Online Legal Research Sources - United States

Best Sites

• GPO Access, (including FDsys: Federal Digital System) a service of the Government Printing Office. A collection of major sources, full text, including the budget; Code of Federal Regulations and Federal Register; Commerce Business Daily; congressional bills, calendars, directories, hearings, prints, reports, the Congressional Record, and other materials; Economic Indicators and President's Economic Report; General Accounting Office reports; selected administrative agency decisions; Supreme Court opinions; and U.S. Code and session laws. Also see Data.gov.
• Thomas, from the Library of Congress. A collection of legislative resources, including bills, bill status, committee reports and websites, the Congressional Record, Presidential nominations, treaties, and other material.
• Federal Law, from Cornell University's Legal Information Institute. Contains the U.S. Code, the Code of Federal Regulations, and decisions from the Supreme Court and Courts of Appeals.
• USA.gov, the federal government's portal to information and services. Also includes state, local, and tribal governments.
• lexisONE, free federal and state caselaw and other material
• Findlaw, free federal and state materials and other material, including LawCrawler, a legal web & databases search engine
• Washlaw Web, links to Federal Government internet resources and other government related material (Washburn)
• Federal Government Resources on the Web from University of Michigan Documents Center.
• Public.Resource.Org a bulk depository of a variety of free government and agency documents, reports, etc.

 

LAWS, LEGISLATION & CONGRESS
COURT OPINIONS, RULES
ADMINISTRATIVE RULES, REGULATIONS, DECISIONS
PUBLIC RECORD DATABASES
DIRECTORIES
STATE MATERIALS

Laws, Legislation & Congress

U.S. Constitution

• Constitution from Cornell's Legal Information Institute.
• U.S. Constitution: Analysis and Interpretation by the Congressional Research Service from GPO Access: searchable, includes discussion and references to significant cases. Cornell's Legal Information Institute offers an easier-to-use hyperlinked version (updated through 2000 supp.).
• The Founders' Constitution from the University of Chicago Press: a collection of full-text documents compiled by constitutional scholars Philip B. Kurland & Ralph Lerner, searchable.
• Farrand's Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, from the Library of Congress.
• Elliot's Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, from the Library of Congress.
• The Federalist Papers, from Yale Law School's Avalon Project: searchable.
• The Federalist Papers, from Thomas: arranged by number.

Bills & Resolutions: Legislation being considered by Congress

• bills and bill status from Thomas: searchable, from 1993.
• bills from GPO Access: searchable, from 1993.

Public Laws: Laws passed by Congress & signed by the President, in date order

slip laws

• Thomas: arranged by Congress then public law number, from 1973 (93d Congress).
• GPO Access: searchable, from 1995 (104th Congress).
• FDsys: Federal Digital System (in beta) public access to US information of Congress and Federal agencies
• Authenticated public and private laws from GPO Access: searchable, from 2007. (Digitally signed and certified)
• classification tables from the Office of the Law Revision Counsel: provides U.S. Code citations for public laws and U.S. Code sections affected by recently enacted laws.

U.S. Statutes at Large: slip laws organized by Congress and session

• GPO Access: searchable, vol. 117 (2003-04).
• Library of Congress: 1789-1875 (vols. 1-18, 1st-43d Congresses).

U.S. Code: Laws in force arranged by subject

• GPO Access: searchable, 1994 & 2000 editions, with supplements.
• GPO Access: browsable by title, chapter, and section, current edition.
• US House of Representatives: current edition, with supplements, in PDF; arranged by title number.
• Cornell's Legal Information Institute: searchable, current edition.
• Findlaw; searchable, current edition.
• Office of Law Revision Counsel: searchable, current edition.

Congressional Record: Transcript of proceedings in the U.S. Congress

• GPO Access: searchable, from 1995 (104th Congress).
• CR index from GPO Access: searchable, from 1983.
• CR from Thomas: searchable, from 1990 (101st Congress).
• CR, Permanent edition, from GPO Access: searchable, vol. 145, 1999 (106th Congress, 1st Session); more volumes to be added
• Annals of Congress, 1st Congress through 18th Congress, 1st session, from the Library of Congress: covers 1789-1824.
• Register of Debates, 18th Congress, 2d through 25th Congress, 1st session, from the Library of Congress: covers 1824-37.
• Congressional Globe, 23d-42d Congresses, from the Library of Congress: covers 1833-73.

Committee Reports - House, Senate & Executive reports (Serial Set)

• reports from GPO Access: searchable, from 11995 (104th Congress).
• reports from Thomas: searchable, from 1995 (104th Congress).
• historical Serial Set volumes, from the Library of Congress: selected volumes from the 23d Congress, 1833-35; 56th Congress, 1899-1901; and the 58th Congress, 1903-05 (Journals of the Confederate Congress).
• Public.Resource.Org

Committee Documents, Hearings & Testimony

• documents from GPO Access: searchable, from 1995 (104th Congress).
• hearings from GPO Access: searchable, from 1997 (105th Congress).
• selected witness statements from House and Senate committees: select committee by pull-down menu.
• Public.Resource.Org

Other Historical Congressional Material

• Journal of the House of Representatives: 1789-1873.
• Journal of the Senate: 1789-1873.
• Journals of the Continental Congress: 1774-89.

