Meaning of legal digests 

Legal digests are a systematic arrangement of concise summaries of the facts and holdings of a case that are pertinent to the point of law under which it is indexed and the reference to the source from which the summary has been taken. 

Legal digest is an index to reported cases ,providing brief facts of the cases, which is arranged by subject and subdivided by jurisdiction and courts .

Case digests are multi-volume sets arranged in alphabetical order by subject and are used to find case law on very specific legal topics. Digests can also be used for locating cases that have defined specific legal terms or to find the citation to an opinion when only the names of the parties are known.

What is the difference between a digest and a reporter?

This digest feature provides citations to cases that have defined legal legal terms and phrases. Organized like a dictionary — look up the term alphabetically; you will find cases that DEFINE THOSE WORDS. Reporters contain the full text of published court opinions.

Headnote 

Before a case is published in a reporter ,an editor reads the case and selects the important issues of law. For each major issue the editor then writes a short description  called a head note. These head notes are typically found at the beginning of each opinion & help the reader to determine quickly the issues discussed in the case.

Key number 

When writing the headnotes the editor gives each one a headline .The editor will assign the headnote a specific  sub -topic .This subtopic is represented  by a number called a key number .Each topic and key number combination represents a unique point of law .

Legal digest and indexes in india 

Legal Digest in India compiles all reported cases on particular subjects of law .

A.I.R published digests of the case law it published fifty years digests & fifteenyears digest . madras law journal ltd publishes yearly digest,

There are also digests of cases relating to particular subjects such as labour law digests, company law digests ,income tax digest etc .

The digest contains cumulative indexes .In the cumulative index all the material is listed subject wise . there are 1) index to indian legal periodicals;

 2) index to foerign legal periodicals .these index help to the cases relating to particular subject 

Methods of Art of using a digest 

There are two methods to consult a digest 

1. Topic method  ;try relevant topic heading and pull the volume, read the topic outline ,examine the scope note, subject included & analysis sections to identify the best key number (sub topic) .and check the pocket part for updates .
2. Case method ; if you already know of the caseby the names of parties which is pertinent to your topic,search its citation and identify the relevant head notes .
3. If you have followed the index number system , find out the volume with the help of the index number & trace out the case.

Reading headnotes and cases

Once you have a topic and key number ,

Go to the particular digest published for the jurisdiction to search .

Find out the correct volume that includes the topic for your key number

Once you have found the correct volume in the digest set ,go to the topic and then the sub-topic

Check the specific key number for cases