Remember that working with case law requires three tools:
On this page we will look at finding and updating tools. For a review of reading tools, see the sub-page "Case Law Review"
Finding tools for cases in the online environment have two forms:
For case law we are particularly concerned with organizational or topical tools.
In the boxes below we will look at both Westlaw ands Lexis.
The West Key Number system was originally created to organize case law by topic. The topical arrangement was published in books called digests. Today on Westlaw digests are created on the fly when you explore the key number system
Digests
a)Digests consist of points of law abstracted from cases and arranged by topic
b)Provides subject access to precedent
c)Each abstract draws precedent from a single case, but;
i)A case may provide any number of points of precedent
d)Digests allow the researcher to find cases which address similar topics or points of law
i)This allows for case finding within and across jurisdictions
e)Separate digests are prepared for most jurisdictions and reporters
f)In addition, the Decennial Digest contains all jurisdictions
g)Topic arrangement is consistent from digest to digest
i)This allows the user to move from jurisdiction to jurisdiction in search of relevant precedent
h)Digests are prepared by a variety of publishers, and can be general or specific in their coverage
i)The most prominent and widely used digest system is the West Digest system
ii)West digests are organized by the Key Number topic system
The Key number system
a)West divides all of the topics covered by American cases into broad topics
b)These topics are then subdivided into number sections called Key Numbers
c)Topics and Key Numbers are consistent, regardless of the coverage of the digest
The headnote system
a)In West reporters, editors create headnotes as a guide to the points of law within the case
i)Points of law within the case are identified by West editors and assigned to Key numbers
ii)At the beginning of each case the editors list the points of law, along with their assigned key numbers, in sequential order
iii)These points of law are numbered for purposes of reference within the case and are referred to as headnotes
b)Headnote numbering only reflects the relative position of that point of law within the text of the case
c)The Key Number assigned to a headnote reflects the topic placement of that point of law
d)The text in the headnote is the same text that appears in the digest under that particular key number in the reference to that case
Lexis cases have the identical text as West, but contain different publisher-added information. Lexis includes such things ase case summaries and their own version of headnotes.
Citators and Citation Analysis
Citation analysis: Many fields deal with the accretion of knowledge, and must be able to follow sources forward in time to see how they are treated or built upon
There are generally two forms of citation analysis in any field:
History
Shepards: Until the late 1800s lawyers managed precedent on their own. In 1873 Frank Shepard developed a system of citation tracking for lawyers.
Initially the system provided tags to paste in reporters. Eventually the system moved to books.
Shepards Principles
In the late 1980s Shepards went online on Lexis and Westlaw. Initially, online version was the same as the books. Eventually online explanations were expanded.
In 1996 Lexis bought Shepards
Keycite: Developed by West in 1997 as an online citator. From the beginning took advantage of the online environment. According to the ABA, by 2004 had become the most used legal citator.
Key cite principles: