They are arranged by Topic and provide brief annotations about individual cases. In digests published by West Publishing Company, Topics and their subdivisions, Key Numbers , are used consistently throughout all West digests, allowing the researcher to quickly find cases on similar points of law in nearly any jurisdiction. By Topic Topics are arranged alphabetically in the digests. Case summaries belonging to the Topic are organized into an outline of subtopics. Each point of the subtopic outline is assigned a Key Number .
Users can look up common language terms which are listed alphabetically.
The index suggests appropriate digest Topics , and sometimes Key Numbers that are likely to lead to cases in which certain legal issues are important. In such as table, cases are listed alphabetically by the defendant. Volume and page number information are provided to help the user locate each case in a reporter. Legal Encyclopedias Topical discussions that provide basic introductory knowledge of broad legal concepts. Encyclopedia articles utilize conventional understandings of the law and encompass all American jurisdictions.