Mary--
I thought the key numbers were West's basis for standardization in opinions.
We don't have Westlaw, so I've no idea how it works online.
--Kay Collins (furloughed) Head Librarian, US Railroad Retirement Board
Chicago
On Thu, 21 Dec 1995, Mary Brandt Jensen wrote:
> I understand what Jerry is saying, but I have frequently heard people
> from West say that one of the reasons that Westlaw is better than Lexis
> is because the headnotes tend to use more standardized language than
> opinion do which should improve retrieval when a judge uses different
> language than other judges and the searchers use. Isn't that purpose
> defeated when West lifts the "creative" phraseology of a particular judge
> from the opinion and puts it in the headnote? Wouldn't that purpose of
> the headnotes be enhanced if West's editors exercised more of their own
> expression in writing the headnotes to cover the substance of what a
> segment of an opinion said instead of using sound bites from the opinion
> itself?
>
> Mary Brandt Jensen University of Mississippi
> Director of the Law Library University, MS 38677
> Assistant Professor of Law mjensen@sunset.backbone.olemiss.edu
>
>
> On Wed, 20 Dec 1995, Jerry Stephens wrote:
>
> > Scott:
> >
> > RE: In re Thinking Machines Corp., 67 F3d 1021
> >
> > Your query about the headnotes assigned to this opinion
> > generates a real decisive response: there's both more and
> > less to this writing that you might first believe.
> >
> > Look to the author of the opinion. That's the key to your
> > query. Judge Selya of the 1st Circuit is one of the more
> > creative writers on the federal courts today. Phraseology
> > such as legislation not created in a vacuum and singing a
> > tune the way the courts want are typical of Judge Selya.
> >
> > And, surprisingly, this opinion DOES NOT reflect Judge Selya
> > at his best.
> >
> > About four years ago, several of us creative writers in
> > Oklahoma City had a brief written conversation with Judge
> > Selya about his opinion style. One phrase in particular had
> > generated a great deal of discussion. In a 1990
> > opinion--United States v. Ortiz-Alarcon 917 F2d 651--Judge
> > Selya used the phrase "more cry than wool".
> >
> > In answering our query, Judge Selya said that phrase was one
> > that he had learned early in life. He also said that he used
> > occasion variants, such as "more bleat than wool".
> >
> > So, in short, don't look to West Publishing Company editors.
> > They're simply adding to the headnotes the text (and
> > language) of the original opinion writer. Look to the author
> > of the opinion.
> >
> > One suggestion here, and you've apparently begun to do some
> > of that already. The frequent reader of judicial opinions
> > can come up with many examples of creative writing. Judge
> > Selya is only of
> > the better writers in this regard.
> >
> > Jerry E. Stephens
> > U.S. Court of Appeals
> > Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
> >
>
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