
The American Digest System is a master index containing decisions from all written reports of all state and federal courts as reported in national and state reporter systems. The American Law Reports has its own digest system. Federal Digests
What are state digests?
State digests include the decisions of that state's courts as well as federal court cases that originated in that state. All regional reporters except for the North Eastern, Southern, and South Western have their own digests.
What are the West digests?
West Publishing has prepared digests for the individual states, regions, individual courts or court systems (i.e. federal courts) and a key number digest that combines all jurisdictions, both state and federal. Several of the West Digests published correlate directly to the regional reporters (i.e. Pacific Digest and the Pacific Reporter).
Is the Federal Practice Digest searchable on Westlaw?
There is no separately searchable file on Westlaw that directly corresponds to the print publication West's Federal Practice Digest. The print digest pulls together the headnotes from federal district and circuit court cases and arranges them by key number topics.
What are the General Digest and Decennial Digests?
The General Digest and Decennial Digests contain summaries of state and federal cases from all jurisdictions across the United States. This is a vast amount of information and should only be searched if you are not finding relevant information in the more specific federal, regional, and state digests.

What is a digest in law?
College of Law. Case digests are multi-volume sets arranged in alphabetical order by subject and are used to find case law on very specific legal topics. Digests can also be used for locating cases that have defined specific legal terms or to find the citation to an opinion when only the names of the parties are known.
What are digest topics?
Digests are organized by topic and contain brief summaries of a decision's main issues. West calls its issue summaries Headnotes. In West's digest system, any given Headnote will be classified according to West's Key Number System.
How is the American digest system organized?
The Digest System is divided jurisdictionally into four basic "types" of digests: State (including federal cases from the respective states) Regional (Atlantic Digest, North Western Digest, Pacific Digest, and South Eastern Digest) Federal (Federal Practice Digest and United States Supreme Court Digest)
What are the steps for performing a digest search?
Step 1: Identify possible legal issues. ... Step 2: Search by keywords in the index. ... Step 3: Locate the relevant volumes. ... Step 4: Scan the entries by key number. ... Step 5: Check the pocket part. ... Step 6: Check the related titles. ... Step 7: Locate the full text of the decision.
Why is case Digest important?
The essence of a case digest is to mirror the Supreme Court's words as short as possible, without sacrificing the integrity of the case.
Who wrote the Digest?
Byzantine emperor Justinian IThe Digest, also known as the Pandects (Latin: Digesta seu Pandectae, adapted from Ancient Greek: πανδέκτης pandéktēs, "all-containing"), is a name given to a compendium or digest of juristic writings on Roman law compiled by order of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I in 530–533 AD.
Is digest a secondary source?
Legal encyclopedias and case law digests are often considered finding tools and therefore are categorized as secondary sources.
How are legal digests organized?
Digests are typically arranged alphabetically by broad subject areas, which are also subdivided into more specific subject areas. With the West's digests, the listings on the spines of the digest volumes correspond to the topics and key numbers* found within the volumes.
What is the name of the most current West digest you would use to research cases from federal courts?
West's California Digest, located in Row C-9 of Compact Shelving at KFC 57 . W47, is used to locate California Supreme Court and California Appellate Court cases.
What is the name of the digest you would use when looking for federal cases?
The American Digest System indexes the decisions published in all of West's reporters. It is the “master index” to all of the case law in our country.
How much DNA do you need for diagnostic digest?
∼500 ngA diagnostic digest typically involves ∼500 ng of DNA, while molecular cloning often requires 1 µg of DNA. The total reaction volume usually varies from 10-50 µL depending on application and is largely determined by the volume of DNA to be cut.
Why do I double digest?
Digesting a DNA substrate with two restriction endonucleases simultaneously (double digestion) is a common timesaving procedure. Selecting the best NEBuffer to provide reaction conditions that optimize enzyme activity as well as avoid star activity associated with some enzymes is an important consideration.
What does it mean to digest something?
