Am Jur® 2d, CJS®, or ALR®: The first step is a doozy

How do you start your research in a complex or unfamiliar area? How do you quickly find summaries of the major concepts and holdings? How do you gather citations to leading cases and other authorities?

The key to each may be to use an analytical resource, such as American Jurisprudence 2d (Am Jur 2d), Corpus Juris Secundum® (CJS), or American Law Reports (ALR). Each of these sources summarizes the major concepts and holdings within an aspect of the law and provides citations to leading authorities.

Moreover, when you search these materials on Westlaw, you can use time-saving search methods and jump directly to—and from—a wide variety of primary and secondary sources via hypertext links.

How do I search these sources on Westlaw?

Search

One way is to access the American Jurisprudence 2d (AMJUR), Corpus Juris Secundum (CJS), or American Law Reports (ALR) database by typing amjur, cjs, or alr in the Search for a database text box and clicking Go. A Search page is displayed. You can choose either the Terms and Connectors or the Natural Language search method, type a query or description in the text box, and click Search Westlaw. For example, you could access AMJUR, click the Natural Language tab, and type a description such as when may a taxpayer file a waiver of restrictions on assessment.

Table of Contents service

In the AMJUR and CJS databases, you can also retrieve documents using the Table of Contents service. At the database Search page, click Table of Contents to display the table of contents for the publication. Browse the contents by clicking the plus (+) symbols. To view a particular section, click the section name. To retrieve more than one section or entire titles, chapters, or subchapters, select the appropriate check boxes and click Search.

KeyCite citing references

The KeyCite citing references result for a case, statute, regulation, or other document may contain links to hundreds of analytical sources, including Am Jur 2d, ALR, and CJS. When viewing a document, click Citing References on the Links tab. (If you are viewing a statute, you also can click American Law Reports (ALR) to retrieve ALR annotations or Treatises and Forms to retrieve sections from Am Jur 2d, CJS, or other analytical sources.) A list of citing references is displayed in the right frame. To display a document in the list, click the document's link.

ResultsPlus®

In addition, ResultsPlus links may be displayed next to the result list or on the Links tab. ResultsPlus provides links to secondary sources on topics related to your search or the document you are viewing. To view the full text of an Am Jur 2d, CJS, or ALR citation in a ResultsPlus result, click the citation. Be sure to click View All Results for links to additional articles and annotations.

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