is used on that ground, and a single authority can sit under several grounds at once where it does more than one job. Reorder the grounds as the argument settles, and group the whole Board either by argument or by how each authority is treated. Where you've noticed a citation in the documents but not yet catalogued it, Track citation from documents parks it on a ground as reference-only until you review it and add it to your list. The Board is there from the start — you can lay out the grounds before you've recorded a single authority.

Read it in place — the Reading lens

Choose Reading to read an attached judgment, legislative PDF or secondary source beside a rail of authorities grouped by treatment. Use the rail's search box to narrow the list. Located case pinpoints jump into the document; unresolved pinpoints say so. For legislation, recorded provisions appear as pills, with PDF-page mappings you can check or supply. Lexware reads the attached PDF and does not verify its statutory version. If the attachment cannot be displayed here, use Open in Brief to reach the document.

Putting the list to work

• Open the document — select an authority to inspect its details, then use Reading for its attached source or Open in Brief to reach the brief's reader.
• Marshal it for argument — set the authority against a ground on the Board, on your side or the other's, with a pinpoint and a note of how it's used there.
• Hand it up — right-click an authority with its judgment attached and add it to a bundle for the hearing.
• Cite it in your notes — type @ in a note and pick the authority. Click the citation to read its source in the Notes side panel, then use Open in Authorities to return to the entry.
• See the connections — the document inspector shows which authorities attach the document you're reading.