Research Guides: Sharpening Your Information Skills for Legal Placement: Forms and precedents, and other drafting aids

Forms and precedents in context

For the purpose of this guide, forms and precedents refer to samples of common legal documents. These include legal agreements, court pleadings, court forms, and many other types of documents.

Forms and precedents for commercial law and civil practice

Library resources providing forms and precedents for commercial law and general practices

Hong Kong Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents
Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents (UK)
Practical Law

Hong Kong Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents, Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents (UK)

Both titles provide concise commentaries on the law, practice checklists. There are also various precedents, alternative clauses and model letters, etc.
The Library has the print version of both titles.
- HK Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents – kept in the Quick Reference Area, Shelf B.
- Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents (UK) – kept in the Quick Reference Area, Shelf C.
Both titles are also available electronically from Lexis Advance Hong Kong.

Using the Hong Kong Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents online version

On the database home page, move to the “Publications” section on the right . Click on the Hong Kong Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents.
You can browse the individual area of law or search across the publication for a specific topic.
To browse, take these steps.
- Click "View Table of Contents" to get a list of areas of law. Hit once on the plus sign besides each topic, you will see two headings, "Commentary", "Forms and Precedents".
- If you are looking for particular forms, click open the plus sign besides "Forms and Precedents" and go through the list of forms.
- Once you identify the an appropriate form, click on the hyperlinked title.
- To download the form to edit, click this button located at the top
To search, take these steps.
- After clicking on the Hong Kong Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents in the Publication area, hit once "Go to Advanced Search".
- Next you will see a search template. Enter relevant keywords in the appropriate search field.
- Once you find an appropriate form, click on the hyperlinked title and download it as mentioned above.

N.B.

To access Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents (UK) from Lexis Advance Hong Kong, follow these procedures.

Database home page --> click the Browse button (top of screen) --> hit Publications --> select United Kingdom --> choose By Content Type --> click UK Forms & Precedents --> Encyclopaedia of Forms and Precedents

Using Practical Law

Practical Law provides practice notes, practice checklist and sample documents.
For Hong Kong, the resources are not developed as well as those for the UK.
So you may like to take reference of the UK information.
Using Practical Law to locate UK information, take these steps.
On the database home page, click the "UK" icon. It is located on the top right corner.
You will see a list of practice areas. Select one topic and then further choose a sub-topic.
Under each sub-topic, there are various types of information: Practice Notes, Standard Documents, and more. Read the Practice notes to get a summary of the law governing that area. The Standard documents highlight the main points for drafting documents and sometimes make available a template. Checklist provides a summary of the law for that practice area.

Court forms

Atkin’s Court Forms Hong Kong, Atkin’s Court Forms (UK)

Atkin’s Court Forms HK is a collection of practice notes, procedural tables, forms, precedents and other documents used in civil proceedings of the High Court and District Court of Hong Kong. Available in print and online version. The print version is kept behind the Law and Reference Help Desk. The online version is accessible from Lexis Advance Hong Kong.
Atkin’s Court Forms (UK) is a collection of procedural documents required in every civil proceeding before the courts and judicial tribunals of England and Wales. Our library has the print format only. The set is shelved in Law Collection and Services Section’s Quick Reference Area, Stack C.
Through these materials, you will get to know the court proceedings in a particular area of law.

Using the Atkin’s Court Forms Hong Kong online version

From the Lexis Advance Hong Kong home page, move to the right side “Publications”. Click Atkin’s Court Forms Hong Kong.
To browse the court forms related to an area of law, hit "View Table of Contents".
To search for specific court forms, hit "Go to Advanced Search".
To download a form to edit, click this button which is located at the top screen,