Research Guides: How to do Legal Research: Legal Encyclopedias

Introduction

Legal encyclopedias are a good source when beginning a search of the law in an unfamiliar area. They can provide background information as well as references to cases and other sources. Legal encyclopedias contain only summaries for a topic and should not be relied on as a complete or current statement of the law. While some courts cite to them for background information, they are NOT primary authority.

National Encyclopedias

American Jurisprudence 2d
AmJur 2d is published by West and works well in conjunction with other West titles. The editors are selective in referencing cases in footnotes in the belief that only major cases are of interest to researchers. There are general index volumes to aid in searching. AmJur is updated annually by pocket parts. Volumes are replaced when required. Online access to AmJur is available on both Westlaw and Lexis.

These encyclopedias are aimed at providing a general overview of the law. They contain brief statements of the law with footnotes to cases supporting those statements. The topics covered are frequently very broad in scope and researchers must use the indices for each set to find relevant sections.

American Law Reports
ALR is a selective annotated reporting service published by Thomson West. The editors select major cases from all jurisdictions. Each case includes an annotation discussing the major topic of the case and citing cases from all jurisdictions as support and for comparison. It is similar to a legal encyclopedia and is a useful starting point for a researcher. ALR is available on Lexis and Westlaw.

California Encyclopedias

California Jurisprudence
CalJur 3d is published by Thomson West. It is the state equivalent to AmJur. This set provides a thorough discussion of all facets of California law with frequent references to both cases and statutes. There are general index volumes for the set. CalJur is available online through Westlaw.

As with national legal encylopedias, these are meant to provide a general overview of state law. They should be used as tools for starting research, but they should not be relied upon as complete or current statements of the law.

Witkin
Bernard Witkin, a respected California legal scholar, authored several sets which researchers frequently use for beginning investigation of state law. They are similar to encyclopedias in that they offer a brief overview of California law with numerous references to cases and statutes. While not offering as thorough a discussion as CalJur, these sets are very useful for the busy practitioner who wants a brief summary as an introduction to a bopic. Each set is updated with pocket parts or softbound supplements. The current editions of these sets are found in the Open Reserve section of the library. They are also available online on both Lexis and Westlaw. The various sets referred to as Witkin are: Summary of California Law, California Procedure, California Criminal Law, and California Evidence.

Topical Encyclopedias

Multi-volume treatises can serve as encyclopedias for locating general information on a specific topic. These works below are only a sampling of the topical encyclopedias that you can find.

Collier on Bankruptcy
Moore's Federal Practice
Covers federal judicial procedure.
Federal Practice and Procedure
This set is often referred to as Wright & Miller and can be a very useful starting point to research.
Williston on Contracts