Periodicals: Bar Journals

Bar Journals are the in-house publications of state and other bar associations. They can be useful for news about the practice of law in a particular jurisdiction, information about new and notable cases, and the scoop on which of your former classmates have been disbarred for unethical practices. The articles about recent cases usually provide a basic summary but typically don't go into any great level of detail.

Shown here is a page from the Louisiana Bar Journal with a short article about a recent products liability case involving an adverse reaction to a prescription drug. The article briefly summarizes the facts of the case and discusses the court's ruling, but doesn't offer much detailed analysis. State bar journals like this usually have a section in each issue where recent notable cases on a variety of legal subjects are summarized in this manner.

Periodicals: Newsletters

Because timeliness is a concern to attorneys, if your practice focuses on one particular area of law, you will want to stay on top of recent developments in that area. While law reviews and other periodicals have a long lead time in their publication schedule, newsletters are timelier, though less detailed, in their coverage. Often referred to as "current awareness tools", there are a wide variety of newsletters covering many narrow areas of law.

Here is the front page from an issue of the Toxics Law Reporter, a weekly newsletter that covers subjects like injuries from chemical spills and, yes, allergic reactions to consumer products. This is probably the most efficient way to stay on top of new developments in this narrow area of law.

Besides notes about recent cases, such newsletters also provide news about recent legislation and other relevant government information. The brief item shown here was published in the Toxics Law Reporter and mentions an EPA report about potential allergic reactions to bio-engineered corn (sometimes called "Frankencorn").

Treatises

When you need a thorough, detailed and practical discussion of a specific area of law, a good treatise will probably be your best bet. Legal treatises are typically written by experts in that area of law, such as a law professor or a practicing attorney. The Complete QDRO Handbook, discussed in the introduction, is a short, single-volume treatise. The Standard Federal Tax Reporter, which enlightened our understanding of the home office business deduction, is an example of a multi-volume treatise.

Most treatises go into exhaustive detail about their subject and have extensive footnotes which provide citations to cases and other useful resources.

For a thorough discussion of the products liability and allergic reaction question, we might consult American Law of Products Liability 3d, shown here. American Law of Products Liability 3d is a twenty-five volume treatise and is probably one of the best and most comprehensive resources for researching products liability issues.

Browsing the index to American Law of Products Liability 3d will lead you to § 32:50. This section contains a discussion of the duty to warn of potential allergic reactions affecting only a small minority of consumers. It offers a very detailed explanation of the different aspects of this narrow legal question. American Law of Products Liability 3d also provides cites to representative case law as well as cross-references to other secondary resources on this issue, such as law review articles and ALR annotations.

With regard to this legal issue, different jurisdictions have ruled in different ways. Some courts have held that a duty to warn arises only when a "substantial" number of people may be susceptible to the allergic reaction, and other courts have held that a duty may arise even if only a small number of people are susceptible. Further along in this section of American Law of Products Liability 3d, the editors have provided two sections where these divergent approaches are discussed, and have included representative case law from jurisdictions taking each approach.

American Law of Products Liability 3d, like many multi-volume treatises, is a looseleaf set: the volumes are essentially heavy-duty ringed binders with removable pages. This makes it easy to insert new material to update the set and keep it current. Looseleaf sets are updated more often than most other legal materials. Legal Encyclopedias and ALR are updated with annual pocket parts, but the American Law of Products Liability 3d is updated with new material quarterly. And some looseleaf sets, such as the Standard Federal Tax Reporter, are updated weekly (there are a lot of new tax laws and regulations constantly being proposed and passed by Congress and the IRS).