Understanding the legal information experience of non-lawyers: lessons from the family law context

Article

Crowe, Jonathan, Field, Rachael, Toohey, Lisa, Partridge, Helen and McAllister, Lynn. 2018. "Understanding the legal information experience of non-lawyers: lessons from the family law context." Journal of Judicial Administration. 27 (4), pp. 137-147.

Article Title	Understanding the legal information experience of non-lawyers: lessons from the family law context
ERA Journal ID	35442
Article Category	Article
Authors	Crowe, Jonathan (Author), Field, Rachael (Author), Toohey, Lisa (Author), Partridge, Helen (Author) and McAllister, Lynn (Author)
Journal Title	Journal of Judicial Administration
Journal Citation	27 (4), pp. 137-147
Number of Pages	11
Year	2018
Place of Publication	Australia
ISSN	1036-7918
Web Address (URL)	http://sites.thomsonreuters.com.au/journals/2018/09/11/journal-of-judicial-administration-update-vol-27-pt-4/
Abstract	Parties to legal disputes, now more than ever before, are able to access information about the law. This article reports on an empirical study of experiences in relation to accessing legal information in a family law context. A thematic analysis of qualitative interviews with people who rang the Australian Federal Government’s Family Relationships Advice Line indicated five key issues: first, parties struggle with the complexity of the information experience; secondly, parties have difficulty in assessing the credibility and reliability of sources of information and the information provided; thirdly, parties indicate clear source preferences; fourthly, parties have difficulty applying the information retrieved from various sources to their individual situation; and, finally, parties tend to use language that is no longer reflected in family law legislation or practice. These findings are discussed and analysed with reference to the specific voice of the study participants. The findings should assist government agencies, family dispute resolution providers and others to improve the ways legal information and advice on post-separation issues is provided. The findings are also applicable to other contexts of legal information provision.
Keywords	information experience, legal information, legal information provision, non-lawyers, family law, qualitative research
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020	461002. Human information behaviour
	480402. Family law
Public Notes	Files associated with this item cannot be displayed due to copyright restrictions.
Byline Affiliations	Bond University
	University of Newcastle
	Scholarly Information and Learning Services
	Queensland University of Technology
Institution of Origin	University of Southern Queensland

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