Secondary Authority

How it's used
Secondary authority has two fundamental purposes:

Secondary authority helps find the law
As mentioned earlier, when looking for law, one will generally begin by researching in secondary authority, such as a legal dictionary or legal encyclopedia.

Secondary authority helps explain the law
A legal dictionary provides definitions. A legal encyclopedia explains the background, history, and usage of the law. Secondary authority can be quoted, but an attorney or paralegal would much rather quote primary authority (law). This is because the court will be more impressed with law than non-law.

In addition, there are form books and other materials that help a researcher prepare documents and understand the law. Dozens of these books are covered in the program, but for now, simply concentrate on the books mentioned above.