1. THE NATIONAL REPORTER SYSTEM ®
West‟s Instructional Aid Series

2. CONTENTS
• Introduction: Case Law, the Courts and the
Doctrine of Precedent
• The National Reporter System
• Case Enhancements
• The Topic and Key Number System
• The Key Number Digests
• Topic and Key Number Research

3. INTRODUCTION: CASE LAW AND THE
COURTS
• Trial courts are the entry to the court system. Trial
courts are where:
– attorneys present evidence and make arguments &
– a judge or a judge and jury make determinations of law and
fact.
• Appellate courts hear appeals of trial court decisions to
determine whether there were errors of law in the trial
court decision, such as in the admission of evidence or
in jury instructions.
(There may be more than one level of appellate court. A higherlevel appellate court, such as a supreme court, hears appeals
from an intermediate appellate court decision.)

4. INTRODUCTION: CASE LAW AND THE
COURTS
• There is a federal system of trial and appellate courts.
– District courts are the federal trial level courts.
– Circuit courts and United States Supreme Court are the
federal appellate courts.
• Each state has a system of trial and appellate courts.
The number of appellate levels varies from state to
state but each state has a trial level court and at least
one appellate court level.

5. INTRODUCTION: CASE LAW AND THE
COURTS
Federal Court System
State Court Systems
District courts (trial-level)
(Southern District of N.Y.,
District of Minn)
State trial-level courts
Courts of appeals for
the 13 federal circuits
Most states have at least one
level of intermediate court(s) of
appeal(s)
State supreme court
United States Supreme Court

6. INTRODUCTION: CASE LAW AND THE
COURTS
• Appellate courts have jurisdiction over trial courts in a
specific geographic area.
• Appeals from the Federal District Court of Minnesota
are heard in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Decisions of the circuit courts can be appealed only to
the United States Supreme Court.

7. INTRODUCTION: THE DOCTRINE OF
PRECEDENT (STARE DECISIS)
• The doctrine of precedent, also known as “stare
decisis” (pronounced „stahr-ee di-si-sis‟), is founded
on a sense of fairness and the belief that decisions
should be consistent and not arbitrary. This ensures
that the legal consequences of conduct can be
predicted to a reasonable degree.
• The doctrine of precedent dictates that decisions
reached in previous cases in the same jurisdiction
dealing with the same or similar issues should be
followed unless there is a good reason to deviate.

8. INTRODUCTION: THE DOCTRINE OF
PRECEDENT (STARE DECISIS)
• The decision of a court is binding authority on that
court and on the lower courts in the same jurisdiction
when deciding factually similar issues.
• Cases decided in another jurisdiction, although not
binding as precedent, may be a valuable source of
legal reasoning for an issue not previously addressed
in the jurisdiction. This is referred to as persuasive
authority.
• The doctrine of precedent explains why attorneys
need access to prior cases as they will likely dictate
the outcome of their case.

9. QUESTION
• The doctrine of precedent dictates that:
1.
Cases from outside jurisdictions have no
influence on a case in the jurisdiction
2.
Case law in a jurisdiction should not deviate
from precedents
3.
Precedents in the jurisdiction should be followed
unless there is a good reason to deviate
4.
All of the above

10. CONTENTS
• Introduction: Case Law, the Courts and the
Doctrine of Precedent
• The National Reporter System
• Case Enhancements
• The Topic and Key Number System
• The Key Number Digests
• Topic and Key Number Research

11. THE NATIONAL REPORTER SYSTEM
• Without a coherent, uniform means of accessing
cases from all state and federal jurisdictions, finding
cases discussing similar points of law would be
immensely difficult.
• The National Reporter System organizes both federal
and state case law into a cohesive body of law that
can be researched within and across jurisdictions.

12. THE NATIONAL REPORTER SYSTEM
• In 1879, West started the National Reporter System,
which compiles cases from state and federal courts
and organized them into various reporter sets.
• Volumes in a set are numbered consecutively. A new
series starting with volume 1 is begun when one
series becomes too unwieldy
– For example, 999 F.Supp. is followed by 1 F.Supp.2d.

