William Gummow AC & Harry Sanderson (Brasenose College Oxford) have posted The Value of Reported Arguments in the Study and Application of Case Law ((2021) 32 Public Law Review 177) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Experience of contemporary legal education indicates that few law students read cases in full. Those that open law reports often skip to the passages relevant for their purposes, frequently guided by textbook pinpoints. Where students do read a case in its entirety, it is almost unheard of that they consult the report of argument. Upon admission to practice this indifference deepens: solicitors and counsel preparing a case, faced with an abundance of authorities, reach for those unreported judgments most readily available to them. This note considers reasons for this trend, and the possibility for its reversal, after examining reports of arguments in eight major decisions in public and private law of Australian and United Kingdom courts of final appeal. In each instance, we contend the reported argument significantly assists an understanding of the final decision in question.
