Legal Research Sources
Overview of Legal Research Sources
Lawyers have a professional obligation in many jurisdictions to be proficient in legal research.
Constitutions
There is more information about this subjet related to the field of legal research in the legal encyclopedia.
Codes
There is more information about this subjet related to the field of legal research in the legal encyclopedia.
Statutory Laws
There is more information about this subjet related to the field of legal research in the legal encyclopedia.
Publication of Court Opinions
There is more information about this subjet related to the field of legal research in the legal encyclopedia.
Administrative Law
There is more information about this subjet related to the field of legal research in the legal encyclopedia.
Administrative Law
There is more information about this subjet related to the field of legal research in the legal encyclopedia.
Court Rules
There is more information about this subjet related to the field of legal research in the legal encyclopedia.
Researching Court Opinions: Locating Case Law
There is more information about this subjet related to the field of legal research in the legal encyclopedia.
Internet and Computer-Aided Research
There is more information about this subjet related to the field of legal research in the legal encyclopedia.
Basic Checklist of Sources and Strategies
This checklist of research sources can be printed out for use with a particular research problem. The list of sources on the left serves to remind you of various possibilities for your research — even the most experienced researchers will sometimes overlook a potentially useful resource. The two columns on the right allow you to record whether and when you checked a source, and to make brief notes on what you found (e.g. “2 statutes: 29 USC 331, 42 US 12011”). Many of the sources listed are linked to documents or websites where you can obtain further information. The letters after individual items indicate some of the places the source is available: L=Lexis, W=Westlaw, P= Print, Web= public website
| Source | Date Checked | Notes |
| Legal Encylopedias | ||
| — CJS (W, P) | ||
| — AmJur 2d (L,W, P) | ||
| — State Encyclopedia (e.g., N.Y. Jur. 2d) (L,W,P) | ||
| Key Treatises (P, some L, W) | ||
| Restatements (L,W, P) | ||
| ALR (L, W, P) | ||
| Annotated Statutes (L, W, P, web) | ||
| —Federal (USCS, USCA)(click here for a 10 minute video on how to research federal statutes) | ||
| –State | ||
| Regulations | ||
| –Federal | ||
| —-CFR Code of Fed. Regulations (L,W,P, web) | ||
| —-FR (Federal Register) (L,W,P, web) | ||
| — State Regulations (click for website identifying state codes and registers) | ||
| Cases and adjudications | ||
| —Federal cases (L,W,P, some web) | ||
| —State cases (L,W,P, some web) | ||
| —Federal (or state) Agency adjudications(some L, some W, some P, some web) | ||
| Internal firm resources (ask your assigning attorney, or your librarian) | ||
| — document management systems | ||
| — corporate “bibles” | ||
| — case files | ||
| –other internal firm databases and files | ||
| Looseleaf Services (e.g. CCH, BNA) (P, some L, some W, some other fee-based services) | ||
| CLE Materials (e.g. MCLE, PLI, etc.) – materials prepared for continuing legal education courses (some W, some L, some P, some web) | ||
| Public Web Sites | ||
| –.gov (e.g. GPOAccess, FDA.gov) | ||
| —google, other search engines | ||
| –.edu, .com websites | ||
| Formbooks (click for Georgetown Law Library’s guide, w/ list of formbooks by subject) (primarily P, some online sources) | ||
| Updating and citators | ||
| — Shepards (click for Lexis tutorial) (P,L) | ||
| — KeyCite (click for Westlaw’s information on KeyCite) (W) |
General Considerations in Legal Research Sources
Legislative History
There is more information about this subjet related to the field of legal research in the legal encyclopedia.
Cannons of Construction
There is more information about this subjet related to the field of legal research in the legal encyclopedia.
Print Sources
A good research resource is the current edition of Fundamentals of
Legal Research, by Barkan, Mersky, and Dunn. Like the Encyclopedia of Law (legal research entries), this treatise is broad and deep in the treatment of the U.S. law.
Gibson’s New York Legal Research Guide latest edition, by Bill Manz and Karen Spencer, is a great book if the researcher plans to develop expertise in New York research. Twenty chapters of the book are devoted to New York State Legal Research and 12 chapters focus on New York City Legal research. To see information about the publication go to www.wshein.com.
Some researchers regularly use Paul Axel-lute’s book, New Jersey Legal Research Handbook, published by the New Jersey Institute for CLE (njicle.com), which is helpful in understanding the finer points of that state’s research issues.
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