13. THE NATIONAL REPORTER SYSTEM:
FEDERAL CASES
• Federal district (trial) court decisions are published in
the Federal Supplement®.
• Only a selection of district court cases is reported.
• Citation format:
– 75 F.Supp. 225
– 13 F.Supp.2d 881
• These cases are on Westlaw in the DCT and DCT-OLD
databases.

14. THE NATIONAL REPORTER SYSTEM:
FEDERAL CASES
• U.S. district court cases can be appealed to the
Federal Circuit court that hears appeals from that
district. There are 13 U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal.
• The decisions of the circuit courts are published in the
Federal Reporter®.
• Citation format:
– 333 F.2d 120
– 37 F.3d 300

15. THE NATIONAL REPORTER SYSTEM:
FEDERAL CASES
• The Thirteen Federal Judicial Circuits
• The Federal Reporter cases are on Westlaw in the
CTA and CTA-OLD databases.

16. THE NATIONAL REPORTER SYSTEM:
FEDERAL CASES
• Cases can be appealed from the Circuit Courts of
Appeals to the United States Supreme Court.
• Decisions of the United States Supreme Court are
published in the Supreme Court Reporter®.
• Citation format: 99 S.Ct. 331
• These cases are on Westlaw in the SCT and SCTOLD databases.

17. THE NATIONAL REPORTER SYSTEM:
FEDERAL CASES
• There are also federal topical reporters that are part of
West‟s National Reporter System:
– Bankruptcy Reporter®
– Federal Rules Decisions®
– Military Justice Reporter®
– Federal Claims Reporter™

18. THE NATIONAL REPORTER SYSTEM:
STATE CASES
• Cases from all 50 states are published in one of seven
regional reporters: Atlantic Reporter®, Southern
Reporter®, South Eastern Reporter®, South Western
Reporter®, North Eastern Reporter®, North Western
Reporter®, and Pacific Reporter®.
• There are also state reporters, which publish one
state‟s cases.

19. THE NATIONAL REPORTER SYSTEM:
STATE CASES
• Below is a map of the seven regional reporters that
cover state cases.

20. THE NATIONAL REPORTER SYSTEM:
STATE CASES
• This is the first page
from a volume in the
Pacific Reporter. It
lists the states that
have cases
published in the
Pacific Reporter.

21. THE NATIONAL REPORTER SYSTEM:
FEDERAL & STATE CASES ON WESTLAW
• All cases from all state, regional, and federal reporters
are in the ALLCASES database.
• All cases from every federal reporter is in the
ALLFEDS database.
• All cases from all state and regional reporters are in
the ALLSTATES database.
• All cases from each regional reporter are in separate
databases: (NW, SW, SO, ATL, NE, PAC and SE).
• Each state has a Westlaw case law database. The
identifiers are XX-CS, where XX is the state‟s twoletter postal abbreviation. Examples – NY-CS, FL-CS.

22. THE NATIONAL REPORTER SYSTEM:
ADDING CASES TO REPORTERS
• The court sends a copy of its decision to Thomson
Reuters, Legal (West) shortly after the cases are
decided.
• A slip-copy version of the case is added to Westlaw
within hours once received by West.

23. THE NATIONAL REPORTER SYSTEM:
UPDATING REPORTERS
• This is a slip-copy opinion as decided and filed with
the court. It is on Westlaw but has not yet been
editorially enhanced by West attorney-editors.

24. THE NATIONAL REPORTER SYSTEM:
UPDATING REPORTERS
• Attorneys have access to all but the most recent
cases through the advance sheets (which update the
hardbound reporters).
• After a thorough editorial process, a case generally
appears in the appropriate reporter advance sheet
within six to eight weeks of receipt of the case.

