Author: HLS One

  • Unofficial Publications

    Cases, regulations and statutes that are published without statutory authority designating them as an official version. The language, quality, and accuracy of unofficial reports do not differ from official texts, however, unofficial versions may contain research aids (such as headnotes or case […]

  • Unannotated Code

    A version of a code that contains the text of the law, but does not reference law review articles, case summaries, or other relevant statutes or regulations….

  • Topic

    Topic, as used in the West digest system, refers to the subject category in which an issue is placed. The West digest system is made up of over 400 topics ranging from abandonment to Zoning….

  • Table Of Cases

    A list of cases appearing at the beginning of a periodical index that provides the name and citation of articles written about a particular case. In a digest, a table of cases can help you identify a case’s citation when you know only one or both of the parties’ names….

  • Slip Opinion

    A court opinion that is published individually after being rendered and then collected in advance sheets before being released for publication in a reporter….

  • Secondary Source

    A source that explains, analyzes or interprets primary source information. Examples are law review articles, encyclopedias, and books. These sources may lead you to key primary sources as well as other secondary sources….

  • Primary Sources

    The actual law itself whether constitutional, statutory, administrative (regulations) or case law. The United States Code is a primary source. A book discussing and explaining the code is a secondary source….

  • Pocket Part

    A supplemental pamphlet inserted usually in the back cover of law book to update the material in the text…

  • Parallel Citation

    The page on which a quotation or relevant passage appears, as opposed to the page on which the case or article begins…

  • Nutshell

    A paperback book that provides a concise explanation of the law on a specific topic. …

  • Official Publications

    Cases, regulations and statutes are published electronically or in book format in either official or unofficial publications. Official publications are those that have been authorized by statute or governmental ruling. Unofficial publications, which have not been so sanctioned, often have […]

  • LegalTrac

    An index of periodical literature that indexes most English-language legal periodical literature from 1980 to the present. Since this is an index, the full-text of the journals are not in LegalTrac. Among other things, you can search for records in LegalTrac by author, title, subject, and […]

  • Key Number

    The key number is a West Publishing feature to promote the location of materials. Key numbers correspond to designated points of law. Each point of law in a given opinion has a headnote which is assigned to the appropriate topic and key number within the overall classification scheme. As topics […]

  • Headnote

    A summary of a point of law written by the publisher’s editorial staff or the court reporter. Each point of law in an opinion will have a corresponding headnote. Headnote is sometimes referred to as a syllabus….

  • Index To Legal Periodicals & Books

    Also known as ILP, this source has indexed articles in law reviews since the nineteenth century and it has indexed books since 1994. In addition to a subject/author index, it has a table of cases and a table of statutes, which allow you to locate articles on a particular case or statute. The […]