1.  West Key Number System Having Fun with the Digests!

2. Start with Cases  A court issues an opinion in a case.  A copy of the case is obtained by West  Editors read the cases and pick out the points of law addressed in the case.  Written as a short, concise paragraph, these are called headnotes.

4. Headnotes  One point of law for each Headnote.  Each Headnote has a Key Number

6. Headnotes  Each Headnote will get a number before it like [1]

8. Headnotes  Each Headnote will get a number before it like [2]  You can find what that Headnote is referring to by looking for the [#] in the body of the case.  For example, if you hit [3], it will take you to the part of the decision where that rule is

10. Key Numbers  The Key Number System is big interactive outline that works like this:  First, the American system of law is broken down into Major Topics  there are more than 400, including things like:  Civil Rights,  Pretrial Procedure, and  Criminal Law.

11. Key Numbers  Each of those topics is divided, in greater and greater detail, into individual units that represent a specific legal concept.  like steps in an outline.

12. Key Numbers  Each of the lines (more than 80,000 of them) has a unique number that allows you to find it on the outline.  This number is called a Key Number.  The whole outline, along with the case headnotes classified to it, is called the Key Number System.  The Key Number System is found in the Digests.  We use the New York Digests

13. Scenarios 1) Corpus Juris Secundum to Cases 2) Cases to Better Cases

14. Scenario 1  PROBLEM: What are the elements of negligence in New York?  You want to find the New York elements of negligence  You can either look in  New York Cases or  Corpus Juris Secundum (You can also look in New York Jurisprudence 2d Series)

15. Corpus Juris Secundum (CJS)  Elements of Negligence  SEARCH TERMS AND CONNECTORS:  Elements /s Negligence

16. 1 2 3

17. CJS  You get 220 hits

19. CJS  What do you look for?  You look for the topic of “Negligence”  Scroll down

21. CLICK HERE

23. CJS  What did you get?  The essential elements for an action in negligence are that the defendant was under a duty to protect the plaintiff from injury, that the defendant breached that duty, that the plaintiff suffered actual injury or loss, and that the loss or injury proximately resulted from the defendant's breach of the duty.

24. CJS  The essential elements for an action in negligence are that: 1) defendant was under a duty to protect the plaintiff from injury, 2) defendant breached that duty, 3) plaintiff suffered actual injury or loss, and 4) loss or injury proximately resulted from the defendant's breach of the duty.

25. CJS  BINGO!

26. CJS  BINGO?  No exactly  Corpus Juris Secundum is a secondary source of law  You need primary

27. CJS  CJS to Primary  Two ways  Footnotes  Key Number

28. CJS  CJS to Primary  Two ways  Footnotes (there are no footnotes in this text)  Key Number

29. CJS  CJS to Primary  Two ways  Footnotes (there are no footnotes in this text)  Key Number

30. CJS to Cases

34. Click on the 202

42. 105 Headnotes

43. From the Most Recent

44. Which Courts are these from?

46. Appellate Division, Second Department, 2011

47. Which Courts are these from?

48. Court of Claims, 2011

49. Which Courts are these from?

50. Court of Appeals, 2011

51. Which Courts are these from? Court of Appeals, 2011 Court of Claims, 2011 Appellate Division, Second Department, 2011

52. Which one should you look at? Court of Appeals, 2011 Court of Claims, 2011 Appellate Division, Second Department, 2011

53. LOOK FOR HIGHEST COURT Court of Appeals, 2011 Court of Claims, 2011 Appellate Division, Second Department, 2011

54. LOOK FOR HIGHEST COURT Court of Appeals, 2011 Court of Claims, 2011 Appellate Division, Second Department, 2011

55. CJS TO CASE

56. LOOK FOR THE HEADNOTE THAT PERTAINS TO THE ELEMENTS OF NEGLIGENCE

57. CJS TO CASE

58. CLICK ON THE [3] TO GET TO THE PART OF THE DECISION WHERE YOU MIGHT SEE THE ELEMENTS

59. CJS TO CASE

60. Not enough: get this case

61. Not what I am looking for

62. CJS TO CASES  GO BACK TO THE DIGESTS  Hold down left (back) button on your browser.  On drop down look for Digest.  Go from there

64. This looks promising

67. CJS TO CASE  To prove a prima facie case of negligence, a plaintiff must demonstrate the existence of a duty of care owed to the plaintiff, a breach of that duty, and that the breach of such duty was a proximate cause of his or her injuries ( see Pulka v. Edelman, 40 N.Y.2d 781, 390 N.Y.S.2d 393, 358 N.E.2d 1019; Gordon v. Muchnick, 180 A.D.2d 715, 579 N.Y.S.2d 745; see also Akins v. Glens Falls City School Dist., 53 N.Y.2d 325, 333, 441 N.Y.S.2d 644, 424 N.E.2d 531).

68. CLEAN IT UP  To prove a prima facie case of negligence, a plaintiff must demonstrate the existence of a duty of care owed to the plaintiff, a breach of that duty, and that the breach of such duty was a proximate cause of his or her injuries ( see Pulka v. Edelman, 40 N.Y.2d 781, 390 N.Y.S.2d 393, 358 N.E.2d 1019; Gordon v. Muchnick, 180 A.D.2d 715, 579 N.Y.S.2d 745; see also Akins v. Glens Falls City School Dist., 53 N.Y.2d 325, 333, 441 N.Y.S.2d 644, 424 N.E.2d 531).

69. CLEAN IT UP  To prove a prima facie case of negligence, a plaintiff must demonstrate the existence of a duty of care owed to the plaintiff, a breach of that duty, and that the breach of such duty was a proximate cause of his or her injuries (see Pulka v Edelman, 40 NY2d 781; Gordon v Muchnick, 180 AD2d 715; see also Akins v Glens Falls City School Dist., 53 NY2d 325, 333).

70. CLEAN IT UP  To prove a prima facie case of negligence, a plaintiff must demonstrate 1) the existence of a duty of care owed to the plaintiff, 2) a breach of that duty, and 3) that the breach of such duty was a proximate cause of his or her injuries (see Pulka v Edelman, 40 NY2d 781; Gordon v Muchnick, 180 AD2d 715; see also Akins v Glens Falls City School Dist., 53 NY2d 325, 333).

71. CLEAN IT UP  The elements of negligence are: 1) the existence of a duty of care owed to the plaintiff, 2) a breach of that duty, and 3) that the breach of such duty was a proximate cause of his or her injuries (see Pulka v Edelman, 40 NY2d 781; Gordon v Muchnick, 180 AD2d 715; see also Akins v Glens Falls City School Dist., 53 NY2d 325, 333).