Written and maintained by CASRAI Editorial Board
Last updated
American Jurisprudence, Second Edition (commonly cited as Am Jur 2d) is a preeminent national legal encyclopedia in the United States. Providing a comprehensive narrative synthesis of American substantive and procedural law, Am Jur 2d organizes state and federal legal doctrine across an alphabetically arranged encyclopedia. Within academic legal scholarship and the broader discipline of legal studies, it serves as a foundational secondary source used to orient researchers to unfamiliar doctrinal areas, clarify core legal principles, and locate authoritative primary citations.
What it is
American Jurisprudence 2d is a multi-volume legal reference work designed to provide an objective, systematic restatement of the entire body of American case law and statutory doctrine. Unlike primary sources of law (such as judicial opinions, legislative statutes, and administrative codes), Am Jur 2d is a secondary legal authority. It does not establish binding precedent itself; rather, it synthesizes, explains, and footnotes the prevailing principles established by courts across all United States jurisdictions. Researchers and scholars rely on Am Jur 2d as a doctrinal gateway, consulting its narrative articles to obtain clear overviews of legal topics before diving into primary reporters or specialized law review literature.
Who runs it and what it covers
American Jurisprudence 2d is published and maintained by Thomson Reuters, having originally been created by Lawyers Cooperative Publishing prior to its acquisition and integration into the Thomson Reuters Westlaw electronic legal research ecosystem. The encyclopedia provides extensive topical and jurisdictional coverage:
- Subject Scope: The encyclopedia spans more than 400 broad legal topics arranged alphabetically, ranging from foundational fields such as Contracts, Torts, Evidence, and Constitutional Law to specialized regulatory areas including Securities Regulation, Patents, Environmental Law, and Municipal Corporations.
- Volume Structure: The print and digital treatise comprises over 140 topic volumes, continually maintained through annual softbound pocket parts, interim cumulative supplements, and complete revised replacement volumes.
- Integrated Practice Family: Am Jur 2d functions as the doctrinal core of Thomson Reuters’ broader practice library, linking researchers directly to Am Jur Legal Forms, Am Jur Pleading and Practice Forms, Am Jur Proof of Facts, Am Jur Trials, and American Law Reports (ALR) annotations.
- Jurisdictional Synthesis: The text analyzes majority legal doctrines, documents significant minority jurisdictional variations, tracks emerging statutory trends, and highlights federal constitutional intersections across state and federal forums.
How to search or use it
Researchers can systematically search and navigate American Jurisprudence 2d on Thomson Reuters Westlaw through the following documented interface steps:
- Navigating to Secondary Sources: From the Westlaw home dashboard, locate the main “Browse” menu and select the “Secondary Sources” content category tab.
- Filtering by Publication Type: In the left-hand navigation panel under “Publication Type,” click on “Jurisprudence & Encyclopedias” to isolate encyclopedic reference sets from law reviews and specific treatises.
- Opening American Jurisprudence 2d: Select “American Jurisprudence 2d (Am Jur 2d)” from the list of national secondary sources, or type “Am Jur 2d” directly into the global search box to enter its dedicated search interface.
- Browsing the Table of Contents: Browse the hierarchical alphabetical topic list to find a relevant doctrinal area (such as “Products Liability” or “Civil Rights”), expanding the outline into subheadings and individual numbered sections.
- Formulating Search Queries: Use terms and connectors (Boolean logic, such as AND, OR, NOT, and proximity connectors like /p or /s) in the search field to execute precise keyword queries across the entire 400-topic corpus.
- Consulting the General Index: When researching novel or interdisciplinary questions where the formal legal heading is unclear, access the “Am Jur 2d General Index” to browse controlled vocabulary terms and cross-references.
- Extracting and Validating Primary Authority: Read the substantive section analysis and examine the footnote citations for relevant court decisions and statutory provisions. Before relying on cited decisions, verify their current precedential validity using modern citators (as detailed in our guide on how to Shepardize legal authorities).
Strengths and limits
American Jurisprudence 2d offers distinct methodological advantages alongside specific structural limitations that legal scholars and researchers must navigate:
- Strengths:
- Provides rapid, authoritative orientation in complex or unfamiliar areas of law.
- Footnotes offer curated access to landmark judicial precedents, foundational statutes, and detailed ALR annotations.
- Direct integration with procedural practice forms, evidentiary proof checklists, and trial strategies.
- Objective narrative framing that avoids partisan commentary or speculative doctrinal positions.
