1. Searching for cases

To search for cases you can go to the public facing website of the court involved, such as the Land and Environment Court, or you can use a library database, such as LexisNexis's Casebase [2] database

Once you arrive at Casebase you'll see a search interface like the one below. Place your search term in the top box. You can also experiment with placing a search term in the catchword box and seeing if any of the headings match your search as this will zoom in on your preferred topic and give you less irrelevant hits to search through.

Below these boxes you'll find checkboxes to select the state and court you want to restrict your search to. Generally the law in your subject will be NSW state law and the courts will be the Land and Environment Court and the Court of Appeal. You can specify both of these courts at the same time if you wish.

When you arrive at a case you'll see the plaintiffs and also the catchwords and digest (see pic below). The catchwords and digest are a summary of the judgement. To read the full text click on a blue link beneath the case title (also seen in the picture below).