Methodology
How this site is researched
Where the material comes from, how each fact is traced to a document, the part AI systems play in the work, and how pages are dated and corrected.
Two kinds of page
Pages about the Standard, the working papers and the book are drawn from the manuscript of The Expert Record, which Bill Hartzer wrote and revised. Record pages, meaning the case record and AI in the Courtroom, are drawn from court orders, opinions, rules, published guidance and news reporting. Every record entry lists the sources it was written from.
How each fact is traced
Every factual statement in a record entry is traced to a listed source. The research notes kept with the site's source files record, for each matter, the address each fact came from, what could not be confirmed, and whether the primary document was located and read. The entry then says which of those it rests on. Quotations appear only where the words were seen verbatim in a source, and they are attributed. Where sources disagree about a date, an amount or an outcome, the entry says so and gives both accounts rather than choosing one.
No entry characterizes a holding. An entry states what a professional or party did, what the tribunal did, where the matter stands and the date it was last checked. The one field that goes beyond the sources is the clause of the Standard the conduct engaged, and that field describes conduct rather than judging a person.
The part AI systems play
AI systems are used in this work, and the site says so because the book asks the same of experts. They are used to search for reported matters, to gather and organize sources, and to prepare first drafts of entries from the sources gathered. They are not a source. Nothing is stated on a system's authority. Every citation, date, amount and quotation is checked against the document it came from before it is published, and a fact that cannot be checked is either removed or labeled as unconfirmed.
The judgment is not delegated. Which matters belong in the record, how each is described, and which clause of the Standard it engaged are decisions Bill Hartzer makes and answers for. That is the same division of labor Clause 2 and Clause 3 require of an expert, applied to the site that publishes them. The book's own use of AI systems is recorded in its final appendix.
Review before publication
Pages are reviewed by Bill Hartzer before they are published. A record entry is reviewed against the sources it lists, and an entry whose primary document has not been read carries a label saying so on the entry itself, in the index and in its topic list.
How dates work
Each page carries a published date and, once its content changes, an updated date. Both come from a record of the page's own content: a change to the design, the navigation or the footer does not re-date a page, and a real change to what the page says always does. Record entries also carry a checked date, which is the last day a person read the sources behind the entry. That is the date to look at before relying on one.
Corrections
Errors are posted on the errata page with the date. If you find one, or know of a matter that belongs in the record, write to [email protected]. Who maintains the site, and the experience it rests on, is set out on the about page.