Restatement of the Law
Restatement of the Law, also known as Restatement, is a series of treatises published by the American Law Institute (ALI) that articulate and clarify the principles governing specific areas of law. Restatements serve as secondary sources and are intended to assist courts, practitioners, and scholars in understanding, interpreting, and applying common law.
Restatements currently exist across numerous subjects, including Contracts, Property, Torts, Agency, and Conflict of Laws. Each Restatement synthesizes case law and statutes from various jurisdictions to present the prevailing rules and rationale within a given field.
A Restatement is composed of four principal parts:
- Black Letter Rules: Concise statements of governing legal principles.
- Comments: Explanations that provide context, rationale, and guidance for applying the black letter rules.
- Illustrations: Fact-based examples demonstrating how the rules operate in specific scenarios.
- Reporter’s Notes: References and analysis by the Reporter identifying relevant authorities and explaining the development of each rule. These notes reflect the Reporter’s views and do not represent the official position of the ALI.
The Black Letter, Comments, and Illustrations are approved by the ALI and represent the ALI’s official position, but the Reporter’s Notes represent only the position of the reporter and not ALI. Restatements are not binding authority, they are highly persuasive and are often cited by courts. In some cases, courts adopt specific provisions as mandatory authority. For example, in West v. Caterpillar Tractor Co., 336 So. 2d 80 (Fla. 1976), the Florida Supreme Court adopted the doctrine of strict liability from the Restatement (Second) of Torts.
[Last reviewed in October of 2025 by the Wex Definitions Team]
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