Using Digests to Find Opinions 69

As discussed above in section 3.3.3, West editors assign a topic and key number to every headnote they create upon reading cases. Each key number corresponds to a specific issue within its topic, and judicial opinions that discuss the same issue will feature the same topic and key number. Please note that each topic in the system begins with key number 1. In other words, West reuses numbers, so knowing key numbers without knowing the corresponding topics does researchers little good.

If, however, a legal researcher knows the topic and key number that correspond to the issue for which she is looking, she can simply look up the topic and key number in a digest and retrieve a list of cases that have considered the issue in question in the jurisdiction(s) covered by that digest. Furthermore, the digest provides brief summaries of each case so that the researcher can make an informed decision as to which cases she wants to pull from their respective reporters first. Figure 3.4.2a provides an example of a typical digest entry.

As a caveat, many West digests have started over in new series, much like the West reporters. For instance, the Kentucky Digest 2d continues the

Kentucky Digest. Similarly, the Federal Practice Digest is now onto its 5th

series.97 _{The key fact to remember about digest series is that they are not} cumulative. Therefore, in order to find judicial opinions from the whole range of years available, a researcher must consult all the various series of a particular digest. West publishes an editorial note at the beginning of each volume of a digest providing researchers with notice of the year-range covered by that particular series of the digest.

97 _{The Federal Practice Digest 5th is actually the sixth series of the title, as the original}

70

Figure 3.4.2a: Sample Entry from the Federal Practice Digest 5th

Digests act as a powerful tool for finding judicial opinions, but to use them a legal researcher must know the topic and key number that correspond to the legal questions he wants answered. Fortunately, appropriate topics and key numbers can be discovered in several ways.

71

First of all, as discussed above, every headnote attached to a West-reported case features a corresponding topic and key number. Therefore, if a researcher has discovered one opinion on point, she can lift topics and key numbers from headnotes of interest to discover other cases addressing the same point of law. Similarly, if a researcher has found a relevant statute in an annotated code published by West, then the annotations will likely alert her to any relevant topics and key numbers.

Fortunately, even if a researcher does not already have a topic and key number in mind, West digests provide ways to find topics and key numbers of interest. First, at the end of every digest, a researcher will find an index, termed the Descriptive Word Index, which works almost identically to the indexes accompanying codes. A researcher would look up a general term that covers the legal issue in question. Instead of code sections, however, a digest’s index lists topics and key numbers for the various issues and sub- issues. Once a researcher has looked up a term in the index to discover its topic and key number, she can then look up that topic and key number in the corresponding main volume of the digest for a list of cases related to the issue. Note that the index itself does not provide case citations; it must be used in conjunction with the main volumes of the digest.

In addition to providing indexes for digests, West divides all of American law into topics, which it fits into an overarching Outline of the Law. Indeed, the topics from this outline are the same that accompany key numbers, and West places the key numbers themselves onto the outline. West publishes its general outline of the law at the beginning of digest volumes. Additionally, in front of each topic in the digest, West provides a more detailed outline of that specific topic. Thus, legal researchers possess the option of browsing through West’s outlines to narrow in on a specific issue’s topic and key number, much as researchers might use a code’s tables of contents to narrow in on specific sections. Figure 3.4.2b gives readers an idea of what West’s Outline of the Law looks like.

72

Figure 3.4.2b: An Excerpt of West’s Outline of the Law as found in the Federal Practice Digest 5th

By using the Descriptive Word Index or the Outline of the Law, researchers can identify relevant topics and key numbers they can then use to find case citations, which in turn would allow the researcher to pull relevant judicial opinions. Of course, the opinions themselves may lead the researcher to

73

additional topics and key numbers of interest through the headnotes provided by West. Researchers may then look up the additional topics and key numbers in a digest in order to find additional cases. Thus, the topic and key number system provides a powerful tool for researchers to find judicial opinions.

West digests also provide a couple of other ways to find cases in addition to the topic and key number system. First, digests contain Tables of Cases volumes that allow researchers to look up cases by the name of either party. Second, digests contain Words and Phrases volumes, which allow researchers to look up a specific word or phrase to find opinions using that exact word or phrase. Both Tables of Cases and Words and Phrases volumes, unlike the topic and key number volumes, will provide case cites in addition to the topics and key numbers assigned to the case. While a researcher would need more starting information to use either of these types of volumes, they do provide an alternative access point to caselaw for print researchers and demonstrate the comprehensiveness of West’s digest and reporter system.

In fact, as discussed above in section 3.3.4, West’s digest and reporter system acted as the sole means of finding precedent for so long that courts deem opinions not published in one of West’s reporters to be less than fully precedential. In the modern era of electronic legal research, lawyers more often encounter such “unreported” opinions. Lawyers need to react to such opinions with caution and to avoid using them as key precedent. Indeed, most courts will only consider unreported opinions under certain circumstances. To determine if a court will consider an unreported opinion, legal researchers should consult the court rules for the jurisdiction in question.98 _{Thus, understanding West’s reporter and digest system remains} important even when conducting electronic legal research.