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When you research or study an issue, a treatise can be useful in a number of ways. It can provide an overview of the subject you are researching-the so-called "big picture"-and it normally will include citations to cases, statutes, and other research sources. A treatise also synthesizes the law in a given area and often describes the historic background and trends. This feature can be particularly helpful when researching an evolving area of law or a particularly complex subject.
Your library probably uses the Library of Congress or Dewey Decimal call number system to catalogue treatises. To find a treatise, check your library's index system for the treatise's call number. Your law librarian also can give you a range of call numbers for treatises dealing with a particular subject matter area. The most popular treatises may be on reserve in the library. There are treatises for the subject of many law school classes, especially for your first-year classes. You can ask your professor to recommend the best ones. It is important to remember that a treatise author may have a particular point of view on the subject. Therefore, you should read the underlying cases and statutes to determine whether you agree with the author's conclusions. You also should check for pocket parts and other update materials to ensure that you have the most current information.
Corpus Juris Secundum (C.J.S.) and American Jurisprudence, Second Edition (Am. Jur. 2d) are the encyclopedias of the legal world. They provide an overview of virtually all federal and state law by dividing the law into separate topics, arranging them alphabetically, and further dividing them into subtopics. The encyclopedias provide a good starting point for research because they give an overview of each topic and cite relevant cases and other legal authorities. The encyclopedias are only a starting point, however, because their discussions are necessarily broad and generalized to incorporate all jurisdictions' laws and because they usually do not analyze the law but merely describe it. Therefore, when researching an issue in an encyclopedia, you must read the cited authorities, to determine their applicability and effect. You also should check the encyclopedia's pocket part for any updates on the law.
While C.J.S. and Am. Jur. 2d cover federal and state law, a few legal encyclopedias deal only with the law of a particular state or subject. These more specialized encyclopedias sometimes are called "digests," though they are very different than the case digests described earlier in this chapter.
A citation to an encyclopedia entry should include the volume number in which it is published, the encyclopedia's name, the topic name, the section number for the relevant subtopic, and the year in which that volume of the encyclopedia was published. Thus, the cite to § 8 of CJ.S.'s discussion of the topic "Searches and Seizures," which is contained in volume 79, is 79 C.J.S. Searches and Seizures § 8 (1995).
Although more limited in scope than legal encyclopedias, American Law Reports (A.L.R.) is another useful research source. A.L.R. reprints selected appellate court opinions that present an issue about which courts disagree or that is in a state of transition. More important, A.L.R. also provides a discussion of the issue (an "annotation"), including a brief description of all published opinions in which a court addressed it. Therefore, if you are researching an issue that has been the subject of an A.L.R. annotation, it can provide a useful starting point. As with legal encyclopedias, however, you should read the cited cases to determine their applicability and effect, rather than rely on the brief description contained in the annotation.
To find an annotation on a particular subject, you can use A.L.R. indexes that are arranged alphabetically by subject or by the name of cases that are an annotation subject. Federal laws and a few other national legal resources also are indexed, and annotations are included in Shepard's Citations. Annotations are supplemented with later cases on the same subject, and an annotation may be replaced when the law changes. Therefore, you always should check pocket parts and supplemental A.L.R. volumes.
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Restatements of the Law are influential expositions of the law on a variety of subjects, including contracts, property, and torts. Based on a review and analysis of the common law and legislation as it has developed in the different states, each Restatement sets forth a comprehensive statement of the law on a particular subject. Although the Restatements are not binding on courts or legislatures, they are cited frequently because they are written by eminent scholars who specialize in the areas about which they are writing and because the Restatements are reviewed and published by The American Law Institute, whose members are respected judges, practitioners, and professors.
Each Restatement section includes commentaries, illustrations, and citations to relevant cases, A.L.R. annotations, and West key numbers. A Restatement is particularly useful if you are researching an issue for which no controlling authority exists in the jurisdiction. You should be aware, however, that the jurisdiction may not follow the Restatement rule, especially if it is a new approach to the law, rather than merely a statement of existing law.
As you read your class assignments, you will come across both unfamiliar words and familiar words used in an unfamiliar way. Many commonly used words have a different meaning when used as a legal term of art. It is essential to your under-standing of a case and to your development as a lawyer that you learn the legal meaning of these words. Therefore, one of your first purchases as a law student should be a legal dictionary.
Many different dictionaries are available. The two most common are Black's Law Dictionary and Ballentine's Law Dictionary. Your law library has dictionaries available for your use while at school. Additionally, Black's Law Dictionary is available online.
Like other thesauri, a law thesaurus lists synonyms for legal terms of art and also may include antonyms and definitions. A thesaurus is especially useful in generating search terms for finding topics in a digest and online. This use will be particularly important as you begin the process of expanding your vocabulary of legal terms.
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