Library Guides: Secondary Sources: Encyclopedias

What are Legal Encyclopedias?

Legal encyclopedias are very similar to the general encyclopedias you probably used as an undergraduate or high school student, except that they are focused on legal topics. They are multi-volume sets that provide brief, general overviews of many legal topics that are great for getting some background in unfamiliar areas of law.

The most commonly used legal encyclopedias are American Jurisprudence (AmJur) and Corpus Juris Secundum (CJS). Some states even have encyclopedias that are specific to their jurisdictions.

Encyclopedias help you:

Gain an understanding of unfamiliar legal topics
Identify keywords to search in other resources
Find relevant cases and statutes

Things to be aware of:

Coverage is not in-depth
Not considered scholarly or authoritative (should not be cited)

Locating Encyclopedias

American Jurisprudence (AmJur)
Articles summarize broad principles of U.S. law and provide citations to cases, statutes, rules, forms, and A.L.R. annotations.

Available on WestlawNext and Lexis Advance. Password required.

Located in the Law Library Reference Alcove
Corpus Juris Secundum (CJS)
This 152-volume set is arranged into approximately 400 topics. Articles within topics begin with a general rule of law and are followed by the exceptions and qualifications to that general rule.

Available on WestlawNext. Password required.