West’s Key # System on Westlaw

Research Redux March 26 - April 12

I've got a good case from Ohio;

how do I find one from New York?

U.S. Railroads

1860's

U.S. Railroads

1860's

NYNY

NJNJ

Caseindexing:

Different schemes(gauges) acrosstime and space

Caseindexing:

John B. West

West Digest System is the standard gauge of caseindexes.

It provides a uniform indexing scheme for cases from all jurisdictions.

Historical Significance

John B. West

First began publishing decisions of

Minnesota (1870s).

Quickly expanded to five states (North

Western Reporter).

http://west.thomson.com/westkm/Taxonomies.pdf

Values of the Topic and Key

Number System

• The index to the entire National Reporter

System

• Comprehensive and detailed outline of the

entire body of case law in this country

• Classification system

• The system allows you to locate cases with

the same or similar legal issues in any

jurisdiction in the United States.

Digest Topics • Over 450 topics are

arranged alphabetically and numbered.

• Each topic addresses a broad legal issue.

• All cases in West Reporters are indexed under one or more of these digest topics.

• Some topics have been added and others have been eliminated.

3 Inches

Some topics have been added and others have been eliminated.

Condominium

Children Out-of-Wedlock

Drugs and Narcotics

R.I.C.O

Zoning and Planning

Bastards

Illegitimate Children

1. Elements of offenses2. Defenses3. Persons liable4. Persons entitled to prosecute5. Indictment5.1 ---- In general6. ---- Issues and proof7. Evidence7.1 ---- In general8. ---- Presumptions9. ---- Admissibility10. Trial and review11. Sentence and punishment

Adultery

Each West topic has an associatedTOPIC OUTLINE of issues and sub-issues.

Each point in thetopic outline isassigned a KEYNUMBER.

Key Numbers

Key Numbers

SYNOPSIS

HEADNOTE 1

HEADNOTE 2

Opinion:

West Publishing

West editor reads opinion and writes:

1. SYNOPSIS - summary of case factsand holding

TAFKAP v. NW Air

No. 93-422 Minn. Sup. Ct.

July 1, 1993

2. HEADNOTES - concise statementsof each point of law raised in thecase

and

For each headnote, the editor assigns:

WEST TOPICS

Abduction Citizens

Adultery Contracts

Aliens Courts

Arrest Crops

Aviation Fines

Banks Food

Charities Fraud

1.a generalTOPIC fromthe list ofWest topics

2. a specific KEY NUMBER fromthe West topicoutline

and

1. Purpose of remedy2. Statutory provisions3. Grounds4. Authorized persons5. Waiver of rights6. Affidavits for arrest7. -- Knowledge 8. -- Filing and service

ARREST

SYNOPSIS

AVIATION 3

ARREST 4

Synopsis

Casename

West Reporter Case

Kay Corso

v.

Crawford Dog and Cat

Hospital

Queens County Court

March 22, 1979

Owner of pet poodlle who hadarranged elaborate funeral andwho was disappointed whenupon opening the casket shefound remains of dead catbrought action against funeralarranger seeking damages formental anguish. The QueensCounty Court, SeymourFriedman, J. held that ownercould recover damages beyondmarket value of dog for mentaldistress and anguish.

1. Animals 15A pet occupies a specialplace somewhere betweena person and a piece ofpersonal property..

2. Torts 6Losing a right tomemorialize a pet dog isactionable.

DECISION

SEYMOUR FRIEDMAN, J.

The facts in this case are notin dispute.

The plaintiff brought her 15-year-old poodle into the

defendant’s premises fortreatment. The defendant

recommended euthanasia,

and the dog was put to death. The body was turned over to

Bide-A-Wee for funeral

Headnote

Topic & keynumber

West Reporter Case

Sy,Di ([terms])

Owner of pet poodle who had

Method #1

INDEXDescriptive Word Index

Father’s Child Support Obligation ???

REDO REDO

Topic and Key Numbers

Child Support 24:

“Father’s duty [to support]”

Child Support 25:

“Mother’s duty [to support]”

CUSTOM DIGEST

Use drop down menu to

select:

- Jurisdiction(s), or

- Topical practice area, and

- Date restrictions

Add search terms for more

precise query

Method #2

KNOWNAUTHORITY

2. Torts 6Losing a right to memorialize apet dog is actionable.

Kay Corsov.

