Description (from
Harvard Law School Library):
“Restatements are highly regarded distillations of common law. They are prepared by the American Law Institute (ALI),
a prestigious organization comprised of judges, professors, and lawyers. The ALI's aim is to distill the "black letter law"
from cases, to indicate a trend in common law, and, occasionally, to recommend what a rule of law should be. In essence, they
"restate" existing common law into a series of principles or rules.”
Coverage: “Restatements cover broad topics, such as Contracts or Property. They are organized into chapter, title, and section. Sections
contain a concisely stated rule of law as well as comments to clarify the rule, provide hypothetical examples, explain its purpose,
and provide exceptions. Restatements in and of themselves are not primary law. However, due to the prestige of the ALI, and its painstaking drafting and
adoption process, Restatements are considered persuasive authority by many courts. Numerous Restatement sections have become primary
law when a court or legislature has adopted its language. As of March of 1999, courts had cited Restatement sections 144,629 times.
The most heavily cited were the Restatement of Torts and the Restatement of Contracts.”
Organization: “Each Restatement begins with an introduction and a table of contents.
The treatment of the material closely resembles that of a
hornbook.
First there is a statement of principle, then there is a comment that explains the
principle, and lastly there are illustrations of how the principle is applied.
Each Restatement has its own detailed index.”
ALI: “The
ALI
provides on its website information regarding the status of Restatement drafts,
ALI membership, history and institutional processes.” See for example the "Publications Catalog"
or "ALI Library" (select both from the menu on the left side of the ALI site) for details. “The ALI also initiates and completes
important projects in addition to the Restatements. These include Model Codes, Uniform Laws, and
other projects such as the Complex Litigation Project, the Federal Income Tax Project, and the Corporate Governance Project.”
Online Access: The Restatements can be found in both Westlaw (REST) and Lexis
(2NDARY/RESTAT, EDLAW/RESTAT, or LITGAT/RESTAT). Department of Labor employees
can contact
the Law Library for assistance with these and other proprietary resources.
Wirtz Labor Law Library's Print Collection of Restatements: All of the following multi-volume titles are located in the Law Library's Treatises
section. Many have annual updates (also called pocket parts or supplements) tucked into the back cover of the last volume in the set.
Restatement Title
|
Call Number
|
Agency, 2d
|
KF 1345. A764
|
Conflict of Laws, 2d
|
KF 411. A47
|
Contracts, 2d
|
KF 801. R842
|
Foreign Relations Law of the United States, 3d
|
KF 4651. R47
|
Judgments, 2d
|
KF 8990. R48
|
Law Governing Lawyers, 3d
|
KF 300. R469
|
Property 1st
|
KF 570. R47
|
Property, Landlord and Tenant, 2d
|
KF 590. A84
|
Property, Donative Transfers, 2d
|
KF 613. R47
|
Property, Wills and Other Donative Transfers, 3d
|
KF 755. R48
|
Property, Mortgages, 3d
|
KF 695. R435
|
Property, Servitudes, 3d
|
KF 675. R475
|
Restatement in the Courts, Permanent Edition 1932-1944
|
KF 395.A3 R48 |
Restatement in the Courts, Supplements
|
KF 395.A3 R47 |
Restitution, Quasi Contracts & Constructive Trusts
|
KF 1244. R46
|
Security
|
KF 1050. R47
|
Suretyship and Guaranty, 3d
|
KF 1045. R457
|
Torts, 2d
|
KF 1249.A4 R47
|
Torts, Apportionment of Liability, 3d
|
KF 1312. R469
|
Torts, Products Liability, 3d
|
KF 1296. R467
|
Trusts, 2d
|
KF 730. R47
|
Trusts, 3d
|
KF 730. R47
|
Trusts, Prudent Investor Rule, 3d
|
KF 730. R47
|
Trusts, General Principles, 3d
(tentative draft)
|
KF 730. R47
|
Unfair Competition, 3d
|
KF 3195. R468
|
| |
|