Source

Descripton
Notes
Treatses

Commentaries on a single
area of law writen by
legal scholars and
practtoners.
Comprehensive
coverage of a single
area of law.
Extensive Analysis.

Restatements

Statements of rules of law
of certain subjects.
Sometmes adopted
by legislatures/courts
as correct
statements of law.
Usually includes black
leter law, comments,
and illustratons.

Legal
Encyclopedias

Short narratve
explanatons of the law.
Broad Coverage.
Alphabetcally
arranged by topic and
divided into
sub-topics.
Footnotes to primary
authority (cases and
statutes).


Fifh Hour Legal Research-Fall 2014 Jordan Jeferson
Common Secondary Sources
Source
Descripton Notes
American Law
Reports

Artcles (called
annotatons) that focus
on narrowly defned legal
issues.
In depth and
exhaustve coverage.
Includes citatons to
primary and
secondary authority
across jurisdictons.

Law Reviews/
Journal Artcles

Scholarly artcles on
current or cutng edge
issues.
Student run.
Generally contains an
introductory overview
of the law (summary
of the relevant law
and literature).
Full of footnotes with
references to primary
and secondary
authority.

Practtoners
Guides/ Form
Books

Writen for Atorneys
about a partcular feld of
law.
Straightorward
explanatons of the
law.
References to related
authorites.
Directons and
strategies.
Forms.

Fifh Hour Legal Research-Fall 2014 Jordan Jeferson
Source
Descripton Notes
Hornbooks/
Study Aids

A type of a treatse
writen for law students
that go in depth on
course topics.
Straightorward,
non-analytcal
presentatons of the
law.
Useful for clarifying
and organizing the
law.
Citatons point to
relevant case law/
statutes.

Current Awareness
Tools/
Newspapers

Current law-related
developments, including
court decisions and rule
changes.
Daily or weekly.

Fifh Hour Legal Research-Fall 2014 Jordan Jeferson