Corpus Juris Secundum
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Template:Lang (CJS; Latin for 'Second Body of the Law')<ref name="ReferenceA">Legal Research and Writing for Paralegals, Published by Wolters Kluwer and written by Deborah E. Bouchoux</ref> is an encyclopedia of United States law at the federal and state levels. It is arranged alphabetically, into over 430 topics, which in turn are arranged into subheadings. Template:As of, CJS consisted of 164 bound volumes, five index volumes and 11 table of cases volumes.<ref name="svengalis">Template:Cite book</ref>
CJS is named after the 6th century Template:Lang of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, the first codification of Roman law and civil law. The name Template:Lang literally means 'body of the law'; Template:Lang denotes the second edition of the encyclopedia, which was originally issued as Template:Lang by the American Law Book Company (from 1914 to 1937).<ref name=svengalis /> CJS is published by West in print form and on Westlaw. The print edition is updated annually with pocket supplements and revised editions of bound volumes. Before Thomson's acquisition of West, CJS competed against the American Jurisprudence legal encyclopedia.<ref name=svengalis />
While legal encyclopedias like CJS were at one time heavily used by the courts, the growth of statutory and regulatory governance has eroded this reliance. As such, rather than being used as sources of authoritative statements of law, legal encyclopedias are now more often used as tools for finding relevant case law.<ref name=svengalis />
Volumes 82, 97, and 98 of Template:Lang appeared behind the closing credits of the Perry Mason television series. Throughout the series, approximately twenty volumes can be seen on the shelf behind Mason's desk.