As mentioned before, Headnotes are summaries of each legal issue in a case written by editors that appear at the top of opinions.
They are editorial enhancements that make legal research easier, and both Westlaw and Lexis cases have them.
Westlaw Arizona Case Example
An Arizona case involving a dog bite is published! A Westlaw editor gets the case and identifies all the legal issues, and then writes a headnote for each issue.
In the case below, one issue is whether the dog owner is liable even if he or she had no knowledge of the dog’s dangerous propensities. The editor read about the issue and summarized the legal issue into the headnote below.
Lexis Arizona Case Example
An Arizona case involving a dog bite is published! A Lexis editor gets the case and identifies all the legal issues, and then writes a headnote for each issue.
In the case below, one issue is whether the dog owner is liable even if he or she had no knowledge of the dog’s dangerous propensities. The editor read about the issue and summarized the legal issue into the headnote below.
