Professional Documents
Culture Documents
All legal authority that does not come from one of the three branches of
government—legislative, executive, and judicial—is secondary authority.
Secondary authority is written by academics, judges, practitioners, and even by
law students.
A. Finding Treatises.
A treatise is a book, or series of books, that gives a scholarly explanation
of the law. Treatises are organized around either a specific topic or
jurisdiction. For example, hornbooks, such as Calamari and Perillo on
Contracts, are single-volume treatises.
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B. Finding Law Reviews
Law reviews contain articles on specific issues written by scholars,
professors, experts, judges, and law students. Generally, the articles
address not just what the law is, but what the author thinks it should be.
1. The best way to find law review articles on your issue is to use an
index. There are two popular print indices to law review articles
available in the Suffolk University Law School library:
a. Index to Legal Periodicals and Books, and
b. Current Law Index.
2. There are several online indices:
a. The Wilson Index to Legal Periodicals and LegalTrac, an
online version of the Current Law Index, are both available
through the Suffolk University Law School library Web
site—
http://www.law.suffolk.edu/library/research/databases.cfm.
b. Both Westlaw and LexisNexis have the Index to Legal
Periodicals and Legal Resource Index, which is another
online version of the Current Law Index.
3. You can search full-text law reviews on Westlaw and LexisNexis,
but the databases have limited coverage of law reviews.
4. The full text of law review articles, including many older articles
that do not appear on Westlaw and LexisNexis, can be found on
HeinOnline, a subscription database accessible from the Suffolk
University Law School library Web site at
http://www.law.suffolk.edu/library/research/databases.cfm.
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D. Using Practice Guides
Generally, practice books will provide analysis of a legal issue with
references to cases, statutes, and regulations. They are also useful sources
for forms.
1. If you do not have a citation, start by looking for your search terms
in the index to the guide, which is usually in the last volume of
multi-volume sets. The index will point you to a title and section
number(s).
2. Check the pocket part for updates!
3. Examples of practice guides include the Massachusetts Practice
Series and the New Hampshire Practice Series. The
Massachusetts Practice Series is available in print, in the
MAPRAC database on Westlaw, and through Premise on the CD-
ROM terminal in the Suffolk University Law School library. In
addition, Massachusetts Pleading and Practice is a great source for
forms and is keyed to the Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure.
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F. Using Restatements of the Law.
Restatements provide general statements of common-law rules found
across most jurisdictions. They include comments, illustrations, and case
citations.
For certain topics, looseleaf services can be a very useful starting place, as
they provide an overview of both primary and secondary authority.
Looseleafs typically focus on one area of the law and are especially useful,
and most often found, in areas that involve administrative regulations,
such as tax and labor. Looseleafs contain primary authority such as the
text of statutes and regulations, and either full text or summaries of cases
and agency decisions. They also contain secondary authority such as
Save time when someone explanations and discussions of the material, practice tips, and references
else has already done the to additional materials. In addition, they frequently contain summaries of
research for you—in a the latest developments on the topic. Looseleafs usually contain multiple
indexes, which refer to numbered sections and paragraphs rather than
book, law review article, pages.
or legal encyclopedia on
your issue. 1. When you receive an assignment involving a regulated area such
as tax or labor, ask the assigning attorney if there is a useful
looseleaf that you should consult.
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2. Always read the “how to use this material” or similar section of the
looseleaf. Otherwise, you may find yourself wasting time and not
finding all of the information on your topic contained in the
looseleaf.
3. If you are still having difficulty, ask a librarian for help.
4. Many looseleafs are now available on Westlaw or LexisNexis.
Additionally, some BNA looseleafs may be accessed via the
Suffolk University Law School Library Research Databases
page—http://www.law.suffolk.edu/library/research/databases.cfm.
Even if you use an online version, take the time to read the
introductory “how to” materials.
5. Unless the material is unavailable elsewhere, you should not cite to
the looseleaf. Rather, you should cite to the case, statute, or
regulation as a primary authority. The looseleaf, however, is a
means to locate these sources.
6. Even though the looseleaf material is relatively current, you should
always use a citator, such as Shepard’s on LexisNexis and KeyCite
on Westlaw, to update primary authority.
Suffolk University Law School students and alumni who would like research
assistance should contact the Suffolk University Law School Moakley Law
Library reference librarians at:
• 617-573-8516,
• lawref@suffolk.edu, or
• the reference desk on the sixth floor of the library.
Massachusetts Pleading
and Practice is a great
source for sample
complaints, interrogatories,
motions, and other
procedural forms.