Definition of "headnote" [head•note]

• A summary of the relevant aspects of a legal case usually found at the beginning of a case report. (noun)
• A note at the head of a page or chapter. (noun)

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• "He wrote a "headnote" to the decision: "The defendant corporations are persons within the intent of the clause in section 1 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.""
• "Mr. Davis '"headnote" was entirely spurious, with no legal foundation, but corporations immediately pounced on it, and courts subsequently deferred to it."
• "In the casebook "headnote," however, Mr. Hartmann read this statement: "The defendant Corporations are persons within the intent of the clause in section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment … which forbids a State to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.""