Try Westlaw’s Jurisdictional Surveys to Compile Laws Across US Jurisdictions

Multi-jurisdictional statutory research can present many challenges, including trying to account for variations in terms. It is not always intuitive what words appear in the code books for a jurisdiction. For instance, if you wanted to compare real property recording statutes for a handful of states, you may not find all the pertinent provisions by searching only with terms “race-recording” or “race-notice.” Some states may use less obvious language when setting forth their recording rules. Westlaw has introduced a new tool that may help overcome this challenge to conducting multi-state statutory research.

Westlaw ’s Jurisdictional Surveys tool helps users get a head-start on gathering and comparing laws across US jurisdictions. If you would like to access Jurisdictional Surveys directly, simply slow-type the name of the tool in the Westlaw search bar. You can also access Jurisdictional Surveys when viewing a particular statute or regulation. You will see a tag icon in the upper right of the menu bar if there is relevant jurisdictional survey information available.

When you select this icon, you are shown a selection of index terms that Westlaw editors recommend as being potentially related to your statute. You can select terms that you think best characterize the subject of your statute and may appear in other jurisdictions. This way, you are less likely to miss relevant statutes across jurisdictions and your multi-jurisdictional comparison will be more complete.

After selecting your index terms, click “Create Survey.” Your survey overview page displays results organized by jurisdiction (federal and state) with a United States map visual display.

You can limit to the jurisdiction of your choice as well as edit your selection of index terms. In each result, the yellow-highlighted terms are your original terms and the orange-highlighted terms are recommended synonyms. You can also search within the results to narrow further.

Next time you need to conduct comparative research across jurisdictions, try out Jurisdictional Surveys in Westlaw. The database’s topical indexing could help you get started on this potentially unwieldy type of research.