University of Connecticut | Resources for LAW
Key Web Sites
Contents:
| Comprehensive Legal Research Sites | |
| Law Associations and Legal Directories | |
| Reference Tools | |
Comprehensive Legal Research Sites:
Cornell Legal Information Institute
http://www.law.cornell.edu/index.htmlThis non-profit institution at Cornell Law School is an excellent starting point for finding U.S. laws and legal resources. You can browse information by topic or search by keyword. Particular strengths include access to the U.S. Code, the U.S. Constitution, the Code of Federal Regulations, and decisions of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals. including commentary and notes on provisions of individual sections from these databases. Links are also provided on areas of law (copyright law, for example) from their "Law About . . ." pages.
Findlaw
http://www.findlaw.com/
This law portal divides categories of legal information (like Yahoo!) for 5 major users: legal professionals, corporate counsel, students, business and public. The site has legal news, legal information by topic, and links to case law and legislation.
Heiros Gamos
http://www.hg.org/Internet Legal Resource Guide
http://www.ilrg.com/
Arranged into broad categories, the Internet Legal Resource Guide provides access to thousands of web sites concerning law and the legal profession, with an emphasis on the United States.Jurist
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/This non-profit web site, maintained by law students at the University of Pittsburgh offers a good starting point for doing legal research and for reading about latest legal developments.
UNITED STATES LEGAL RESOURCES:
U.S. Laws, Legislation, and the Congress:
U.S. Constitution
U.S. Constitution
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.overview.html
Full-text of the U.S. Constitution from Cornell's Legal Information InstituteAnalysis and Interpretation of the U.S. Constitution
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/constitution/index.html
Prepared by the the Congressional Research Service, this searchable database from GPO Access includes references to significant court cases.The Federalist Papers
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/histdox/fedpapers.html
Arranged by number, the THOMAS web site provides access to the original text of the Federalist Papers.
U.S. Bills:
U.S. Bills and Bill Status from Thomas
http://thomas.loc.gov/
THOMAS, a web site maintained by the Library of Congress provides full-text access to the House and Senate bills going back to 1989 (101st Congress).
U.S. Bills from GPO Access
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/bills/index.html
A searchable database of U.S. bills from 1993 to present from GPO Access.
Public Laws: Arranged Chronologically as Passed by the Congress and Signed by the President
Public Laws from Thomas
http://thomas.loc.gov/bss/d108/d108laws.html
THOMAS provides full text of public laws from 1989 (101st Congress) to the present. All laws are chronologically arranged first by Congress and then by public law number. In addition, you can access summaries (not full text) of legislation going back to 1973 (93rd Congress).
Public and Private Laws from GPO Access
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/plaws/index.html
GPO Access provides a searchable database of of public and private laws enacted from 1995 (104th Congress) to present.United States Statutes at Large
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwsl.htmlThis online collection at the Library of Congress web site includes eighteen volumes that cover the laws of the first forty-three Congresses, 1789-1875. Each volume is fully browsable and searchable.
U.S. Code: Laws in force, arranged by subject
U.S. Code from GPO Access
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/uscode/index.html
GPO Access provides a searchable database of the official versions of the 2000 and 1994 editions of the U.S. Code, plus annual supplements. You can also browse the 2000 edition of the U.S. Code.U.S. Code from the Legal Information Institute
http://assembler.law.cornell.edu/uscode/
You can browse the U.S. Code by Title or by popular name and can also search the entire set by keywords and by citation.U.S. Code from Findlaw
http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/uscodes/
Another site that allows you to browse the Code by title and popular name. You can also search by keywords and by citation.
Congressional Reports: Includes House, Senate, and Executive Committee Reports
Congressional Reports from GPO Access
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/serialset/creports/index.html
GPO Access provides a searchable database of Congressional reports from 1995 (104th Congress) to present.Congressional Reports from THOMAS
http://thomas.loc.gov/cp108/cp108query.html
Another source for finding Congressional reports from 1995 to present.
Congressional Record: Official Record of the Proceedings and Debates of the United States Congress
Congressional Record from GPO Access
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/crecord/index.html
GPO Access contains Congressional Record volumes from 140 (1994) to the present. At the back of each daily issue is the "Daily Digest," which summarizes the day's floor and committee activities. You can browse each volume by the Day of Session or can search it by keywords. You can also search the Congressional Record Index from 1983 to present.Congressional Record from THOMAS
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/r108query.html
THOMAS provides a fully searchable database of Congressional Record from 1989 (101st Congress) to present. It also provides access to the Congressional Record Index for the same period.
