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A Guide To...Legal Research

A starting point for legal research and resources at the federal level.

Legal Secondary Sources

Secondary Sources for Legal Research

In legal research, secondary sources consist of sources about the law, rather than sources which provide access to the law itself (although some secondary sources will reproduce the text of the law in question). 

Unlike primary legal sources, many of which are openly and freely available online, secondary sources tend to be proprietary to specific publishers and available through subscriptions or in print collections at law libraries. 

Some of the secondary sources on this guide will be available to you through the Holy Cross Libraries, and others will not. If you find that you need to access a kind of source outside of our collections, contact a librarian and we can research options together! 

Jurisprudence [Legal Encyclopedias]

Legal encyclopedias, also referred to as "jurisprudence," attempt to summarize all of the law for a given jurisdiction, organized by topic. There are encyclopedias for federal law as well as for the laws of individual states. These should likely be your first stop for trying to understand basic legal concepts and areas of law. 

There are two key legal encyclopedias for United States federal law, both available in WestLaw: Corpus Juris Secundum (C.J.S.) and American Jurisprudence (Am.Jur.). Both are organized in fairly similar ways, but C.J.S includes black letter law (simple definitions of legal principles printed in bolded black font) and Am.Jur. does not; meanwhile, C.J.S. draws on and cites only case law, whereas Am.Jur. cites to case law as well as regulations and other types of law. 

Legal encyclopedias are kept up-to-date both in print and electronically. In WestLaw, it is possible to see the update dates on both C.J.S. and Am.Jur. When working with legal encyclopedias, the most important thing is to make sure that the particular encyclopedia you are using is still publishing updates on some kind of regular basis. 

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Treatises

Treatises are scholarly books which attempt to comprehensively address the law on a subject subject. Many, though not all, treatises are multi-volume works.  

Some treatises are particularly respected and/or may be referenced more frequently than others. For example, Samuel Williston's treatise on contracts, originally written in the 1920s, is still considered a "classic" work on the subject. 

Treatises may sometimes be accessed through databases like WestLaw or HeinOnline (though they are not available in Holy Cross' version of WestLaw); they can also, of course, be found in print copy. 

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Restatements

Restatements are designed, as their name suggests, to restate judicial opinions which have been written on a particular subject over a period of time. Their goal is to facilitate use and access of these opinions by bringing them together and summarizing them in simple terms. They are published by the American Law Institute (ALI).

Restatements are particularly useful as a source of legal definitions of certain concepts, sometimes called "black letter law" -- simple definitions printed in bolded black font, followed by comments, explanations and relevant citations. 

Note that restatements generally address and summarize long-standing legal principles that have been long-accepted and are no longer considered controversial. They are therefore different than other kinds of resources which are concerned with staying extremely current.

Accessing Restatements: 

Restatements are sometimes available through legal databases such as WestLaw and HeinOnline. Although they are not included in our databases here at Holy Cross, you may be able to request them in print using Interlibrary Loan. ALI's website offers a list of published restatements that you may wish to consult. You can also contact or visit a law library for help -- Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries can be used by the public and can even provide you scans of documents within certain limitations. 

Law Review Articles

Law review journals are typically published at law schools, and contain articles which tend to present scholarly opinion / analysis of the law.  While academic, they are not peer-reviewed like traditional journal articles. 

When using law review articles, it is important to pay attention to the authorship. Law review articles may be written by practicing lawyers or scholars/professors of law, but they may also be authored by law school students. Often pieces which have titles like "Note," "Comment," etc. are those authored by students rather than experts. 

Law review articles can be found in a variety of online databases, and can usually be located by keyword search as well as through tools that allow browsing by subject (such as HeinOnline's PathFinder). 

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American Law Reports

American Law Reports (ALRs) are put out by West Publishing (the company behind WestLaw). They are, essentially, articles that summarize the case law on very specific legal topics. Reports are published chronologically both in print and online, and supplements are issued regularly to make sure that the information remains current. You can think of them as a kind of "mash-up" of law review articles and treatises. 

ALRs can be particularly helpful if you need a quick overview of the law on a very specific subject. Because they are published chronologically, it is usually easier to find them by keyword searching or by finding them in other places where they are cited, rather than browsing. 

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Jury Instructions

Jury instructions are the set of instructions generally given to jurors by the judge before a trial begins, and also immediately before the start of their deliberations. In most, but not all, jurisdictions, there are standard instructions which can be found in legal research tools such as WestLaw. 

Jury instructions are useful for understanding how a given jurisdiction will define and/or explain certain points of law for jurors (and therefore, how a particular legal argument might 'land' with jurors in that jurisdiction). 

Accessing Jury Instructions:  

Jury instructions are sometimes available through legal databases such as WestLaw, but they are not included in our databases here at Holy Cross, However, some jurisdictions make instructions available through their individual websites. You may also be able to contact or visit a law library for help -- Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries can be used by the public and can even provide you scans of documents within certain limitations. 

50 State Surveys

50 State Surveys summarize the laws on key topics (e.g., healthcare, marriage, etc.) across all 50 states. 

Because the law can change frequently, it's important to note when a particular survey was last updated. One way to do this is to look for flags/alerts on the cited statutes (see the Judicial Branch page for more on these!). 

Accessing 50 State Surveys

50 State Surveys are sometimes available through legal databases such as WestLaw, but they are not included in our databases here at Holy Cross, You may be able to contact or visit a law library for help -- Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries can be used by the public and can even provide you scans of documents within certain limitations. 

It is also possible to find other sources that similarly compile information on particular across states, for example: 

Practical Law

WestLaw's Practical Law (and other tools like it) are designed to assist legal practitioners in their work with the law. These tools are available only through proprietary databases -- there is no equivalent in print. 

Examples of Practical Law tools  include: 

  • Practice Notes. These are resources similar to treatises which provide guidance on approaching a specific legal practice -- very useful for new attorneys! 
     
  • Standard Documents. Often linked from Practice Notes. Annotated templates for various legal documents and filings. 
     
  • State Q&A. Like a DIY 50 State Survey -- runs queries against your choice of jurisdictions on specific topics, using predefined lists of questions.  It can also generate comparative charts based on this information. 

Practical Law tools are not included in our databases here at Holy Cross, You may also be able to contact or visit a law library for help -- Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries can be used by the public and can even provide you scans of documents within certain limitations. Or, ask a librarian for guidance finding the specific sort of tool or information you are looking for.