Chapter 5: Secondary Authority and other Research Resources--Encyclopedias, Treatises, American Law Report, Digests, Shepard's
According to Legal Research, Analysis, and Writing, 4th edition:
"Legal Encyclopedias are designed to provide an overview of all the areas of law. They not provide the in-depth coverage that is available in a treatise or periodical article." (p. 143)
"The two national encyclopedias are American Jurisprudence Second, commonly known as Am. Jr. 2d. and Corpus Juris Secundum, or CJS. Both of these encyclopedias are national in scope; they present a general overview of federal and state law....Each encyclopedia covers more than 400 legal topics....CJS attempts to include every case reported in its discussion of topics, resulting in many pages having one or two sentence of narrative, with the rest of the page consisting of footnotes to cases....Am. Jr. 2d. is more selective in its inclusion of cases, presenting a cross-section of leading cases" (p. 144)
American Jurisprudence Second (Am. Jur. 2d)
print edition:
- unavailable
online edition:
According to Legal Research, Analysis, and Writing, 4th edition:
"Legal Encyclopedias are designed to provide an overview of all the areas of law. They not provide the in-depth coverage that is available in a treatise or periodical article." (p. 142)
"Some legal encyclopedias are published for individual states. These encyclopedias are organized like the national encyclopedias and include many of the same features" (p. 151)
Illinois Law and Practice (Ill. Law & Prac. or I.L.P.)
print edition:
- call number: KFI 1265.I4 - located on floor 4
online edition:
According to Legal Research, Analysis, and Writing, 4th edition:
"Treatises are texts that provide a comprehensive analysis of a single area of law, such as torts or criminal law. Where a legal encyclopedia presents a broad overview of an area of law, a treatise does much more. It provides a much greater in-depth discussion of the law and will explain, analyze, and criticize the law. Some treatises include guidance for the legal practioner, such as practice tips, checklists, and legal forms." (p. 151)
An example of a treatise title, specifically mentioned in the textbook, is listed below.
First Amendment Law Handbook
print edition:
- call number: KF4770.A15 F57 - available for request from North Storage
online edition:
- unavailable
According to Legal Research, Analysis, and Writing, 4th edition:
"Treatises are texts that provide a comprehensive analysis of a single area of law, such as torts or criminal law. Where a legal encyclopedia presents a broad overview of an area of law, a treatise does much more. It provides a much greater in-depth discussion of the law and will explain, analyze, and criticize the law. Some treatises include guidance for the legal practitioner, such as practice tips, checklists, and legal forms." (p. 151)
Illinois law-related treatises
- Horner Probate Practice and Estates
- Illinois Evidence Manual
- Illinois Motions in Limine:
- Westlaw
- print: call number KFI1740.3 .I46 on floor 4 (print edition is no longer updated)
- Illinois Real Property Service
According to Legal Research, Analysis, and Writing, 4th edition:
"The ALR publishes the text of leading state and federal court opinions addressing specific issues. Following the opinion is an analysis (referred to as annotations) of the legal issues raised in the opinion and a summary of the cases from every purisdiction that have addressed the same or similar issues. The case summaries are arranged by jurisdiction and provide the researcher with a view of the treatment of the legal issue or issues raised in the case." (p. 155)
American Law Reports (A.L.R.)
print edition:
- unavailable
online edition:
West's ALR Digest of Decisions and Annotations with Research References
According to Legal Research, Analysis, and Writing, 4th edition:
"There are multivolume ALR digests....In the digests, the law is divided into more than 400 topics and arranged alphabetically. Each topic is divided into numerical subsections. The sections include a summary of the annotations and references to other sources, such as encyclopedia references and practice references. There are separate digests for ALR and ALR.2d and a combined digest for ALR.3d., ALR.4th, ALR.5th, ALR.6th, ALR Federal and ALR Federal. 2d." (p. 157)
print edition:
- unavailable
online edition:
- unavailable
According to Legal Research, Analysis, and Writing, 4th edition:
"A digest is a set of books that organize the law by topic, such as corporations or torts, and each topic is divided into subtopics. The digest provides the citation to and a brief summary, or digest, of all the court opinions that have addressed the subtopics. The ability to review the case summaries allows the researcher to select the case most similar to the client's case, that is, the case most on point. Thus, a digest serves as a tool for locating cases on specific questions being researched." (p. 163)
print edition:
- unavailable
online edition:
- WestlawClick on Tools tab to access the "West Key Number System" (Westlaw .pdf guide)
According to Legal Research, Analysis, and Writing, 4th edition:
"A digest is a set of books that organize the law by topic, such as corporations or torts, and each topic is divided into subtopics. The digest provides the citation to and a brief summary, or digest, of all the court opinions that have addressed the subtopics. The ability to review the case summaries allows the researcher to select the case most similar to the client's case, that is, the case most on point. Thus, a digest serves as a tool for locating cases on specific questions being researched." (p. 163)
West's Illinois Digest
Allows one to search alphabetically by topic for relevant Illinois state and federal court decisions reported from 1938 to date.
print edition:
- call number: KFI 1247.1.I3 ser.2 - located on floor 4 (print edition is no longer updated)
online edition:
- unavailable as individual title in Westlaw--follow directions below to search specifically for Illinois cases
- WestlawClick on the Tools tab, choose "West Key Number System" and then limit jurisdiction to Illinois (in box to left of orange magnifying glass)
According to Legal Research, Analysis, and Writing, 4th edition:
"When you locate primary authority that provides an answer to a question being researched, it is necessary to determine if the authority has been reversed or modified by subsequent law or court decision. That is, you must determine if the authority is still valid, if it is still "good law." The first step to ensuring an authority is "good law" is to use a citator. The two most common citators are Shepard's Citations, in print or online (Lexis) or Westlaw's KeyCite....The process of consulting a Shepard's source to determine the current validity of an authority is called Shepardizing. You Shepardize a case or statute when you check it in Shepard's Citations. However, today that term is used whether you are using Shepard's or you are using Westlaw's KeyCite." (p. 172-73)
print edition:
- unavailable
online edition:
- Nexis UniTo access this source:
* click on Search box
* type shep:
* enter citation of case (example: 531 U.S. 98)
Screenshots of steps below
OR
- Search for case (example: 531 U.S. 98)
- Refer to right column in search result:
Search results page:
- WestlawFull text database of court cases, law review articles, legal statutes, court rules, proposed & adopted regulations, proposed & enacted legislation & administrative decisions, and guidances at the federal and state levels. (Help with database)
Data and Social Sciences Librarian