25. Question
• Which of the following statements is false?
– The National Reporter System was created in the mid-1950s
to organize the greatly expanding number of court cases.
– Most appellate court cases and some federal trial-level cases
appear in at least one reporter set.
– There are jurisdictional reporters and there are subject-matter
reporters.
– Cases from all 50 states are published in the seven regional
reporters.
(Click your mouse to see correct answer)

26. CONTENTS
• Introduction: Case Law, the Courts and the
Doctrine of Precedent
• The National Reporter System
• Case Enhancements
• The Topic and Key Number System
• The Key Number Digests
• Topic and Key Number Research

27. CASE ENHANCEMENTS: EDITORIAL
• This slip opinion appears just as written by the judge
and processed and filed with the court.
• West attorney-editors take the language of the court,
correct errors, and add features that are essential
tools for the careful researcher.

28. CASE ENHANCEMENTS: EDITORIAL
SCRUTINY
• When West receives a slip opinion
– the manuscript is scrutinized for accuracy
– parallel citations are added
– textual information is updated
– the court is contacted if clarification or corrections are needed
• More than 1.5 million case citations are checked,
500,000 parallel citations are added, and 80,000
errors in opinions are corrected each year.

29. CASE ENHANCEMENTS: EDITORIALLY
CREATED FINDING TOOLS
• Both the advance sheets and the bound volumes of
the reporters include:
– a Table of Cases arranged by state
– a Table of Statutes interpreted by cases covered
– a list of Words and Phrases defined by the cases covered
– Tables of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Federal
Rules of Evidence that are interpreted by the cases covered
in the advance sheet or reporter.

30. CASE ENHANCEMENTS: CREATED BY
ATTORNEY EDITORS
• Synopsis: A summary of the procedural history, the
facts, the main points of law, and the holding of the
case.
• Headnotes: Summaries of the points of law discussed
in the body of the opinion.
• Key Numbers: Headnotes are assigned a topic and
key number in the West Key Number System.

31. CASE ENHANCEMENTS: CREATED BY
ATTORNEY EDITORS
• Headnotes and synopses are prepared by West
attorney-editors using:
– consistent and current legal terminology instead of
ambiguous, regional, or outdated words
– descriptive terms instead of proper names
• Examples:
– Tenant is used instead of Mr. Blake or plaintiff
– Aspirin is used instead of Bufferin or Tylenol
– Intoxicated is used instead of tipsy or inebriated
• These headnotes can help you retrieve many cases
online that you might otherwise miss.

32. CASE ENHANCEMENTS: SYNOPSIS &
HEADNOTES
• The synopsis is the first
paragraph of a National
Reporter System case.
• Headnotes follow the synopsis
in a National Reporter System
case.
• Headnotes appear in the order
the points of law are discussed
in the case.
Synopsis
Headnotes

33. CASE ENHANCEMENTS: EDITORIAL
ENHANCEMENTS & FIELDS
• Each online National Reporter System case is divided
into segments called fields.
• A digest (includes headnotes) field search and/or
synopsis field search is an efficient way to search the
online case law databases.
sy,di(wrongful! /3 terminat! discharg!)
• A digest field search allows you to retrieve a great
number of relevant cases while at the same time limit
retrieved cases to ones in which the point of law you
are researching is central to the holding of the case.

34. CASE ENHANCEMENTS: DIGEST FIELDS
• Synopsis Field
– Procedural History
– Central Points of Law
– Holding of Case
• Digest Field includes:
– Topic/Key Numbers
– Headnotes

35. CASE ENHANCEMENTS: FIELD SEARCHES
ON WESTLAW
• Synopsis field search in Westlaw case law database
– sy(malpractice /p “foreign object”)
• Digest field search in a Westlaw case law database:
– di( bystander /p “emotional distress”)
• A combined synopsis and digest field search in a
Westlaw case law database:
– sy,di(landlord /p “common area”)

36. CASE ENHANCEMENTS: ADDITIONAL
FIELDS
• Citation
– volume number, the reporter, and the first page number of
the case
• Title or Caption
– names of parties
• Docket Number
– the number assigned to the case when it is filed with the
court; this number follows the case through its litigation
history
• Attorneys of Record, Judge(s) and Opinion