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR):
Regulations Issued by Executive Branch and Independent Agencies
Code of Federal Regulations from GPO Access
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html
All the editions of the Code of Federal Regulations are available on GPO Access from 1997 to present. You can browse or search each volume or title from any of those years.CFR from the Legal Information Institute
http://cfr.law.cornell.edu/cfr/
Allows you to browse and search the most recent version of the Code of Federal Regulations.Federal Register from GPO Access
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html
The Federal Register is the official daily publication that updates existing regulations contained in CFR and also includes new and proposed rules and regulations, notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents. It is updated daily and is published Monday through Friday. GPO Access contains Federal Register volumes from 59 (1994) to the present.
Supreme Court Decisions
U.S. Supreme Court Decisions from Findlaw
http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html
FindLaw's searchable database of the Supreme Court decisions since 1893 (all decisions published since volume 150 of the U.S. Reports). Browsable by year and US Reports volume number and searchable by citation, case title and full text.Historic U.S. Supreme Court Decisions from Cornell's Legal Information Institute
http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/cases/historic.htm
Provides access to 631 historically significant cases from 1803-1991. Decisions can be browsed by topic, party names, and by the names of the justices who wrote the opinion.U.S. Supreme Court Decisions from Cornell's Legal Information Institute
http://supct.law.cornell.edu:8080/supct/
A searchable collection of U.S. Supreme Court opinions from 1990 to present that can also be browsed by topic, party name, and by the names of the justices who wrote the opinion.On the Docket
http://docket.medill.northwestern.edu/
This web site from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism offers continually updated coverage of the cases pending before the United States Supreme Court.The coverage includes a current listing of the cases pending before the Court, a story on each case, links to web sites relevant to the cases, information provided by attorneys and parties in the cases, the dates for scheduled oral arguments, the questions presented to the Court, referrals to the attorneys in the cases, and citations for the lower court opinions. Coverage dates back to the 1998-99 term.
U.S. Court of Appeal & District Court Decisions
U.S. Court of Appeal Decisions from Findlaw
http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/#federal
Findlaw provides links to the 13 U.S. Circuit Court web sites and a searchable database of decisions from each court.. The date of coverage for decisions available from various circuits varies.U.S. Court of Appeal Decisions from the Legal Information Institute
http://www.law.cornell.edu/federal/opinions.html
Provides access to decisions from all Circuit courts. The period covered for various circuits varies.U.S. District Court Decisionsfrom Findlaw
http://www.findlaw.com/10fedgov/judicial/district_courts.html
Findlaw provides a good starting point for finding links to U.S. District Court web sites. The depth of coverage will vary at various web sites.U.S. District and Bankruptcy Court Decisions from the Legal Information Institute
http://www.law.cornell.edu/federal/opinions.html
Provides links to information about each court as well as their opinions. The time period for opinions available from various courts varies.
Other Federal Court Decisions
U.S. Courts of Special Jurisdictions
http://www.law.cornell.edu/federal/opinions.html
The Legal Information Institute provides links to opinions and other resources available at the web sites of U.S. Tax Court, U.S. Court of Federal Claims, U.S. Court of Appeals for Armed Forces, U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and the U.S Court of International Trade.
LEGAL RESOURCES FOR OTHER JURISDICTIONS:
State of Connecticut
http://www.ct.gov/
The official site of the Connecticut government. A good starting point for finding information about the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the government.Connecticut Legislative Assembly: Legislative Document Search
http://search.cga.state.ct.us/
This search engine at the Connecticut General Assembly web site allows you to search all the government documents on this web site including bills, public acts, statutes, and committee reports.General Statutes of Connecticut
http://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/menu/Statutes.asp
You can search the General Statutes by keywods within a chapter or a section or consult the browseable version of the General Statutes which is an electronic version of the printed volumes. The statutes were last revised in January, 2003.Connecticut Government Bills
http://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/CGABillInfo/CGABillInfoRequest.asp
You can search for bills by keywords, by the name of the person who introduced or cosponsored the bill, or by bill number. The coverage is from 1991 to present.State of Connecticut: Judicial Branch
http://www.jud.state.ct.us/
Provides a wealth of information on Connecticut's Courts: Supreme Court, Appellate Court, Probate Court, and Superior Court. It also provides access to the decisions of the Connecticut Supreme and Appellate Courts from the year 2000 to present. Other useful resources include a searchable directory of judges, attorneys and law firms, case look-up, and court forms.
