What is the difference between a key number and a headnote?
Headnotes and Key Numbers are editorial enhancements that you can use to find additional cases addressing similar issues. Headnote: A brief summary of a legal rule or significant facts in a case. Key Number: It is an indexing system devised for American case law, developed by West (now Thomson Reuters).
What is the West Key Number System?
The West Key Number System is a classification system of U.S. law that indexes cases into over 400 topics and more than 98,000 legal issues. Westlaw assigns a topic and key number to each legal issue within a case.
What are West headnotes?
Headnotes are summaries of specific points of law addressed in a particular case, drafted by Westlaw Attorney Editors to ensure that topics include relevant cases even where those cases may use atypical language.
How many subtopics are in West Key Number System?
The West Digest System is composed of Topics and Key Numbers. It is very much like a large index of subjects with subtopics. Mr. West decided that all legal issues fall into one of 414 broad topics.
What is a headnote number?
Overview. Headnotes are summaries of the issues in a case. They are not actually part of the opinion. Each headnote is numbered. Headnotes in a West reporter address a specific point of law in the case, including the relevant facts regarding that point of law.
Who writes a headnote?
editor
Before a case is published in a reporter, an editor at West reads the case and selects the important issues of law. For each major issue, the editor then writes a short description called a headnote.
Is the West Key Number System available for West digest?
In 1848, he developed a classification system called the West Digest System to assist researchers with finding case law on a specific legal issue. On Westlaw, it is now called the West Key Number System.
Does Lexisnexis use key numbers?
In Lexis Advance, researchers can click on links stating “Narrow by this Headnote” to identify cases on similar issues. Lexis does NOT use the Key Number system.
What are headnotes good for?
Headnotes are excellent research tools to assist you in finding other cases that address similar legal issues, but do not cite headnotes in your work product. When citing a case, you should only cite to the actual text of the opinion written by the judge or justice.
What are headnotes and footnotes?
In academic writing, footnotes, endnotes, and headnotes provide additional information on a particular topic. They are placed in the document as a supplement to the main text. These notes can be inserted into the document as a footer or at the end of a chapter. The notes should be kept as brief as possible.
What is the highest key number in Westlaw?
The most specific one is 66.5(2) – Vicious propensities and knowledge thereof. Once you find a relevant Key Number, you can click on it to find cases on the same narrow topic in your desired jurisdiction.
Does LexisNexis use key numbers?
Where can I get a headnote?
A headnote is a summary, appearing at the beginning of a full text law report, encapsulating as precisely as possible the principle of law which the case establishes. In some cases, this may consist of little more than a bald proposition, which in older reports used to be contained in a sidenote.
Why is a headnote important?
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 quickly determine the issue(s) discussed in the case.
What is key citing?
KeyCite is the powerful citation research service available exclusively on Westlaw. You can use KeyCite to view the history of a case, statute, administrative decision, or regulation to help determine whether it is good law and to retrieve citing references.
What is the highest number in the West Key Number System?
Are headnotes secondary authority?
A headnote is a brief summary of a specific point of law decided in a case. Headnotes appear before the judicial opinion and are generally written by a publisher’s editors. Headnotes are a great research tool but are not considered legal authority and should never be cited to.
Who writes headnotes?
Before a case is published in a reporter, an editor at West reads the case and selects the important issues of law. For each major issue, the editor then writes a short description called a headnote.
What does Key number mean?
A system devised by West Group involving the classification of legal subjects that are organized within their publications according to specific topics and subtopics.