Massachusetts Legal Research

This annual publication is a useful starting point for Massachusetts research. Arranged topically, it provides references to chapters of the General Laws, the United States Code, West Digest Topics and Key Numbers, and secondary sources such as the Massachusetts Practice Series (see below) and Corpus Juris Secundum.

These sets allow a researcher to use the West Digest Topic and Key Number system to locate relevant case law from Massachusetts and federal courts. The Massachusetts Digest Annotated provides coverage from the earliest court reports up to 1985. Coverage for the West’s Massachusetts Digest begins in 1933, and includes more recent cases located in pocket parts and supplements. Both series have a Descriptive Word Index, and a Table of Cases. The West Digest Topic and Key Number system is also a searchable part of the Massachusetts case law database on Westlaw, MA-CS, for cases included in the North Eastern Reporter Series.

The Massachusetts Shepard’s volumes allow a researcher to check the status of case law and statutes and to locate secondary source references such as law review articles. In addition, the print Shepard's volumes allow researchers to check the status of so-called special laws, i.e. laws not codified in the General Laws or state statutory code. LexisNexis provides an electronic version of Shepard’s Citations; this electronic version does not cover special laws.