37. CASE ENHANCEMENTS: ADDITIONAL
FIELDS
• You can access
a list of Fields
from the Search
page.
• This is a partial
list of the fields in
a case law
database

38. QUESTION
• Which of the following statements is false?
1.
Attorney-editors spot and summarize up to five points of law
discussed in the case.
2.
Attorney-editors prepare a synopsis and headnotes, using
universally recognized legal terminology.
3.
Attorney-editors contact the court before making corrections
to the decision.
4.
Searching in the synopsis and digest fields on Westlaw
allows you to retrieve more on-point documents and ensures
that you retrieve only cases in which your issue is a central
point of law in the decision.

39. CONTENTS
• Introduction: Case Law, the Courts and the
Doctrine of Precedent
• The National Reporter System
• Case Enhancements
• The Topic and Key Number System
• The Key Number Digests
• Topic and Key Number Research

40. THE TOPIC AND KEY NUMBER SYSTEM:
ASSIGNMENT OF KEY NUMBERS
• When West receives a slip opinion, a West attorneyeditor reads it and identifies the points of law
discussed in the case.
• Each point of law is summarized in a headnote.
• After a careful analysis of the point of law the
headnote discusses, the headnote is assigned to at
least one key number in the West Topic and Key
Number System.

41. THE TOPIC AND KEY NUMBER SYSTEM:
HEADNOTES
Key Numbers
Headnote
This headnote summarizes a point of law discussed in
this case. The headnote is assigned to key number
205Hk30 under Topic 205H (Implied & Constructive
Contracts).

42. THE TOPIC AND KEY NUMBER SYSTEM
• The Topic and Key Number System is:
– the index to the entire National Reporter System
– a comprehensive and detailed outline of the entire body of
case law in this country
– a classification system with a at least one topic and key
number attached to each point of law (headnote)
• The Topic and Key Number System allows you to
locate cases with the same or similar legal issues in
any jurisdiction in the United States.

43. THE TOPIC AND KEY NUMBER SYSTEM:
AN EXAMPLE
• Each topic is broken down into subheadings.
• This process continues until further breakdown of a point
of law is unproductive and a specific key number is
assigned. See, 92k90.1(1.2) below.
• There are over 100,000 specific key numbers.
92 Constitutional Law (Topic)
92V Personal, Civil and Political Rights (Sub-Heading)
92k90 Freedom of Speech and of the Press
92k90.1 Particular Expressions and Limitations
92k90.1(1.2) k. Election Regulations

44. QUESTION
• The Topic and Key Number System is:
1.
An index to National Reporter System cases
2.
An outline of American law
3.
A classification system
4.
All of the above

45. CONTENTS
• Introduction: Case Law, the Courts and the
Doctrine of Precedent
• The National Reporter System
• Case Enhancements
• The Topic and Key Number System
• The Key Number Digests
• Topic and Key Number Research

46. KEY NUMBER DIGEST
• West‟s Key Number Digests are the
research link between key numbers and
the National Reporter System cases.
• The digests contain the headnotes
(digest paragraphs) and their
corresponding topic and key numbers
from every case in the National Reporter
System.
• The headnotes are organized
alphabetically by topic and then
numerically by key number.

47. KEY NUMBER DIGEST
• Digest sets include:
–
–
–
–
State digests
Regional digests
Federal Practice Digest
Specialty subjects, such as Bankruptcy, Military
Justice, Federal Claims, and Education Law
digests
– Decennial digests, which contain all headnotes
from cases for each 10-year period beginning
with 1897
– The Century Digest, which contains headnotes
from cases from 1658 to 1896

48. KEY NUMBER DIGEST
Each digest set spans many volumes and is organized first
alphabetically by the more than 400 topics in the Key
Number System, then numerically by key number.

49. KEY NUMBER DIGEST ON WESTLAW
• The identifiers of the
headnote databases
include the suffix HN,
e.g., CA-HN,
ALLFEDS-HN.

