Legal Encyclopedias in the United States

Legal encyclopedias provide (generally) a brief, integrated statement of the law. They pull together an enormous body of legal literature, definitions, rules, and practice points derived mainly from case law. Indexes and cross-references are provided. Sections may be written by experts or by editorial staff who are not themselves legal scholars, as happens with legal databases. Generally they are more descriptive than analytical. Legal Encyclopedias tend to be most useful at the beginning of a legal research project to provide an overview of specific topics and to briefly outline issues that may be involved. Legal Encyclopedias may also be useful at the close of a research project to again provide an overview and a check that no issue has been overlooked.

Like general encyclopedias, legal encyclopedia entries appear alphabetically by subject, and they are usually neutral in tone. They often include citations to cases and other useful materials such as terms of art relevant to a particular issue, making legal encyclopedias a useful place to start legal research. The two most popular general legal encyclopedias are American Jurisprudence, 2d (“Am. Jur.”) and Corpus Juris Secundum (“C.J.S.”). In addition, there are numerous state legal encyclopedias, as well as encyclopedias with a particular focus, such as American Jurisprudence Proof of Facts. As a general rule, legal encyclopedias are not cited as the ultimate source for a legal proposition. Rather, legal encyclopedias are best used as a starting point for one’s research. See below to learn more about using, citing, and finding legal encyclopedias.

Using Legal Encyclopedias

To use legal encyclopedias in print, look up your topic in the index volume(s) and note the topic under which your issue is discussed. Then consult the volume containing those sections. When using Am.Jur. or C.J.S., you’ll notice that each major topic includes detailed outlines of what the article covers. You’ll also find a scope note that describes the article’s coverage and provides cross references to other topics. Print versions of legal encyclopedias are kept up-to-date with replacement volumes and annual pocket-part supplements which appear at the end of each volume. It is also possible to locate relevant encyclopedia topics online. C.J.S. is available on Westlaw and Am. Jur. is available on Westlaw and Lexis. Moreover, many of the state legal encyclopedias are available on one or both systems. See below for guide to using state and national legal encyclopedias. You can locate the encyclopedia entries online by performing a Boolean search in the appropriate database or library. Electronic versions of legal encyclopedias incorporate updates right into the text.

Sometimes, law encyclopedia articles are often oversimplified. It is said that legal encyclopedias emphasize case law, and generally do a poor job with statutory or administrative law subjects.

Corpus Juris Secundum and American Jurisprudence do not provide citations to state statutes, although jurisdiction specific encyclopedias like Texas Jururisprudence does.

Finding tools in print are:

the index,
the Table of Laws and Rules, and
the Table of Cases (although AmJur lacks a Table of Cases).

The online versions include tables of contents, but an encyclopedia’s contents are so vast that a table of contents is not of much help. Indexes can be difficult to use online compared to print. Lexis Advance does not make the indexes available at all. On WestlawNext, the indexes are searchable and browseable.

National Legal Encyclopedias

There are two main print legal encyclopedias in the U.S. They provide introductions to legal topics, explain relevant terms of art, and provide citations to primary law. National in scope, they tend to give broad summaries of legal topics and are not the best tool for jurisdiction-specific research. Most entries are fairly brief.

CJS: Corpus Juris Secundum (KF 154.C56)

This 152-volume set is arranged into approximately 400 topics. Articles within topics begin with a general rule of law and are followed by the exceptions and qualifications to that general rule.

CJS Index: Four volume general index, KF 154.C56. There are also individual indexes for each major topic.
CJS on Westlaw
CJS is not available on LexisNexis

Am Jur 2d: American Jurisprudence 2d (KF 154.A42)

Am Jur 2d articles summarize broad principles of U.S. law and provide citations to cases, statutes, rules, forms, and A.L.R. annotations.

Am Jur Index: Six volume general index, KF 154.A42. Topical indexes in the last volume of every topic.
Am Jur on Westlaw
Am Jur on LexisNexis

State Legal Encyclopedias

Only 16 U.S. states have their own legal encyclopedias. Lexis publishes encyclopedias for Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. West publishes encyclopedias for California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas (Texas Jurisprudence or TexJur). (see below)

State legal encyclopedias provide background and explanations of state legal topics and provide citations to primary law. Not every state has a legal encyclopedia. Depth of coverage and quality vary. State encyclopedia articles are updated irregularly. Remember to check pocket parts when using them in print.

Main Print State legal encyclopedias

These are in alphabetical order by state:

California Jurisprudence 3d, KFC 80.C29
Summary of California Law (Witkin), KFC 80.W5
Colorado Law Annotated 2d, KFC 1880.P76
Florida Jurisprudence 2d, KFF 80.F56
Georgia Jurisprudence, KFG 80.G45
Illinois Law and Practice, KFI 1265.I44x
Indiana Law Encyclopedia, KFI 3065.W44
Louisiana Civil Law Treatise, diff. calls, KFL 92 – 583
Maryland Law Encyclopedia, KFM 1265.W4x
Massachusetts Practice, KFM 2480.M3
Michigan Law and Practice Encyclopedia, KFM 4265.M63x
Encyclopedia of Mississippi Law, KFM 6665.E53x
Summary of Mississippi Law, KFM 6665.G7
New Hampshire Practice, KFN 1280.N48
New Jersey Practice, KFN 1880.N4
New York Jurisprudence 2d, KFN 5065.N48
Strong’s North Carolina Index 4th, KFN 7445.6.S82
Ohio Jurisprudence 3d, KFO 65.O35
Pennsylvania Law Encyclopedia, KFP 65.P46x
South Carolina Jurisprudence, KFS 1865.S68x
Tennessee Jurisprudence, KFT 65.T46
Texas Jurisprudence 3d, KFT 1265.T49
Michie’s Jurisprudence of Virginia and West Virginia, KFV 2465.M52

State Encyclopedias on Westlaw

The following list only includes encyclopedias that are comprehensive in scope. For many states, Westlaw offers a practice series that has selective coverage of state law, usually covering a few major topics and information useful to lititgators. These can be found by browsing the Westlaw Directory by State then Forms, Treatises, CLEs, and Other Practice Materials.

California Jurisprudence 3d
Summary of California Law
Florida Jurisprudence 2d
Georgia Jurisprudence
Illinois Law and Practice
Indiana Law Encyclopedia
Louisiana Civil Law Treatise
Maryland Law Encyclopedia
Massachusetts Practice
Michigan Civil Jurisprudence
New Jersey Practice
New York Jurisprudence 2d
Strong’s North Carolina Index
Ohio Jurisprudence 3d
Summary of Pennsylvania Jurisprudence 2d
South Carolina Jurisprudence
Texas Jurisprudence 3d

State Encyclopedias on LexisNexis

Illinois Jurisprudence
Michigan Law and Practice
Dunnell Minnesota Digest
Pennsylvania Law Encyclopedia
Tennessee Jurisprudence
Texas Jurisprudence 3d
Michie’s Jurisprudence of Virginia and West Virginia

Resources

Corpus Juris Secundum (C.J.S.) in the Context of Law Research

The Thurgood Marshall School of Law Library defined briefly Corpus Juris Secundum (C.J.S.) as: A legal encyclopedia of U.S. law that provides a clear statement of each area of law including areas of the law that are evolving and provides footnoted citations to case law and other primary sources of law. It is updated with annual supplements to reflect modern developments in the law. Entire volumes are revised and reissued periodically as the supplements become large enough.Legal research resources, including Corpus Juris Secundum (C.J.S.), help to identify the law that governs an activity and to find materials that explain that law.

Legal Encyclopedias