Encyclopedia of Law Titles System
The Encyclopedia of Law use Headnotes, Titles and Labels to organize and summarize all statutes, cases, entries in the Encyclopedia and the Legal Dictionary and other resources by subject.
Browse the Titles
The Encyclopedia of Law allows users you to browse its alphabetical outline of over 1,300 Titles and, in many cases, expand each one down to its lowest level of labels. Once the user has found all of the titles and labels the user would like to search, he or she can select them. Once the user does that, Encyclopedia of Law takes him to a screen where the user can further refine his search by jurisdiction.
Search Using a Specific Title
If the user already knows the title relevant to his legal research, he may enter it quickly in a box in the right hand top corner of the Encyclopedia of Law Topics Portal.
Case Search:
Encyclopedia of Law also provides the ability to create a Custom Case search. Once the user set all of the parameters he would like, he just may click the Search button, and the Encyclopedia of Law will return a list of summaries of cases that are relevant to the legal research. Again, each case is hyperlinked to its full text.
Encyclopedia of Law tries to identify the terms, titles and labels that are most relevant to the user legal issue and creates a query for him.”. The user may start by browsing a screen of several dozens of legal subjects. The user may, then, click the general topic he wants to research. Depending on how broad the subject is, the user can continue to repeat this process with sub-titles until you reach an eventual subject that you want to search. At that point, you will see a KeySearch screen where Westlaw asks you to choose jurisdictions, secondary sources, OR journals/law reviews in which Westlaw will eventually conduct a search. To attempt to narrow the field of results up front, Westlaw also allows you to add additional search terms before clicking the Search button. If you choose the case law options, your search will return a list of cases from a combination of topics and key numbers related to the subject you chose. In other words, you narrow the topic, but Westlaw creates the query in the background, saving you the work of trying to craft a search with search terms and connectors.
Hyperlinks from Found Cases: If you find a case or resource that is helpful to your research, you can easily jump by means of internal hyperlinks from that case or resource to other cases on the same topics and key numbers.
Keyciting with Topics and Key Numbers: As noted above, Encyclopedia of Law has assigned independent, sequential numbers for each topic and key number sequence that it assigns to cases. Although it sometimes creates confusion with Lexis, Westlaw also calls these numbers Headnotes. For example, the first sequence of a topic and key number combination in a Westlaw case might be the topic of appeal and error and the key number for transcript or return (i.e., 30k612). Westlaw would assign this sequence a Headnote number such as HN1, HN2, HN3… These headnote numbers can be helpful in finding subsequent authorities when you KeyCite a case that stands for multiple legal propositions and/or contains many references to different topics and key numbers. Each of these independent numbers directly hyperlinks to all citing references for that number. Alternatively, you can KeyCite a case in full, and review the references to HN1, HN2, HN3, etc. in the KeyCite report, and view only those decisions that are relevant to your legal issue.
For each major issue, the editor then writes a short description called a headnote. These headnotes are typically found at the beginning of each opinion and help the reader to determine quickly the issue(s) discussed in the case.
the West editor gives each one a “headline” (broad topic) selected from a list of about 450 possibilities. Some examples are “Landlord and Tenant,” “Intoxicating Liquors,” or “Automobiles.” Finally, the editor will assign the headnote a specific subtopic, such as “Injury to tenant or occupant.” In West digests, this subtopic is represented by a number called a key number. In the example above, within the topic “Constitutional Law,” the key number for “Appointment of Counsel” is 4809. Each topic and key number combination represents a unique point of law. Key numbers are the same in all West digests for all jurisdictions
Lexis Headnote System:
Lexis also provides a unique way of categorizing and classifying cases to allow users to find additional authorities on similar facts and/or legal issues. Lexis organizes the cases it reports by assigning them to particular topics and sub-topic that break down the practice of law into manageable subjects. Unlike Westlaw, Lexis has not assigned numbers (what Westlaw calls Topic numbers and key numbers) to any topics or sub-topics in its legal taxonomy. Stated otherwise, Lexis relies solely words to designate topics and sub-topics. The only numbering system Lexis uses employs simple headnotes (e.g., HN1, HN2, HN3) within each case that allow for hyperlinking to other relevant cases on the same topics. We will delve deeper into how this system works on Lexis.com online today.4
Topic Searching: Like its biggest competitor, Lexis offers you the choice of starting your legal research very generally with a legal topic. Lexis offers two (2) different options to facilitate this method. The first option is to search for a topic with a key word or phrase. This is more like a natural language search since this option does not recognize Boolean or universal search characters. This search will retrieve topics anywhere within the Lexis classification system, regardless of the practice area.
Alternatively, Lexis offers a second option that allows you to browse its hierarchy of alphabetized legal topics and expand relevant topics by clicking on + signs to drill down to more narrow subjects that succinctly define your research issue. At any point, you can click on an information button next to a legal topic to retrieve a summary of the content that is covered. Once you reach a point where you would like to conduct a search, Lexis provides a search screen with a number of templates to refine your search. Various options include choosing a jurisdiction or jurisdictions, choosing one or more databases, and adding optional search terms (using either terms and connectors or a natural language query). Once you have set all of these parameters, you just hit the Search button, and Lexis returns a result list of cases that match all of your pre-defined criteria. Instead of defining jurisdiction(s), source(s) and optional search terms, you can simply choose a jurisdiction, and add an optional date before hitting the Search button. Lexis will then retrieve all headnotes and cases on the topic you have chosen.
