Once the editor confirms a judgment as being reportable for the Weekly Law Reports, and I have received a copy of the official transcript, I begin the process of reporting it.

I start to construct the headnote and the other parts of the report that will precede the judgment itself on computer, using a specially customised word processing template.

I begin by setting out the court the case appeared in and the name of the case, together with the neutral citation which identifies the judgment within the court=s own records. I set out the hearing dates, the judgment date, and the judge or judges who gave the judgment. The catchwords appear in italics, outlining to any reader the issues that were decided in the judgment. The words chosen are then used for indexing purposes in the Red Index. If the case decided more than one different and unrelated issue, then more than one set of catchwords will have to be used.

This is followed by the headnote itself. First I briefly recite the facts of the case necessary to understand the propositions of law contained in the holding. I then set out the conclusions that the judge or judges came to. This paragraph is my interpretation of what constitutes the ratio decidendi of the decision. Lawyers relying on a judgment as a precedent often cite the headnote in court, using it as a brief summary of the pertinent facts and the issues decided. It is absolutely essential that this paragraph is accurate and reliable.

If the court decided a point of law which was obiter dicta then I refer to it in a separate paragraph with the words APer curiam@. If any cases were applied, distinguished, disapproved or considered I mention them. If the decision was that of an appellate court, I state whether the decision of the court below was affirmed, reversed or varied.

Then I compile the blocklists. These are comprised of three separate lists of case names. The first is cases referred to in the judgment. The second is any additional cases cited orally in argument in court. The third is any further cases, which were not cited in court, but were referred to in the skeleton arguments. I give the neutral citation of the case, and the full case name, together with the citations if applicable of the reports in the Law Reports, the Weekly Law Reports, the Industrial Cases Reports and the All England Law Reports. I also give the initials of the court which decided the case (for example, CA for Court of Appeal).

After the blocklist I set out the procedural steps by which the matter has come before the court, summarising the relief sought and the grounds relied on. This is followed by a nod to counsel appearing in the case, before the recital of the judgment itself.

Before the judgment itself is reproduced, I carefully read through the approved version of the judgment, amending it so that it complies with our house-style of writing and presentation, ensuring consistency between all of our reports. I check dates, names, facts, and all references to other cases and to any legislative provisions ensuring that they have been set out accurately.

My report then ends with a summary of the orders made by the court, and a mention of the solicitors representing the parties involved in the case. I sign it to verify that I compiled the report.

Once the report is complete, a sub-editor makes any necessary amendments, and the report is transmitted electronically to the typesetters for setting into proof. These proofs are then sent to the judge or judges, so that they can make any further suggestions, and so that they can answer any of my queries. When the report is returned it is checked and double-checked in the editorial department to ensure that it is as accurate as we can make it before it is finally published.

If the case is intended for volumes 2 or 3 of the Weekly Law Reports (the most important cases), then I begin my preparation of the Law Report for either the Queens Bench, Chancery, Family or Appeal Cases division.

The Law Reports are the only law reports to include a summary of counsels= submissions, and so I write a summary of the arguments advanced by each of the barristers. Once that has been checked and edited, I send it to the barristers for them to make further suggestions before the report is checked and finally published as the ultimate report of that particular judgment.

The final report is published in a softback edition, to be bound into a hardback format at the end of the year. It will hopefully be referred to for a great number of years by lawyers relying on the judgment, but using my headnote as a tool to assist them when using it.