Secondary Sources of Law

Secondary sources provide persuasive authority at best. These are not written laws, but rather entries that explain the laws. At times, judges may be interested in legal scholars’ opinions, or an explanatory entry in a legal periodical. Some examples of secondary sources are listed below.

• Legal Encyclopedias – These are books (and they are also found online) that explain various legal concepts in a simple form. Encyclopedias are a great place to educate yourself about an area of law with which you have little or no knowledge. Entries are typically short, clear, and easy to understand. There are often citations provided as well, and many citations are to primary sources. Thus, if, for example, the area of law you are learning about has a governing statute, that statute will be provided in a citation with the entry. This can be a valuable start to any legal research project.

• Legal Treatises – These are books (and they are also found online) that, like encyclopedias, provide information about legal topics. Treatises tend to go in greater depth and detail than encyclopedias. So, if you began your research by reading an encyclopedia, and you feel like you would like more detailed information, a treatise is a great next stop. And like encyclopedias, there will be citations provided to outside sources, including primary sources.

• Law Reviews/Journals – Most law reviews and law journals are student-run publications within a law school. There are some peer review journals that are not student-run, but not as many. Student-run law reviews/journals mean that the students run all aspects of the publication; this includes selecting what will be included in the journal, editing the written work, and publishing the journal. The entries within law reviews and journals are usually articles written by expert attorneys who have something important to share about a legal issue or topic. These articles are often long and contain a lot of citations to both primary and secondary sources.

• Legal Periodicals – These are newspapers or magazines that specialize in law-related topics. An example of this is the New York Law Journal. Like encyclopedias, entries in legal periodicals will provide a reader with insight into a particular legal issue. These entries typically relate to current legal events, like the latest cases that have been decided, or newly enacted statutes.

• American Law Reports (ALR) – Like encyclopedias, the ALR summarizes legal concepts and provides a level of understanding about a topic of law. The ALR is set up by jurisdiction so there is the ALR, ALR2, ALR3, ALR4, ALR5, and then there the ALR Federal for federal laws and legal topics. All of the entries in an ALR contain citations to primary sources that can be useful when researching a topic.

• Restatements – Restatements clarify areas of law, like contracts and torts through a publication that explains what the laws mean and how they should be defined. Restatements are secondary sources. Some jurisdictions, however, follow Restatements closely, even though they are not bound to do so.

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