Legal Research Basics

A digest is a VERY powerful tool. But it's hard to explain digests and the "key number system". It's easier to understand how to use them after just a little practice. Don't be discouraged if you don't immediately understand the concepts or uses of digests discussed here.

Read the material on this page. Take a brief look at the Westlaw link provided. Use the tool with the actual books and on the computer. Think about the underlying purpose of the digest classification system. Take a longer, closer look at the Westlaw material and the coverage in your legal research textbook. 

Once you see how quickly you can find relevant cases given just a bit of information you'll be glad you didn't give up.

Since reporters merely have cases included in them chronologically, there is no way to search for a single type of case in them. A method has to be used to catalog the court's rulings by issues of law, and by particular facts.

West’s indexing system, the digest, classifies legal issues, or points of law, into 450 alphabetically arranged and numbered topics . Those topics are then further subdivided into detailed sub-topics. The sub-topics are assigned a "key number". You can think of the system as an outline, with the indented heading sections going as far as four levels down from the 450 legal topic categories.

The topic and key number system can be found online in Westlaw and in the print digests.

Lexis also uses case headnotes to categorize legal issues. From those headnotes you can search and find other cases on the same headnote topic.

If you have a Key Number:

You find the corresponding volume for the topic in the main part of the Digest.

If you have a case name but no Key Number:

Find the case in the "Table of Cases" volumes.

If you do not have a Key Number:

The Descriptive Word Index acts as an index to Topics and Key Numbers. First look up your subject in the Descriptive Word Index, which will refer you to the correct Topic and Key Number. The two main digests you'll use in Florida are

• West’s Federal Practice Digest (KF127 .W48) (2nd Floor)
  
• Florida Digest (KFF57.F56) (1^st Floor)

When searching in books, the topic will be a word, and the subtopic a key number. For instance, in "Landlord and Tenant 1228", the entire term in quotations is referred to as the key number.

When you search online you'll see that, especially because of computer database purposes, the same "key number" could be given as "233k1228".

If you browse the key numbers online, (from the Westlaw home page, go to "Tools" & select "Key Number System" to browse the list),  this is what it would look like after expanding/drilling down to the key number level.

When working online, make sure to review the icon for information on coverage included and excluded by the topic.The same information is provided at the beginning of each topic in the print versions.

Since digests are meant to be used with the reporters, they are shelved right next to the reporter set they cover.

For instance, the Federal Practice Digest is shelved next to the five general federal reporter sets. The federal reporters and their corresponding digests are on the second floor in call number order.

Each of the regional reporters is located next to its own digest set. West's Florida Digest, however, is located on the first floor.

You are asked the question: Can a tenant's guest sue the landlord of an apartment for personal injuries he (the guest) sustained while visiting?

You don't have online access for a legal search. You're very familiar with the legal subject area, or you foolishly decided to forego looking at the encyclopedia or a practical treatise on the subject. Either way, you decide to use the Digest first. You know "Landlord and Tenant" is one of the 400 or so Topics used by West. So you go to the topical section of the Digest, and see that the topic is located in volume 22C.

Once there, however, you can't quite determine the area you are looking for in the broad outline listing. You find, too, that the detailed outline stretches out for too many pages. Finally, you search in the Key Word Index.

From there, you find the topic and the following entry in the index pocket part

So, you have a likely candidate. The next step is to go back to the main topic volume and read the case digests summarized in Landlord and Tenant  1228. You also return to the detailed outline and review the other key numbers nearby in the same related broad outline section. If any other key numbers seem relevant, examine some of the digested summaries.

The main volume has more than one page listing case summaries for this point of law. The cumulative pamphlet (too thick for a pocket part) also lists several cases.

The beginning of the key number listing will look like this:

Luckily the cases you find are all unambiguous and seem to settle the legal issue well. You pick the case that best supports your argument. You then update the research by bringing it up to the present date. You finalize your research by verifying the case status/validity by KeyCiting or Shepardizing . Don't forget to keep a record of your research trail by saving online or on paper.

It is easier to obtain the latest digest cases when working online.

However, it is important to learn how to use the print version of the digest when ensuring you have the latest cases for the Topic and Key number you are researching, To find that latest information you should follow these steps:

Look at the back of the Title page at the front of the volume, pocket part or softbound Cumulative Pamphlet (a supplement shelved right after and next to the main volume).There you'll find a statement as to the latest Reporters covered in the Digest. The "Closing with cases on..." page will look like this,

Now you know that for cases published after Volume 129 of the Southern Reporter 3d series you'll have to either search online, or in the back of each of the later issued reporter volumes.

There is a mini-digest portion in the back of each reporter volume with the Topic and key numbers for cases published in that volume. 'Slip opinion' volumes have that portion at the beginning of the volume. Look inside those few volumes and you'll be totally updated on cases in the digest.

Searching online is the easier method. Find the date of the latest case in print you have with the desired topic and key number combination. Let's say that date is December 31, 2013. In the example used here, that topic is "Landlord and Tenant". You find from

- the page header of your selected digest volume, (not the index), or

- from the full listing in the first pages of any digest volume, or

- from Westlaw online as you searched. or in "Tools" > "West Key Number System",

that Landlord and Tenant as a topic is given the number 233. Westlaw refers to that as the 'numerical topic designation'.You already know the key number  is 1228.

Go to a Westlaw search box and input the search term:

da(after 12-31-13) & 233k1228

The two individual search terms are connected by the ampersand. That means both terms will have to be included for a case to be returned as a result. The date is enclosed by parentheses. The "da" tells the search engine that the info inside the parentheses is a date. Again, you are totally up to date.

Lexis also includes headnotes in its own online cases. Their system was developed recently in comparison to West's. As more cases are added, and the classification by the editors is refined, it may pose a challenge to West/Thomson-Reuters.

To use the system you simply click on the hyperlinked notations for broad, specific and single-headnote items in the Lexis case headnotes.

You should try the process on one case using both systems. See which one you prefer.