Unless you refine your topic down to a more narrow issue, these searches tend to retrieve a lot of cases. When your search retrieves over 3,000 results, you will receive a message from Lexis asking you to refine or edit your search.
Hyperlinking from Found Cases: If you have found a good case on Lexis, you can use the headnotes at the top of that case to find other relevant cases. After the text of each headnote, you will see the phrase “More Like This Headnote.” Clicking that hyperlink will take you to a search screen that allows you to identify a jurisdiction or combination of jurisdictions, as well as specify a date or date range, to narrow the pool of results. Lexis will then return a list of cases, each of which contain those same headnotes in Digest view (i.e., abbreviated). Nomenclature can be misleading, but do not confuse this with the Digest system on Westlaw discussed above. Each case can then be reviewed in full by clicking on the hyperlink embedded in the caption of the case.
Shepardizing with Headnotes: As you may already know, many cases that Lexis reports contain multiple headnotes, often on a diverse array of legal subjects. Since you may only be interested in one (1) or two (2) of these subjects, you may want to restrict your review of subsequent cases by Shepardizing and looking at only those cases which contain the same headnotes. Lexis makes this very easy to do. The easiest way is if there is a direct link to “Shepardize: Restrict by Headnote” right next to the headnote that pertains to your research. Although not every headnote offers this option (because not every case has been cited subsequently for every headnote), clicking it when it is available retrieves a list of citing references that also contain the same headnote number. Obviously, this functionality makes Shepardizing extremely efficient and helpful.
Alternatively, you can make note of the pertinent headnotes in a case, run a full Shepard’s report, and then review the Lexis summary at the top for a break-down of the number of citing cases for each headnote. Although you may not need this feature if your original case has only a couple of headnotes or a short Shepard’s history, it comes in very handy when you have a case with a lot of headnotes and/or a long list of subsequent authorities. Once you choose a particular headnote, Lexis allows you to browse only that sub-set of cases if you wish. In addition, each headnote reference is hyperlinked to the portion of the citing case where the headnote is located, thus making finding subsequent references to your original authority very easy.
Using Headnotes to Expand a Relevant Case
♦ Just as in WestlawNext, there are three methods to expand your research using headnotes in Lexis Advance.
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Westlaw: Key Numbers
The West Key Number System is a case-finding tool in print and electronically. There are two ways to use this system in WestlawNext: from the headnotes of a case or by browsing the key numbers.
One Good Case Method – Using Headnotes from a Case to Find Similar Cases
Once you find a case you like, read the headnotes that come at the beginning of the case and identify the headnote(s) most relevant to your issue.
Create a custom digest by clicking on a topic or key number link – this will show you a list of all cases that fall under the same topic and key number.
You can manipulate this custom digest by choosing a different jurisdiction at the top of the page.
Subject Searching – Browsing the West Key Number System
In the Browse box, click the Tools tab; select West Key Number System
Options: (a) Search the West Key Number System from the search bar at the top or (b) browse the list of 450 topics
Once you get down to a digest document (a listing of cases that fall under a specific topic and key number), you can change the jurisdiction (at the top) and search within results to narrow your list of cases
Lexis Advance: Headnotes
The digest system is a product of West, but Lexis has created a similar system of headnotes that function much the same way as the West topic and key numbers.
One Good Case – Using Lexis Headnotes to Find Similar Cases
From a case you like, locate the Lexis Headnotes at the beginning of the case, and find the one(s) that most pertain to your research question.
Look at the listing of topics and sub-topics above your headnote; click on the topic or sub-topic of most interest to you
Options: Get topic Documents or View in Topic Index
Topic Document – this is similar to looking at a digest document in WestlawNext; you will first be shown a list of cases under this topic, which you can narrow by jurisdiction or by searching within results; but you can also look at other types of legal materials that fall under this topic by selecting them from the tabs at the top (ex: select Legis to find statutes that fall under this topic)
Topic Index – this is similar to browsing the West Key Number System; you are presented with an expandable tree of legal topics, which you can search in the provided search bar at the top of the tab or browse
Note: There is also an option to Create an Alert – this will send you emails when new documents are added to this topic in Lexis Advance
Browse Topics – Subject Searching and Browsing in Lexis Advance
Click the Browse Topics option at the top of the Lexis Advance home page
You see the topic index for Lexis Advance; you can either search with the search box provided or browse through the list of top-level topics.
When you get down to a sub-topic (at which point you cannot expand any further down), you will be presented with the option to Get Topic Documents (see above under One Good Case), Add this Topic to the Search (adds it to the main search bar), Favorite this Topic (appears in your list of Selected & Favorite under the main search bar), or Create an Alert (get emails when new documents are added to this topic)
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