Restatements are scholarly and authoritative publications that summarize and discuss the common law of a particular topic in the United States as well as any relevant statutory elements. These are national in coverage. Restatements are primarily addressed to courts and discuss legal issues by presenting the state of the law as well as how it may be interpreted by those same courts.
The individual Restatement volume will indicate what legal area is covers. (i.e. Restatement of the Law Third, Agency is the third Restatement volume dealing with the law of agency). All Restatements are published by the American Law Institute (ALI). Restatements themselves are drafted by groups of judges, practitioners, and academics who are selected by the ALI on the basis of outstanding achievement.
Restatements are authoritative and thorough publications that may be cited wherever citing secondary sources is appropriate. In the whole spectrum of secondary sources, Restatements are some of the most reliable. However, Restatements are NOT controlling. They are very persuasive, but only persuasive. Do not cite to a Restatement as a controlling or binding authority; always go to the source material cited within the Restatement.
- Note that on both Lexis and Westlaw, you can also filter to Restatements after running your search.
See the ALI website for a list of all current Restatements