50. QUESTION
• The Key Number Digests contain:
1. The synopsis from each case in the National
Reporter System
2. Headnotes from cases in the National
Reporter System, organized by date of case
3. Citations to the full case
4. None of the above

51. CONTENTS
• Introduction: Case Law, the Courts and the
Doctrine of Precedent
• The National Reporter System
• Case Enhancements
• The Topic and Key Number System
• The Key Number Digests
• Topic and Key Number Research

52. TOPIC AND KEY NUMBER RESEARCH:
USING PRINT DIGESTS
• Using a key number found in a case
– You have found a case with a relevant
headnote and key number
– Go to a print digest set covering the appropriate jurisdiction and
find the volume covering that topic, then find the specific key
number
– All headnotes (digest paragraphs) from all cases discussing the
point of law assigned to that key number are listed along with
their citations

53. TOPIC AND KEY NUMBER RESEARCH:
USING PRINT DIGESTS
• Topic Analysis
– Browse the topic list at
the beginning of any
Key Number digest
volume to select a
relevant topic.

54. TOPIC AND KEY NUMBER RESEARCH:
USING PRINT DIGESTS
• Descriptive Word Index
– Each digest set includes a Descriptive Word Index.
– Specific words and phrases lead to relevant key numbers.

55. TOPIC AND KEY NUMBER RESEARCH:
USING PRINT DIGESTS
• Most descriptive words fall into one of five
categories of elements common to every case:
– Parties or facts
– Places and things
– Issues or basis of action
– Defenses
– Relief sought

56. TOPIC AND KEY NUMBER RESEARCH:
USING WESTLAW.COM
• Using a key number found in a case
• After conducting a word search on Westlaw, you find a
relevant case with an on-point headnote.
• You can use the key number assigned to this
headnote to retrieve other cases discussing the same
point of law.
• This is the most common way of finding relevant key
numbers on Westlaw.

57. TOPIC AND KEY NUMBER RESEARCH:
USING WESTLAW.COM
Using a key number to create a Custom Digest and retrieve all
headnotes assigned to that key number, creating a Custom Digest.
157k448
By clicking a relevant key
number or the Most Cited
Cases link, you can run a
key number search
through a database

58. TOPIC AND KEY NUMBER RESEARCH:
USING WESTLAW.COM
• A Custom Digest contains
the headnotes assigned to
that key number in the
selected jurisdiction.
• Each headnote links to its
corresponding case.
• You have created a Custom
Digest of all headnotes
assigned to 157k448 in the
Minnesota.

59. TOPIC AND KEY NUMBER RESEARCH:
USING WESTLAW.COM
• Using the topic list to create a
Custom Digest
• Click the Key Numbers link at
the top of the page
• Click the plus symbols to
expand the topics and see
subheadings. Expand
subheadings if necessary OR
• When you find a relevant key
number, type it into text box or
check the box beside it and
click GO or Search Selected

60. TOPIC AND KEY NUMBER RESEARCH:
USING WESTLAW.COM
• Using the topic list to
create a Custom Digest
• You can run a key
number search in the
headnote database of
your choice.
Databases
• You can restrict by
date or add terms for a
customized result.
Add Terms
Date

61. TOPIC AND KEY NUMBER RESEARCH:
USING WESTLAW.COM
• If you know a key number and want to find additional
cases that have that particular number, you can
accomplish it with a terms and connectors search
• When you have a topic and key number, simply
enter it as your query:
– For example – 92k90.1(1.2)
• The “k” makes this a unique term. You will retrieve
only documents containing the key number term.

62. QUESTION
•
Which of the following statement(s) is true?
–
The most common method for using a key number to
find cases is to work from a key number in a relevant
case.
–
The Descriptive Word Index is a Westlaw dictionary
service.
–
There are no similarities between the print digests and
the Westlaw headnote databases.
–
Both 1 and 3.

63. CONCLUSION
• The National Reporter System, the West
editorial enhancements, the West Key Number
System, and West‟s Key Number Digests are an
integrated research system that guides you to
prior cases in any state or federal jurisdiction
that discussed similar facts or points of law.