1 : to convert (food) into absorbable form. 2a : to soften, decompose, or break down by heat and moisture or chemicals. b : to extract soluble ingredients from by warming with a liquid. intransitive verb. 1 : to digest food.
What does Digest mean in reading?
to read or hear new information and take the necessary time to understand it: This chapter is so difficult to digest, I'll have to read it again later. Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples. to understand something.
What does it mean to digest information?
transitive verb. If you digest information, you think about it carefully so that you understand it. They learn well but seem to need time to digest information. Synonyms: take in, master, absorb, grasp More Synonyms of digest. 3.
How do you write a research digest?
The digest must not exceed 4 pages including all figures, results, text and references. The digest should begin with a concise abstract of 150 words or less. Paper's main text font size should be minimum 10 points in Times New Roman or Arial. The title should be in 24 point and bold.
What is a digest in law?
A digest is essentially an index to case law; it takes the headnotes that summarize the points of law discussed in each case and organizes them by subject. Determine the jurisdiction for which you need to find cases, then consult a digest that covers that jurisdiction. Always work with the narrowest jurisdiction possible so you don't waste time ...
What states have state digests?
State Digests. State digests are published for all states except Delaware, Nevada and Utah. State digests include the decisions of that state's courts as well as federal court cases that originated in that state.
What are regional digests?
Regional Digests. All regional reporters except for the North Eastern, Southern, and South Western have their own digests. Regional digests for the Atlantic, North Western, Pacific, and South Eastern reporters can be used to locate state cases. For example, you could use either the Iowa Digest or North Western Digest to locate a case originating in ...
What is a combined digest?
Combined Digests. The General Digest and Decennial Digests contain summaries of state and federal cases from all jurisdictions across the United States. This is a vast amount of information and should only be searched if you are not finding relevant information in the more specific federal, regional, and state digests.
What is a Digest?
Digests are the major means of accessing case law by topic. A digest is both a subject index and a topical outline of case law. With rare exceptions, court reports are issued in chronological order. Without an index of some kind, this arrangement makes the task of finding all cases bearing on a single subject virtually impossible. A digest is such an indexing system. However there is one important distinction between an index and a digest: the digest not only lists the cases dealing with a specific subject, it also briefly summarizes or “digests” the opinions reported in those cases.
What is digest in a dictionary?
A digest is such an indexing system. However there is one important distinction between an index and a digest: the digest not only lists the cases dealing with a specific subject, it also briefly summarizes or “digests” the opinions reported in those cases.
Where is the descriptive word index?
The Descriptive Word Index is usually located in the first or last volumes of the digest set. The Index works like any other index, except that it refers you to a topic and key number instead of a volume and page.
What is a digest?
Digests provide a subject and topic approach for finding this information. Reporters and Digests can cover certain jurisdictions, such as federal or state; or topics. Examples of topical reporters and digests include: West’s Bankruptcy Reporter and West’s Bankruptcy Digest; West’s Military Justice Reporter and West’s Military Justice Digest; The UCC Reporting Service and the Uniform Commercial Code Case Digest. Additionally, foreign countries may have their own reporters and digests.
How are digests arranged?
Digests are typically arranged alphabetically by broad subject areas, which are also subdivided into more specific subject areas. With the West’s digests, the listings on the spines of the digest volumes correspond to the topics and key numbers* found within the volumes.
How to update digests?
Digests are updated either by a pocket part, which is inserted into the back of the specific digest volume, or by a separate paper supplementary pamphlet shelved next to the digest volume that it updates . The paper supplementary pamphlets contain the most recent cases. Once the updates become too unwieldy, a new volume is issued. Another method used to update a digest is to create a new set, usually called a second series, third series, etc. While searching, be sure to check pocket parts, supplements and the most recent digest series.
What states are in the Northwestern Reporter and Digest?
For example, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota are combined to make up the Northwestern Reporter and Digest.
Do you need to cite a case in a digest?
Digests provide summaries or head notes and citations to relevant case law, but they do not provide the full text of cases cited. Head notes are not primary law, and should not be cited, but rather are intended to help the user find relevant cases.
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