Chapter 7— Secondary Authority American Law Reports—A.L.R.

Chapter 7—Secondary Authority

American Law Reports—A.L.R.

A.L.R.

• Purpose and research role

• Annotation components– Prefatory statement

– Table of contents

A.L.R.• Components (cont.)

– Research references– Article index– Jurisdictional tables– Scope and related annotations– Summary and comment– Practice pointers– Substantive provisions

A.L.R.• Research aids

– Index to annotations

– A.L.R. digest

– Table of laws, rules, and regulations

– Reference from other sources

– Updates

Chapter 7—Secondary Authority

West’s Key Number Digests

West’s Digests• Purpose and research role

• Organization by legal topics

West’s Digests• Components

– Descriptive word index– Table of cases– Words and phrases– Updates– Each topic includes: Subjects included and

excluded, table of contents, case summaries

West’s Digests• Types

– American digest system

– Digests of federal court opinions

– Regional digests

– State digests

West’s Digests• Research aids

– Case headnotes– Descriptive word index– Topic outline– Table of cases– Updates– Reference from other sources

Chapter 7—Secondary Authority

Legal Encyclopedias

Legal Encyclopedias

• Purpose and research role

• Major encyclopedias– American Jurisprudence 2d

– Corpus Juris Secundum

Legal Encyclopedias

• Features– General index

– Topic summary

– Updates

– Tables

Legal Encyclopedias

• Research aids– General index– Table of contents

– Table of cases– Table of statutes, rules, and

regulations

Chapter 7—Secondary Authority

Treatises

Treatises

• Purpose and research role

• Types–Single-volume text

–Multivolume sets

Treatises

• Features–Narrative presentation–Index–Table of cases–Updates

Chapter 7—Secondary Authority

Shepard’s Citators

Shepard’s Citators

• Purpose and research role

• Types—case law, constitu-tions, statutes, court rules, regulations

Shepard’s Citators• Format and components

–Case law citators• Abbreviation and introductory material• Case location• Case history• Later case treatment• Secondary sources

Shepard’s Citators• Format and components

–Statutory law citators• Abbreviation and introductory

material• Statutory location• Case treatment• Secondary sources

Shepard’s Citators

• Research steps– Select appropriate citator.

– Locate and review research entry.

– Update.