Specifics of Sourcing Challenges in the Law Domain: A Comparative Analysis of Search Approaches When Solving a Legal Case Study

The challenges faced when acquiring information are domain-specific, varying according to access and source quality. The media landscape in the field of law is becoming increasingly digitalized, however, it remains highly dependent on analogous sources for the educational purposes of legal trainees. The paper outlines the specifics of available and common source materials in German legal training and how those may influence the research behavior when solving case studies. The three participants were selected on the basis of their performance, so that the research approaches of high and low performers could be contrasted. Their legal case-solving processes were analyzed based on both the written task responses and log files, which tracked their research behavior and source selection during the digital assessment. The qualitative analysis reveals differences in source selection and the integration of information during a digital assessment of an exemplary legal case. The results are then considered in relation to the difficulties which legal trainees specifically face in the field of law when working in the German media landscape.