American law The law of the United States comprises many levels of codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the nation's Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the federal government of the United States, as well as va ...

, the ''American Law Reports'' are a resource used by American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solicit ...

s to find a variety of sources relating to specific legal rules, doctrines, or principles. It has been published since 1919, originally by

Lawyers Cooperative Publishing West (also known by its original name, West Publishing) is a business owned by Thomson Reuters that publishes legal, business, and regulatory information in print, and on electronic services such as Westlaw. Since the late 19th century, West ha ...

, and currently by

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

(a business unit of

Thomson Reuters Thomson Reuters Corporation ( ) is a Canadian multinational media conglomerate. The company was founded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where it is headquartered at the Bay Adelaide Centre. Thomson Reuters was created by the Thomson Corp ...

) and remains an important tool for

legal research Legal research is "the process of identifying and retrieving information necessary to support legal decision-making. In its broadest sense, legal research includes each step of a course of action that begins with an analysis of the facts of a prob ...

. Each ALR volume contains several annotations. An annotation is an article that summarizes the evolution of a very specific legal concept in a concise and precise fashion. The article will either be preceded by the full text of an important relevant

case Case or CASE may refer to: Containers * Case (goods), a package of related merchandise * Cartridge case or casing, a firearm cartridge component * Bookcase, a piece of furniture used to store books * Briefcase or attaché case, a narrow box to ca ...

, or in later series, contain a reference to the text of the case, which is reproduced at the end of the volume. The article will contain a wide variety of relevant citations to cases from throughout the United States and secondary sources like

law review A law review or law journal is a scholarly journal or publication that focuses on legal issues. A law review is a type of legal periodical. Law reviews are a source of research, imbedded with analyzed and referenced legal topics; they also p ...

articles. The range and number of citations is always strongly representative but not always guaranteed to be completely comprehensive. Although similar in tone to the articles in legal encyclopedias, ALR annotations are different in that they are not organized alphabetically, and they tend to delve more deeply into a specific legal principle or doctrine, while, in contrast, encyclopedia articles aim for a broader view of the legal issue. In addition, ALR articles are careful to provide cases on both sides of the legal issue and provide listings of cases according to their jurisdiction. Since the annotations are published in the order the leading cases were decided, there are various finding aids. The combined ALR Index indexes topics covered from ALR2d to the current series of ALR and all series of ALR Fed. West's ALR Digest now follows the classification system of the West American Digest System, and includes headnotes for the reported cases, as well as references to the annotations. For topics covered entirely by federal law, the softbound Quick Index indexes annotations in ALR Fed. The softbound Table of Cases (for a state case) or ALR Federal Table of Cases (for a federal case) provides ALR references for a particular case. A reader may also use the references in American Jurisprudence, Corpus Juris Secundum, and state encyclopedias published by Thomson West to find a more in-depth discussion in ALR. Finally, ALR articles may also be searched on Westlaw. ALR has been published in several series (the current series is ALR7th) and there are series of ALR Fed (which focuses on federal law). ALR3d through ALR6th and ALR Fed are updated by pocket part supplements (the first series has a citation service, and ALR2d a Later Case Service). Annotations may be superseded by a later annotation in which the editor reanalyzes the law in light of recent developments.

External links

American Law Reports on Thomson Reuters Westlaw

References

{{reflist West (publisher) Law of the United States Legal research Legal literature