- Limits:
- Secondary authority status: Am Jur 2d cannot be cited as binding mandatory law; courts require citations to primary judicial opinions or statutory codes.
- National generalization: By presenting synthesized national rules, the encyclopedia can obscure highly idiosyncratic local state court rules or unique jurisdictional exceptions.
- Commercial subscription requirement: Digital access is gated behind institutional or individual Thomson Reuters Westlaw subscriptions.
- Academic citation conventions: Scholarly journals adhering to law review authorship norms expect authors to build arguments from primary legal sources and peer-reviewed literature rather than relying on legal encyclopedias.
Alternatives
The following table compares American Jurisprudence 2d with major alternative secondary legal authorities used in legal scholarship and research:
| Platform / Source | Publisher | Scope & Character | Primary Scholarly Function |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Jurisprudence 2d (Am Jur 2d) | Thomson Reuters | Over 400 topics; narrative synthesis of national law integrated with practice sets and ALR annotations. | Initial doctrinal orientation, finding landmark cases, and understanding broader conceptual legal frameworks. |
| Corpus Juris Secundum (C.J.S.) | Thomson Reuters | Over 430 topics; comprehensive case citation scope linked to the West Key Number System. | Exhaustive multi-jurisdictional case identification and systematic West Topic and Key Number research. |
| American Law Reports (ALR) | Thomson Reuters | Granular annotations focusing on discrete, highly specific legal issues across all jurisdictions. | Evaluating nuanced circuit splits, emerging factual applications, and state-by-state comparisons. |
| Restatements of the Law | American Law Institute (ALI) | Scholarly codifications of common-law principles drafted by leading jurists and legal scholars. | Highly persuasive secondary authority exploring doctrinal development, often formally adopted by state supreme courts. |
| State Legal Encyclopedias | Thomson Reuters / LexisNexis | State-specific encyclopedias (e.g., Cal. Jur. 3d, Texas Jurisprudence 3d, New York Jurisprudence 2d). | Locating binding state statutory mandates and localized appellate jurisprudence without national generalizations. |
FAQ
What is American Jurisprudence (Am Jur 2d)?
American Jurisprudence 2d (Am Jur 2d) is a major national legal encyclopedia published by Thomson Reuters that provides an objective, narrative summary of American federal and state law organized across more than 400 alphabetical topics.
How does American Jurisprudence differ from Corpus Juris Secundum?
While both are national legal encyclopedias published by Thomson Reuters, American Jurisprudence 2d focuses on summarizing prevailing legal rules with selected leading cases and practice references (such as ALR and form books). Corpus Juris Secundum (C.J.S.) historically aims for encyclopedic comprehensiveness, attempting to cite all reported cases and linking directly to the West Key Number System.
Can American Jurisprudence be cited as legal authority in court?
Am Jur 2d is a secondary legal source and is not binding authority on any court. While courts occasionally cite Am Jur 2d for general propositions or definitions, attorneys and scholars are expected to cite the primary statutes, constitutional provisions, or judicial precedents identified in the encyclopedia’s footnotes.
Where can researchers access American Jurisprudence?
American Jurisprudence 2d is accessible online through Thomson Reuters Westlaw and the Thomson Reuters ProView eBook platform. Print sets are maintained in law school libraries, court libraries, and major academic research institutions.
How often is American Jurisprudence updated?
On Westlaw, Am Jur 2d is updated continuously as new judicial decisions and statutory revisions are published. The print edition is updated through annual softbound pocket parts inserted into each volume, periodic revised replacement volumes, and supplementary softbound index sets.
Sources
- Thomson Reuters. “American Jurisprudence 2D.” Thomson Reuters Legal Solutions & Treatises Store, 2026. Read November 7, 2026. https://store.legal.thomsonreuters.com/law-products/Treatises/American-Jurisprudence-2D/p/100027350
- Library of Congress. “Secondary Legal Sources: National Legal Encyclopedias.” In Custodia Legis, Law Library of Congress, 2026. Read November 7, 2026. https://blogs.loc.gov/law/
- American Law Institute. “Overview of Secondary Legal Classification and Encyclopedic Syntheses.” ALI Publications, 2026. Read November 7, 2026. https://www.ali.org
- Thomson Reuters Westlaw. “Westlaw User Guide: Secondary Sources and Treatise Research.” Thomson Reuters Support, 2026. Read November 7, 2026. https://www.thomsonreuters.com
