First Principles of Business Law

7.7. Headnotes continued...

Headnotes are often much more detailed than the one in the report of Lynch's case (which you saw on the previous screen).

For example, the headnote in the Appeal Cases reports of Home Office v Dorset Yacht Co Ltd contains a fairly lengthy summary of the facts of the case. The headnote is highlighted on the page opposite. The print is too small to read, but you can see that this headnote is much more detailed than the one in Lynch's case.

However detailed a headnote is, relying on it alone, rather than reading the full report, is risky. This is because the accuracy, precision and detail in headnotes varies greatly from one reports series to another. Headnotes have even been known to contain serious errors. Headnotes must therefore be used cautiously, but they are a useful starting point and a quick way to find out what a case is about.