noun
- brief summaries or explanatory notes placed at the beginning of a legal case, chapter, or document
Usage: legal; academic
Examples
- The headnotes provided a quick overview of the court’s decision.
- Law students often read the headnotes before diving into the full case text.
- The editor added headnotes to each chapter to help readers navigate the complex material.
- Legal databases use headnotes to categorize and index court opinions.
- The headnotes summarized the key legal principles established in the ruling.
- She relied on the headnotes to quickly identify relevant cases for her research.