UWM Libraries Research and Course Guides: Law and Legal Research: Find Law Secondary Sources

About Secondary Sources

Secondary sources (also known as secondary authorities or secondary materials) are good starting points for legal research because they summarize and analyze the law, and include citations that will help you find specific relevant cases to the law. Secondary sources for legal research include:

Legal encyclopedias: explanations and citations for primary legal sources, including statutes, cases, and regulations
Treatises and practice manuals: in-depth commentary and analysis of a singular practice area of the law (i.e. disability law), citing relevant cases
Law journals and law review articles

Find Secondary Sources

Legal Encyclopedias

Find legal encyclopedias in the Westlaw Campus Research database. Wisconsin state does not have a general legal encyclopedia.

Corpus Juris Secundum
Cited and quoted as authority in courtrooms across the country, C.J.S., a national legal encyclopedia, covers state and federal legal topics from A to Z.
American Jurisprudence 2d
This comprehensive legal encyclopedia contains textual statements of law alphabetically arranged in more than 400 topics.
Wex - Cornell Legal Information Institute
Wex is a free legal dictionary and encyclopedia sponsored and hosted by the Legal Information Institute at the Cornell Law School. Wex entries are collaboratively created and edited by legal experts.

The Encyclopedia of Native American Legal Tradition by Bruce E. Johansen
ISBN: 0313301670
Publication Date: 1998-02-24
Integrating American Indian law and Native American political and legal traditions, this encyclopedia includes detailed descriptions of nearly two dozen Native American Nations' legal and political systems such as the Iroquois, Cherokee, Choctaw, Navajo, Cheyenne, Creek, Chickasaw, Comanche, Sioux, Pueblo, Mandan, Wyandot, Powhatan, Mikmaq, and Yakima. Although not an Indian law casebook, this work does contain outlines of many major Indian law cases, congressional acts, and treaties. It also contains profiles of individuals important to the evolution of Indian law.
American Indian Tribal Governments by Sharon O'Brien
ISBN: 0806121998
Publication Date: 1989-12-01
American Indian Tribal Governments is a comprehensive introduction to traditional tribal governments, to the history of Indian-white relations, to the structure and legal rights of modern tribal governments, and to the changing roles of federal and state governments in relation to modem tribal governments. Publication of this book fills a gap in American Indian studies, providing scholars with a basis from which to begin an integrated study of tribal government, providing teachers with an excellent introductory textbook, and providing general readers with an accessible and complete introduction to American Indian history and government.

Treatises and Practice Manuals

Treatises and Practice Manuals on Westlaw
Treatises Finder - Georgetown Law Library
Collection of treatises by area of law. Please note, resources are linked to items in the Georgetown Law Library catalog and you will need to search for the same titles in Search@UW or WorldCat.org.

Law Review Journals

Westlaw Law Reviews & Journals
HeinOnline Law Journal Library Database
This database includes more than 3,200 law and law-related periodicals featuring subjects such as criminal justice, political science, technology, human rights, and more. Coverage for all journals is from inception and goes through the most currently published issues allowed based on contracts with publishers.

American Law Reports (A.L.R.)

American Law Reports
American Law Reports organize, summarize, and analyze pertinent federal and state caselaw on particular legal issues. Issues include those involving statutory and common law, practice and procedure, and rules and regulations. Each article reviews the cases discussing the relevant point of law. The articles also contain research references and practice pointers.