Secondary sources are sources that summarize, explain, or analyze the law. While they are not authoritative sources of law, they are still valuable research tools.
Secondary sources can point you toward relevant primary law by providing citations to case law and statutes. When there is no primary authority to govern a dispute in a jurisdiction, secondary sources may also provide guidance to a court in fashioning a new rule.
Secondary sources frequently contain policy discussions analyzing novel legal issues and the social consequences of legal rules. These discussions can be helpful when the applicable case law does not include the relevant policy arguments.
This page covers a few of the major treatises and journals in the area of appellate advocacy, as well as the law library catalog and other tools for locating secondary sources.
If you have identified books or other materials that are necessary to your research but not held by the Law Library, you may put in a request to borrow those materials through Interlibrary Loan.
Requests for interlibrary loans should be made through ILLiad. If you are a first time LSU Law ILLiad User, you will need to create a username and password before submitting your requests.
Books are generally sent by UPS or U.S. Mail, which can take 1-2 weeks for your loan to arrive. International requests may take longer. Photocopies are usually sent by e-mail, fax, or other electronic means and may arrive within 2-3 days. The ILL staff assumes that all material is needed in a timely manner and makes every effort to get the material to this campus in the shortest time possible.
You will receive an email notification when the requested materials have arrived, and may pick them up at the Law Library Circulation Desk. Photocopied material is sent electronically to the e-mail address listed on the patron’s ILLiad record. The loan period is set by the lending library. In most circumstances, books are loaned for 4 weeks. You will find the due date marked on the book band when you pick up your materials.
In addition to the databases listed here and on the Law Center Library's website, LSU law students have access to any of the databases available through the main campus libraries. These databases can be searched alphabetically or by subject at the following link.
