Are Secondary Sources Necessary for Legal Research?
Secondary Sources. Although they cannot be directly relied upon as legal authority, secondary sources remain some of the most important authorities to employ in legal arguments.
As most attorneys learned in their first year of law school, secondary sources are authorities that explain different points of law, but do not themselves carry the weight of establishing the law. These sources come in a variety of forms, each with its own unique purposes and uses.
Considering the raw magnitude of the resources encompassed by the term, it may be helpful to first define “secondary sources.”
What are secondary sources?
Primary law sources tell you what the law is – a case decision, a new law or a new regulation. Secondary sources provide guidance and direction, helping you to analyze the how, where, why, when and if of a client’s situation. Secondary sources provide analysis of and context for understanding the significance of the given case, statute, or regulation, Given the breadth of the definition, it is unsurprising that secondary sources are as varied in nature and purpose as the different methods of evaluating statutes and case law. For example, secondary sources may be in-depth scholarly treatises, or precisely focused articles on a cutting-edge topic, or practice guides with how-to checklists and forms, and still others come in the form of live or pre-recorded seminars. And that’s just scratching the surface of the total body of available secondary legal sources.
Are they still necessary for your research process?
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jeremy Byellin is an attorney practicing in the areas of family law and estate planning. He lives in the Minneapolis area with his wife, who is also an attorney, and his son and daughter. In his spare time, he enjoys running and being outdoors.
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