The effectiveness of your legal research largely depends on using the right tools for the task. Just as a skilled carpenter selects the correct tool from their toolbox for each part of a job, an effective legal researcher chooses the appropriate secondary source based on their specific research needs.
Each type of secondary source serves different purposes, ranging from providing a comprehensive overview of a legal area, to offering an in-depth scholarly analysis, to summarizing and categorizing case law for easier access. Understanding the unique strengths and applications of each source type can significantly enhance the efficiency and quality of your research.
It's like mapping out a journey: you need to know not only your destination but also the best routes to get there. In the realm of legal research, your destination might be understanding a complex legal principle, identifying relevant case law, or interpreting a statute. The 'routes' you take can involve various secondary sources - treatises for comprehensive understanding, law journals for academic insights, legal encyclopedias for broad overviews, or practitioner materials for practical guidance (and yes, law students benefit from practitioner materials too!).
Choosing the right secondary source for your task is an important skill that will make your journey in legal research smoother, faster, and more effective. Secondary sources in legal research come in various forms, each serving unique purposes and providing insights into different aspects of the law. Here are the main types:
These are reference books that provide definitions of legal terms and phrases. Legal dictionaries are invaluable tools for understanding legal language and jargon. Examples include Black's Law Dictionary, Ballentine's Law Dictionary, and Bouvier's Law Dictionary.
These resources offer broad overviews of legal topics, presenting summaries of areas of law in an easily accessible format.
American Jurisprudence (AmJur) and Corpus Juris Secundum (CJS) are examples of comprehensive legal encyclopedias.
These are comprehensive scholarly works on specific areas of law. They provide detailed explanations, thorough analysis, and are often authored by renowned legal experts.
For example, Corbin on Contracts is a renowned treatise that provides comprehensive coverage of the American law of contracts.
Case Law Locators provide a structured way to locate relevant case law. These resources often incorporate brief summaries or annotations, offering researchers preliminary insight into the cases they catalogue. Case Law Locators can come in many forms, including search capabilities of digital databases, legal indices that categorize cases by subject matter (e.g., the Topic and Key Number System), legal digests which summarize and categorize court decisions (e.g.,West’s American Digest System), and annotated legal directories that provide commentary alongside case citations.
ALRs provide in-depth articles or "annotations" on narrow legal issues, exploring diverse facets of a topic and citing relevant case law.
The American Law Reports 2d (ALR2d) series is a well-known resource, providing annotations on a wide range of legal topics.
Published by the American Law Institute, restatements aim to clarify and simplify complex legal principles, primarily in common law.
The Restatement of Torts is an example that seeks to clarify and simplify the legal principles relating to tort law.
Government agencies often publish reports, guidance documents, administrative decisions, and other materials that can be very useful, especially when researching a topic related to administrative law or regulatory compliance. For example, Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports provide in-depth, non-partisan policy and legal analysis on a broad range of topics to Congress, offering valuable insights into complex policy issues such as data privacy or healthcare reform.
These are academic publications featuring scholarly articles that provide in-depth analysis of legal issues. They can be general or focused on a specific area of law.
An example is the Harvard Law Review, a journal that publishes articles written by professors, judges, and legal practitioners on various legal issues.
Beyond academic law reviews and journals, legal news and periodicals can provide up-to-date information on recent developments in law, as well as analysis and commentary. One example is Law360, which provides breaking news and analysis across numerous legal topics, including litigation updates and corporate deals.
In the digital age, many legal experts and organizations maintain blogs and websites where they provide commentary on recent legal developments. Blogs can provide valuable insights and are often more up-to-date than traditional publications, though they should be used with caution due to the variable quality and lack of formal peer review. One outstanding example is SCOTUSblog, which offers comprehensive coverage and analysis of U.S. Supreme Court cases and decisions, including previews, reviews, and special features contributed by legal experts.
These include practice guides, handbooks, and manuals tailored for practicing attorneys. They offer practical advice, procedural guidance, and forms for various legal situations.
Choosing the right secondary source for your task is an important skill that will make your journey in legal research smoother, faster, and more effective. In the following sections of this guide, we delve deeper into each type of secondary source, helping you understand their unique features and uses, and equipping you to select the right 'tool' for your research 'job'.