How Headnotes and Words & Phrases Work Together

Headnotes in caselaw are little summaries of the individual issues in a case. In Westlaw, they are tied to the Topic and Keynumber System, and can be used to find additional cases on the same issue, regardless of jurisdiction.

Some headnotes provide the definition of a legal term, or give an interpretation of that definition. This is often the case with legal terms that appear in statutes which a court must then interpret. A source called Words and Phrases gathers all of these definitional headnotes into one place, giving you a resource to search for legal definitions established by caselaw.

For example, in Andrews v. Buckner, 240 S.E.2d 266 (1977), there is a headnote that defines the term “traffic control signal” by explaining that a malfunctioning red light is no longer a traffic control signal. So this headnote defines traffic control signal by telling you what it is not.

You can figure this out by using Words and Phrases. In the books, Words and Phrases is located in the reference area. On Westlaw, you access Words and Phrases by going to Cases, then to the Advanced search for cases, and finding the field “Words & Phrases.” There you can type in “traffic control signal” and find the Andrews case with its definitional interpretation of a traffic control signal.

Try it, it’s pretty handy!