4.6 Researching Virginia Case Law in Print

• Library: A Guide to Legal Research in Virginia (Virginia CLE) (2017 Ed.)

4.6 RESEARCHING VIRGINIA CASE LAW IN PRINT

4.601 Digests. A digest is a multivolume index of case law arranged by topic. Because reporters do not contain internal indexing, print digests played a crucial role in the legal research process before the advent databases. West's American Digest System is the best known and most widely used digest classification system. Created over 100 years ago by company founder John P. West, the extensive taxonomy concept is brilliant in its simplicity. First, the entire body of American law was organized into major subject categories referred to as "topics." Next, subdivisions called "key numbers" were assigned to individual points of law within each topic. Designed to work in tandem with the headnotes in West's National Reporter System, the system created an effective method of locating relevant cases. Significant points of law decided in Virginia cases are indexed in the Virginia and West Virginia Digest and the South Eastern Digest and have been incorporated into the Decennial Digest.

A. Virginia and West Virginia Digest. This digest covers decisions of the Virginia Supreme Court and the Virginia Court of Appeals, summarized and cited under the appropriate key number of a topic. The paragraphs are arranged...