Winning Research Skills - Westlaw

Chapter 2
Using Case Digests
Digests contain abstracts of cases organized by subject. Digests are particularly useful for
identifying cases when you are researching a legal issue (such as when a bailment is created) or
concept (such as promissory estoppel). Every digest includes headnotes and a subject
arrangement that organizes the legal issues summarized in the headnotes.
The digests we will discuss are published by West. Although other companies also publish
digests, West has the largest system—the only one that covers all jurisdictions. You will often
obtain the best results by using digests in conjunction with Westlaw, but let’s examine how to
use a digest alone to find the information you need.
The digest contains a comprehensive list of legal topics. Each legal topic is subdivided into
issues, and each issue is assigned a digest classification number called a key number. Listed
under each key number are headnotes from reported cases addressing the issue. Remember that
West attorney-editors create headnotes by isolating and summarizing every issue of law that
appears in the opinion and assigning topics and key numbers to each headnote. Each headnote is
assigned at least one key number, and some headnotes are assigned several.
Understanding the relationship between the headnotes and the digests is crucial to using the
digests. The paragraphs in the digests are basically the headnote paragraphs from the cases in the
reporters, rearranged according to subject. Headnotes from different cases that discuss the same
point of law appear together in a digest, and the same headnote may appear in two or more
places in the digest.
Understanding the West Key Number System
West organizes its digests according to the West Key Number System. In this system, the entire
body of law is broken down into general topics (e.g., Animals). Each topic is further divided into
points of law (e.g., persons liable for injuries). A key number (e.g., 54) is assigned to each point
of law.
Animals 54
You must use both parts, the topic and the key number, in order to use the digests.
In a digest, the paragraphs under a key number are arranged by jurisdiction. The paragraphs
under each jurisdiction are arranged by date of decision, in reverse chronological order.
The beauty of the West Key Number System is that the key number assigned to a point of law is
uniform throughout all of West’s digests. As a result, when you find a relevant case in the
Washington Digest, for example, you can look under the same key number in the Pacific Digest
and find other relevant cases. Keep in mind, however, that a particular regional or state digest
may not list any cases under a particular topic and key number because no cases have been
classified under that topic and key number in that jurisdiction.
22 Winning Research Skills