The Digest System:  An Index to Case Law
By Brenda  Jones, Reference Librarian
(bljones@samford.edu)

Regional Digests | State Digests

Important tools for finding cases, digests serve as subject indexes to reported opinions. West Publishing Company's digest classifies the law into seven broad areas:  persons, property, contracts, torts, crimes, remedies, and government.  These categories are broken down into hundreds of topics, with multiple key-numbered subdivisions covering all the issues.  Under pertinent topics and key numbers, West accumulates headnotes or summaries of each legal point in every reported case.

A prime feature of the West digest system is its uniformity.  Thus, a researcher who finds relevant topics and key numbers in the Alabama digest can trace those identical topics and key numbers through other digests published by West. 

Periodically, West revises the key number system for judicial developments.  Tables found at the beginning of revised topics convert old key numbers to new ones.  Check pocket parts for new topics not yet in the bound digests.

Typically, the starting point for finding relevant topics and key numbers is the Descriptive Word Index.  In the preface, West recommends searching for terms depicting the parties, places, things, acts, omissions, issues, defenses, and remedies sought in the circumstances presented.  The index includes terms of fact and law.  References are to topics and key numbers found in the main digest volumes.  For cryptic references like App & E (Appeal and Error), see the key to abbreviations in the front of the index.

Alternative approaches to the key number system include the Table of Cases, outlines found at the beginning of each topic, and headnotes from a known case.  For cases from other publishers, search for a parallel cite in a West reporter to tap into the key number structure.  Only West publications use copyrighted key numbers. Some digests also include Words and Phrases, citing to judicially defined terms.

Often, multiple topics and key numbers apply to a particular situation.  Keep track of topic names and associated key numbers.  Key numbers alone are insufficient.  For each topic considered, scan the introductory scope note and outline.  Do not rely on digest summaries for case analysis.  Read decisions in full.  Use Shepard's or Keycite to determine the status and authority of cases.

Updating is imperative.  Examine all pocket parts and soft-cover pamphlets shelved with the digests.  Introductory tables list closing volumes of reporters indexed in the digest.  For updates, consult subsequent volumes of those West reporters.  Look for digests in the back of West’s bound reporters, and in the front of reporter advance pamphlets.  Supplement the latest print sources with Westlaw if available.

Selecting the right digest is crucial.  Ideally, choose the digest that meets but does not exceed the coverage needed.  Unless otherwise noted, digests described below are found on the first level of the Law Library in the Digests section.

West's American Digest System is comprehensive, though unwieldy.  It covers all American jurisdictions, state and federal, in three components: Century, Decennial, and General.  The Century Edition (1658 to 1896) is the only component outside the key number system.  To find Century section numbers, use the subject index in volume fifty.  To translate Century sections to key numbers, see the table in volume twenty-one of the first Decennial digest.  Conversely, to translate key numbers to Century sections, look for cross-references after key number entries in the first and second Decennials.

Segments of the Decennial Digest are cumulative only in five to ten year spans.  Search each segment in turn.  Periodically, West publishes a new segment of the Decennial Digest. Check the spine for dates of coverage. West's General Digest updates the decennials. Volumes of the General Digest are not cumulative.  Key number tables, however, are cumulative within each ten-volume increment.  These tables show where particular keys appear, if at all, within that interval.  For efficient research in the General Digest, examine the key number table in every tenth volume, and in the latest volume published if not the tenth.  Every tenth volume also has a cumulative table of cases and a descriptive word index.  Spot the tenth volume quickly by extra labeling on its spine.

Both West and Lexis publish a United States Supreme Court Digest (1754 to date).  West’s publication is noteworthy for its uniform key number system.  In the Lawyers’ Edition, Lexis includes citations to the American Law Reports and other research aids.

Regional digests correspond to the regional reporter system, although West stopped publishing three of the seven digests.  The following digests held by the library cover courts of the states shown, but not federal courts within those states.
 

To update discontinued regional sets, turn to individual state digests, Decennial and General Digests, or Westlaw if available.  Digests for the Atlantic, North Western, and South Eastern regions are now in the second series.  Generally, the second series runs from the early to mid-1930's to date.  Search the first series for earlier cases.  Each color-coded segment of the Pacific digest begins with a specified volume of the Pacific Reporter.  In our collection, for Pacific cases before 1940, use the American digest or individual state digests if available.

West’s state digests cover opinions issued by state courts and decisions of federal courts within the state.  The  Law Library offers print digests for the following states:

• ALABAMA (1820 to date)
• CALIFORNIA (1850 to date)
• FLORIDA (1846 to date)
• GEORGIA (1792 to date)
• NEW YORK (1930 to date)
• NORTH CAROLINA (1778 to date)
• TENNESSEE (1791 to date)
• VIRGINIA and WEST VIRGINIA  (1681 to date)

Besides the set in the library’s Digests section, duplicates of West’s Alabama digest are found on the first level in the Alabama and Reference sections.  West issues some state digests in continuing series.  Others, like West’s Alabama Digest 2d, are later editions replacing the original ones.  Check the preface or spines for dates covered in each series or edition.  Refer to the North Eastern or American digests for New York cases before 1930.

West’s federal set includes the Federal Digest (1754 through 1938) and Modern Federal Practice Digest (1939 through 1960).  After that, consult West’s Federal Practice Digest 2d, 3d, and 4th. The second series covers 1961 through November 1975.  The third series runs from December 1975 until the start of the fourth, which varies by volume.  To be safe, search both the third and fourth series for cases from December 1975 through 1983.  To find cases from 1984 to date, consult the fourth series with all updates.  J. Myron Jacobstein et al., Fundamentals of Legal Research 108 (6th ed. 1994).

Specialty digests cover particular courts or subject areas.  For instance, BNA’s digests of labor cases are in the Looseleaf section on the lower level.  Coverage includes wage and hour, fair employment practices, individual employment rights, Americans with disabilities, labor relations, and labor arbitration.  The Special Subject Reporter section on the lower level includes digests of patent, public utilities, education, and maritime cases.  On the first level, the ALR Digest is in the Practice section shelved with American Law Reports.  Look for Shepard’s Ordinance Law Annotations in the Digests section.  Shelved on the first level with Federal Cases are digests for federal rules, federal claims, and bankruptcy matters.

Some specialty publications, like the Product Liability Case Digest [KF8925.P7 B342], are on the second level with classified treatises.  Two particularly comprehensive sources are the Uniform Commercial Code Case Digest [KF880.3.P5] and Federal Rules of Evidence Digest [KF8935.F4].  The third level Administrative section includes digests for decisions of the National Labor Relations Board and other agency tribunals.  Pike and Fischer’s administrative law digest is also on the third level.

Finding an elusive case on point can be a challenge.  Understanding the digest system speeds the task.  If needed, contact a reference librarian for help selecting, locating, and using digests.