American Law Reports contain two kinds of material: articles and cases. Articles cover a topic through cases that focus on a particular point of law. These articles collect the cases from a variety of state and federal courts or jurisdictions and arrange them according to how the courts have ruled.
American Law Reports are great to use for researching narrow topics, doing a survey of existing law, identifying trends in the law, and finding persuasive case law.
The ALR consists of several different series.
American Law Reports (A.L.R.) in print Covers 1919 - 1948 and provides annotations and articles on specific issues and points of law, both federal and state.
American Law Reports Second Series (A.L.R.2d) in print ALR 2d (originally published 1948 -1965; regularly updated) provides annotations and articles on specific issues and points of law for both federal and state issues.
American Law Reports, Third Series (A.L.R.3d) in print A.L.R.3d, 1965-1980 is a regularly updated series of in-depth legal research articles or annotations on particular issues of state law.
American Law Reports, 4th Series (A.L.R.4th) in print A.L.R.5th, covering 1980 - 1992, is a regularly updated series of in-depth legal research articles or annotations on particular issues of state law.
American Law Reports, Fifth Series (A.L.R.5th) in print A.L.R.5th, covering 1992 - 2005, is a regularly updated series of in-depth legal research articles or annotations on particular issues of state law.
American Law Reports, Sixth Series (A.L.R.6th) in print A.L.R.6th is an ongoing and regularly updated series of in-depth legal research articles or annotations on particular issues of state law.American Law Reports, 7th Series (A.L.R. 7th) in print A.L.R.7th is an ongoing and regularly updated series of in-depth legal research articles or annotations on particular issues of state law.
American Law Reports Federal (A.L.R. Fed) in print The ALR Federal Volumes 1-200 (published from 1969 to 2005) in this set organize, summarize, and analyze pertinent federal case law on particular federal issues. Issues included involve federal statutory and common law, federal practice and procedure, and federal rules and regulations. Each annotation reviews the federal cases discussing the relevant point of law and includes the full text of the leading federal case on the issue. The set also contains valuable research references.
American Law Reports Federal 2d Series (A.L.R. Fed. 2d) in print The ALR Federal Volumes 2005 to present in this set organize, summarize, and analyze pertinent federal case law on particular federal issues. Issues included involve federal statutory and common law, federal practice and procedure, and federal rules and regulations. Each annotation reviews the federal cases discussing the relevant point of law and includes the full text of the leading federal case on the issue. The set also contains valuable research references.American Law Reports Federal 3d Series (A.L.R.3d in print) The volumes in American Law Reports Federal, 3rd organize, summarize, and analyze pertinent federal caselaw on particular federal issues. Issues include those involving federal statutory and common law, federal practice and procedure, and federal rules and regulations. Each annotation reviews the federal cases discussing the relevant point of law. The volumes also contain research references and practice pointers.
American Law Reports on Lexis Law students and faculty only. This ALR database contains the full text of the annotations included in the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Federal, Federal Second, and Federal Third Series of the American Law Reports (ALR).
American Law Reports on Westlaw Law students and faculty only. Full text of articles included in the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Federal, Federal Second, and Federal Third series of American Law Reports (ALR) and the Index to Annotations covering these series.American Law Reports International Law students and faculty only. ALR International, written by U.S. authors and international contributors, is the only all-inclusive analytical title that covers international topics in depth. It analyzes relevant U.S. and foreign cases from English- and non-English-speaking countries on specific legal issues of international import.ALR Complete Series Index
ALR Quick Index
ALR Digest
ALR Table of Laws, Rules and Regulations
ALR Table of Cases
ALR Article Index
ALR Article Outline
Table of Jurisdictions
All ALR series continue to be updated, though not on a regular schedule.
ALR - Search each volume of the ALR Blue Book of Supplemental Decisions (see below)
ALR 2d - Search in the appropriate volume and pocket part of the ALR2d Later Case Service (see below)
ALR 3rd - 7th, ALR Fed series - Search the pocket part of the same volume
A.L.R. blue book of supplemental decisions for annotations in the American law reports ALR 1st annotations stay current with this Blue Book update. Recent decisions relevant to a specific point of law or fact situation appearing in ALR 1st are organized and added with each volume.
American law reports, second series. Later case service From 1965 to the present, this title continues to provide ongoing supplementatation for the annotations in ALR 2d.
Available to Law Students only (see a reference librarian if you do not have a CALI activation code).
Rule 16.7.6 of The Bluebook (21st ed. 2020) covers how to cite ALRs.
The citation should contain:
William B. Johnson, Annotation, Use of Plea Bargain or Grant of Immunity as Improper Vouching for Credibility of Witness in Federal Cases, 76 A.L.R. Fed. 409 (1986 & Supp. 2015).
Rule 22.6 of the ALWD Citation Manual (7th ed.) covers the citation of ALRs.
The citation should contain:
William B. Johnson, Annotation, Use of Plea Bargain or Grant of Immunity as Improper Vouching for Credibility of Witness in Federal Cases, 76 A.L.R. Fed. 409 (1986 & Supp. 2015).