Crawford Dog and CatHospital

Queens County CourtNew York

March 22, 1979

1. Animals 15A pet occupies a special placesomewhere between a personand a piece of personal

property.

DECISION

SEYMOUR FRIEDMAN, J.

The fac ts in this case are not

in dispute.

The plaint iff brought her 15-

year-old poodle into thedefendant’s premises for

treatment . The defendantrecom mended euthanasia, andthe dog was put to death. The

body was turned over to Bide-A-W ee for funeral

26

Using the Known Authority Method

Owner of pet poodlle hadarranged elaborate funeraland was disappointed uponopening the casket to findremains of dead cat . Brought action againstfuneral arranger seekingdamages for mentalanguish. The QueensCounty Court, SeymourFriedman, J. held thatowner could recoverdamages beyond marketvalue of dog for mentaldistress and anguish.

415 N.Y.S.2d 182 (1979) UTAH

DIGEST

WEST’S

Beginning 585P.2d

49

Steamto

Towns

1. Start with known

relevant case – from

any jurisdiction.*

2. Get topic and key

number of most

relevant headnote.

3. Look up topic and

key number in

digest volume for

your jurisdiction.

Choose relevant

case.

4. Check topic outline

for other possible

key numbers

* If you start with

known topic and key

number skip to Step 3.

Decennialand General Digests

Iowa Mich Minn Dakotas Wisc

State Digests

Neb

NWAtlantic SEPacific

DigestsRegional Federal

Digests(All series)

SupremeCourt Digest

Decennialand General Digests

Iowa Mich Minn Dakotas Wisc

State Digests

Neb

NWAtlantic SEPacific

DigestsRegional Federal

Digests(All series)

SupremeCourt Digest

Losing right to memorialize a pet rock, or a pet tree or losing a family

picture album is not actionable but losing right to memorialize a pet

dog is actionable.

Losing right to memorialize a pet rock, or a pet tree or losing a family

picture album is not actionable but losing right to memorialize a pet dog is

actionable.

“Too Many” Headnotes

354 Headnotes

Searching “All Federal and State” Cases for:

379 Torts

379V Other Miscellaneous Torts

379k424 Miscellaneous Torts in General

Shows a decreasing # of results as the scope of inquiry narrows

3278 Headnotes

Losing right to memorialize a pet rock, or a pet tree or losing a family

picture album is not actionable but losing right to memorialize a pet dog is

actionable.

129 Headnotes

3 Headnotes

You can increase the relevance of the results by adding additional terms:

379 Torts + dog or cat or cow or pet or animal

379V Other Miscellaneous Torts + dog…

379k424 Miscellaneous Torts in General + dog…

This decreases the # of results by further narrowing the scope of inquiry!

15 Headnotes

Losing right to memorialize a pet rock, or a pet tree or losing a family

picture album is not actionable but losing right to memorialize a pet

dog is actionable.

CLICK to

enter

“Custom

Digest”

CLICK to

view

“exploded”

hierarchy

Westlaw

All cases on Westlaw

for “Torts kn 387” for all

jurisdictions

State & Fed 6th Cir.

“Torts kn 387”

aka

“379k387” = 18+

“Citing References”

State & Fed 6th Cir.

cases that cite your

case = 10

Your case

616 F.2d 956

379 Torts

379IV Privacy and Publicity

379IV(C) Use of Name, Voice

or Likeness; Right to Publicity

379k386 Conduct or

Misappropriation Actionable in

General

379k387 k. In General. Most

Cited Cases

247 + cases

New example

616 F.2d 956

C.A. Tenn. = 6th

Cir.

Basic Rule:Basic Rule:All West digests are“standard gauge” -- theyuse the same topic andkey number system.

Westlaw and all West

print digests are

“standard gauge” – they

use the same topic and

key number system.

Just find from any jurisdiction– using any source.

1 caseThen, with

standard gauge,you’ll be on the

.

End