Cases
Statutes
Regulations
Secondary Sources
Grab Bag
100

Cases are this kind of legal authority.

What is primary authority?

100

This official set contains the codified laws of the United States.

What is the United States Code?

100
This official publication contains the codified regulations of the federal administrative agencies.
What is the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)?
100
A source in which you would find scholarly articles on recent legal topics most likely on a narrow issue of law.
What is a law review or journal?
100

The short numbered paragraphs, highlighting the points of law in an opinion, written by West editors and found at the beginning of cases in West reporters in print and on Westlaw.

What are headnotes?

200

What is a reporter?

What is the publication where decisions of a particular court or group of courts are found.

200
This official set contains the text of federal statutes, as passed, in chronological order (by session of Congress).
What is the United States Statutes at Large?
200
This official publication contains proposed and final regulations of federal administrative agencies in chronological order.
What is the Federal Register?
200
A source where you could find .pdf typeset page images of law review articles.
What is HeinOnline (available from Law Library web page)?
200
Source where you can find information about a firm’s practice and biographical information for attorneys.
What is Martindale-Hubbell? It is available on Lexis and free online at http://www.martindale.com. Also try the West Legal Directory on Westlaw or at http://lawyers.findlaw.com.
300

A source composed of headnotes from cases, used to locate cases by topic.

What is a digest?

300
These two unofficial sets contain the laws as found in the U.S. Code, PLUS case summaries and citations to secondary sources.
What are the U.S. Code Annotated (USCA) and the U.S. Code Service (USCS)?
300
Government website where regulations issued last week would be found.
What is the Federal Register on http://www.gpoaccess.gov? Note that GPOAccess is being revised as the new FDSys site at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/.
300
Used to locate materials (books, periodicals, videos, microfilm, etc.) in the law library.
What is the online catalog?
300
When a federal statute becomes law it is first published individually in this form.
What is a slip law or public law? New federal laws can be found at the Library of Congress Thomas website (http://www.thomas.gov).
400

Where online version of print digests are found.

What is Westlaw?

400
The reason one researches the legislative history of a statute.
What is to determine legislative intent?
400
Codified Michigan state regulations are found in this publication.
What is the Michigan Administrative Code. Note: Administrative Codes for all states can be found at the Administrative Codes and Registers section of the National Association of Secretaries of State. See http://www.administrativerules.org.
400
The paper supplement which fits in the back cover of a legal publication and updates that volume.
What is a pocket part?
400
A source where you could find annotations (citations to cases and law review articles) and the text of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
What is U.S.C.A. or U.S.C.S.?
500

This is used in an unofficial reporter, in print and online, to provide the citation to the official reporter for the same case.

What is star pagination?

500
Decipher the following citation: Pub. L. 108-212
What is the 212th law passed by the 108th Congress?
500
Source for federal agency authority to promulgate regulations.
What is a federal statute? Note: The President can also provide authority to promulgate federal regulations.
500
A secondary source for proposed statutes, which can be adopted by legislatures.
What are is the Uniform Laws Annotated. It contains statutes such as the Uniform Commercial Code. These proposed statutes promote uniformity among the states and are not primary authority until they are adopted by legislatures.
500

This source restates the common law doctrines on a subject using the rules in a majority of jurisdictions.

What are the Restatements? This secondary authority becomes primary authority, if your jurisdiction adopts it. Consequently, the comments and illustrations that follow each Restatement section become especially persuasive in your jurisdiction.

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