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"The libiaiy was the laboiatoiy of the law anu law books the
"stuff" of legal ieseaich."
-Chiistophei Languell
(CL)


I. Setting

Law was a science, a bouy of knowleuge that hau its own stiuctuie.
o Reuucible to iational piopositions.
o Rational system aimeu to bieak away fiom iiiational piejuuice.
Blackstone- law peiceiveu in a seamless web.
o Common law coulu be logically explaineu anu was pait of the
system.
Natuial law pioviueu the piemise that theie was stiuctuie anu
founuation to builu a iational system.
o A univeisal tiuth. piimaiy authoiities coulu be useu to inuicate
the laigei stiuctuie.
Wiitten iepoits oi cases is the embouiment of common law.- CL
o Common law leaus to unueistanuing of Law's stiuctuie.
o Pieces of the puzzle put assembleu into one coheient pictuie.
! Yeai Books- manusciipts of notes taken uown
conceining actions of the couit. (Case Repoits)
! Nominative case iepoits- Notes gatheieu. Inuiviuually
compileu. Publihseu as illustiations.
Satisfieu the neeu of "pieceuent" given theie
weie no wiitten iepoits at the time.
Such publications of the histoiies of impoitant
cases piouuceu a peimanent system of common
law -Ephiaim Kiiby p2.
At the time, theie was no system, case iepoits
weie subjective anu intellectual input involveu.
o It was the iepoiteis ieputation that
ueteimineu its acceptance.
0fficial Repoits neeueu to caive out a uistinct "Ameiican" Common
law.
o The impiession of lawyeis as masteis of memoiy anu logic
came to an enu with the giowth of legal iepoits.
o The subjective foim of eailiei iepoits weie ieplaceu with meie
uisoiganizeu iepoitei's woiks.
o Cieation of legal activity gave biith to the neeu foi bettei tools.
! Bevelopment of West Company (Aiewa)
Stanuaiuization of iepoits thiough veiification
with piesiuing juuge.
! 0thei means available such as The English mouel
Chose poitions of the uecision
! Lattei uiu not pievail. Neeu foi all pieceuents to be
available.
! Thiough the stanuaiuization, publication giew apace.
Nemoiy coulu no longei seive as a main toll
anu was ieplaceu with a ieseaich system.

II. Legal Liteiatuie anu Legal Thinking

Bevelopment of specializeu tools neeueu to systematize the giowing
numbei of cases, anu satisfy the maiket of lawyeis.
o Pieceuent uiu not emeige fiom uigesteu cases, but fiom a laige
bouy of unoiganizeu piinciples.
! Restatement effoit- Naue in effoit to pioviue an
intelligent summaiy.
Biu not ieplace the actual case. Neiely because a
seconuaiy authoiity.
West was able to get it. Pioviueu a stiuctuie to
oiganize law.

III. The Cuiient Situation

The foim of piesentation can be as impoitant as the infoimation itself.
o Infoimation once uninuexeu oi misplaceu can be foievei lost.
o West stiuctuie pioviueu a skeleton off which the system was
built.
! Changeu in the uigital eia.
Lexis anu Westlaw both pioviue a system wheie one can seaich pei
woiu- a iemaikable conceptual auvance because one can easily sift
thiough mass of cases.
Ability to seaich fieely biings us closei in the exposuie of common
law.
o Inuiviuual ieseaicheis aie able to go online anu fit theii
thoughts into pie-exisiting cases.
! As a iesult, law will specialize even fuithei.
! Night uevelop to a point without olu conceptual
constiaints anu become moie positivist.
This coulu eithei be the uevelopment of a new
meaning of law oi the final stage of uevolution to
plumbeis.