Other U.S. States:
State Laws from the Legal Information Institute
http://www.law.cornell.edu/states/listing.html
Arranged alphabetically by State, the Legal Information Institute site provides links to laws and court opininions for each jurisdiction.State Statutes by Topic
http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/state_statutes.html
Arranged alphabetially by subject, this page compiles all the laws available on the Internet from all U.S. States .Findlaw State Resources
http://www.findlaw.com/11stategov/
Another access point for finding legal materials from various U.S States.State and Local Government on the Net
http://www.statelocalgov.net/index.cfm
The State and Local Government on the Net Directory provides convenient one-stop access to the websites of thousands of state agencies and city and county governments. Only pages that are controlled and managed by state and local government agencies are included. You can view the pages by using drop-down menus that are arranged by State and by topics such as state government constitutional officers, state legislatures, state judiciaries and departments.Municode.com
http://www.municode.com/
You can search the Codes for more than 1,100 local governments at this web site.
NYU Foreign Databases - By Jurisdiction
http://www.law.nyu.edu/library/foreign_intl/country.html
This page is part of the excellent web pages provided by the New York University Law Library. It currently provides links to the domestic laws of 48 countries. Some of the links found on the individual pages for countries may require passwords but the pages clearly indicate this and the editors of the site regularly update the information for each country and try to provide freely available links whenever possible.GLIN - Nations of the World
http://www.loc.gov/law/guide/nations.html
This page, from the Law Library of Congress Global Legal Information Network, provides an alphabetical list of links to countries of the world. At each country link are a series of well-organized, "standardized" links to the following sources of law for each country: constitution, executive, judicial, legislative, legal guides and miscellaneous, and general sources.AustLII's World Law
http://www.worldlii.org/catalog/215.html
This page, from the Australasian Legal Information Institute, provides an alphabetical list of links for countries of the world. At each country link are further links to both primary sources of law (legislation and cases) and other background material for each country, where available.
Findlaw List of Countries
http://www.findlaw.com/12international/countries/This is Findlaw's alphabetical list of countries (currently around 90 countries, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe). You will find the quality of information for each country is quite variable and often only contains links to other pages that provide links. The page for Turkey, for example, ranges from useful links to the Turkish Grand National Assembly to the Ankara University Faculty of Law.
International Agencies and Information on the Web
http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/intl.html
This guide prepared by the University of Michigan is one of the most comprehensive directories on international agencies.International Organizations and Government Bodies
http://www.asil.org/ilmlinks.htm#International Organizations
This page from the American Society of International Law offers a working list of Internet resources assembled and used by the ILM Office in compiling International Legal Materials and International Law In Brief. The links are arranged neatly under international organizations and government bodies, international courts and tribunals, and national governments and courts.International Organizations and Related Information
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/8/4/r4-240-e.html
This guide by the National Library of Canada provides an annotated list of some of the most prominent international organizations.International Governmental Organizations
http://www.library.northwestern.edu/govpub/resource/internat/igo.html
This list maintained by the Northwestern University Library offers another good starting point for finding international organizations.
Law Associations and Legal Directories
Lexadin - the World Law Guide
http://www.lexadin.nl/wlg/lawfirm/nofr/lawfirm.htm
International directory of law firm/lawyer websites. Currently covers 48 countries.Martindale-Hubbell
http://lawyers.martindale.com/xp/Martindale/home.xmlAn international legal directory that allows you to search by lawyer's name, by location/area of practice, by firm, or for lawyers in corporations, agencies of the US government, or law school faculty.
Lawyers.com (Martindale-Hubbell)
http://www.lawyers.com
Provides access to the same database of lawyers and legal services as Martindale-Hubbell (above), but from a consumer's perspective, with added legal pointers.West Legal Directory
http://lawyers.findlaw.com/lawyer/splash2.html
Extensive directory of International and U.S. lawyers together with U.S. Courts and law students. Searchable by firm/lawyer name, location and practice area, this service provides information on firms and individual lawyers together with links to their websites and e-mail where available.
Nolo's Legal Encyclopedia
Nolo Press's legal information for the lay reader.Law Dictionary
The 'Lectric Law Library's Legal Lexicon's LyceumIntroduction to Basic Legal Citation by Peter W. Martin (Cornell Law School)
http://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/
Learn how to cite legal sources such as legislation, cases, and articles.
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