Court Opinions, Rules

U.S. Supreme Court (official site)

Source	Dates	Notes
lexisONE	1790-date	provides parallel citations
AltLaw	1781-date	search by keyword or party name
Justia	1759-last year	search by U.S. reports citation, party name, or keyword
PreCYdent	1759-date	search by keyword or party name
Public Library of Law	1759-date	search by keyword
Findlaw	1893-date	search by U.S. Reports citation, party name, or keyword
Legal Information Institute (Cornell)	1803-1991 (selected)	more than 600 historically significant cases; search by topic, party, or author of the opinion
FedWorld	1937-75	Federal Legal Information Through Electronics (FLITE) database from the Air Force
Supreme Court	1991-date	useful for recent slip opinions &r bound volumes (vol. 502-date)
Legal Information Institute (Cornell)	1990-date	include links to cited sources (U.S. Code, CFR, other cases) that are also available at LII
Oyez	1792-date	U.S. Supreme Court Case Summaries, Oral Arguments & Multimedia

 

Other Federal Courts

• AltLaw: appellate cases, 1950-date, searchable.
• Justia, US Court of Appeals Cases & Opinions: 1950-date, searchable.
• PreCYdent: Federal Reporter, 2d & F.3d, 1950-date, searchable; federal district courts, 2004-date, searchable.
• Public Library of Law: appellate cases, 1950-date, searchable
• lexisONE: searchable, last five years, registration required.
• Cornell Legal Information Institute: searchable, coverage varies.
• Findlaw: searchable, coverage varies.
• uscourts.gov

Federal Rules

U.S. Courts.gov
GPO Access
- Title 28 (Supreme Court Rules, Appellate Procedure, Civil, Evidence)
- Title 18 (Criminal)

Administrative Rules, Regulations, Decisions

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)

Rules and regulations issued by executive branch & independent agencies.

• CFR from GPO Access: searchable, editions from 1996.
• CFR from the Cornell's Legal Information Institute: searchable, current.
• Electronic CFR from GPO Access: browse by CFR citation; integrates adopted regulations from the Federal Register, experimental.

Federal Register (FR)

Updates regulations in the CFR, includes executive orders.

• FR from GPO Access: searchable, from 1995.
• Regulations.gov, a website providing proposed regulations from the Federal Register and online forms for submitting comments about proposed regulations, current.

Presidential Executive Orders, Proclamations & Other Documents

• Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents from GPO Access: searchable, from 1993.
• Public Papers of the President from the National Archives and Records Administration via GPO Access: searchable, from 1992.
• Codification of Presidential Proclamations and Executive Orders from the National Archives and Records Administration: searchable, with an index and disposition tables, from 1945 to 1989.
• Executive orders disposition tables, from the National Archives and Records Administration: arranged by president then year, from 1937-date.
• Presidential Documents Guide from the National Archives and Records Administration.

Administrative Agency Decisions

• Administrative Decisions & Other Actions from the University of Virginia Library: links to web-accessible administrative decisions and opinions, arranged by agency and by subject.
• Government Information Locator Service (GILS): searchable, identifies and describes publicly available information resources held or collected by federal agencies

Public Record Databases

• campaign finance disclosure data search from the Federal Elections Commission: searchable.
• charities and nonprofits from the Internal Revenue Service: searchable.
• corporation filings from the Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR): searchable.
• hazardous waste sites from the Environmental Protection Agency (Superfund): searchable.
• inmate locator from the Federal Bureau of Prisons: searchable, from 1982.
• patents from the Patent and Trademark Office: searchable.
• sex offender registry from the Justice Department, with approximately half of the states represented as of July 2005.
• toxics release inventory (release of toxic chemicals into the environment) from the Environmental Protection Agency: searchable.
• trademarks from the Patent and Trademark Office: searchable.
• trademark dispute documents from the Patent and Trademark Office: arranged by proceeding number, from Jan. 2003.

For additional government databases, see:

• Searchable Government Databases
• Investigative Resource Center
• Search Systems Public Record Locator.

Directories

Congress

• Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress: searchable, 1774 to present.
• Congressional Directory from GPO Access: searchable, from 1996 (104th Congress).
• Congressional Pictorial Directory from GPO Access: searchable, from 1997 (105th Congress).
• House members and committees from the Office of the Clerk: current.
• Senators from the Senate: current.

Courts

• Federal Court Locator from Villanova University: links to sites that contain recent opinions from the federal courts.
• Federal Courts Finder from Emory Law Library.
• Contact the Federal Judiciary from the U.S. Courts: select court type then geographic region.
• U.S. Courts from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts: a directory of federal courts and pretrial services and probation offices.

Executive Branch & General U.S. Government

• Federal Agencies Directory from Louisiana State University librarians.
• Federal Government Agencies Database and government agency Acronyms Index from Duke University librarians.
• U.S. Government Manual from GPO Access: searchable, from 1995.

Law Schools / Lawyers

• U.S. law schools that are members of the Association of American Law Schools.
• U.S. law schools from Jurist: links to homepages and pages for admissions, curriculum, faculty, libraries, news and events, and publications.
• Martindale-Hubbell Lawyer Locator: a nationwide directory of lawyers and law firms, searchable.
• West's Legal Directory: a nationwide directory of lawyers and law firms, searchable.
• World Directory of Law Schools (excluding the United States), from the Association of American Law Schools.

State Materials

Multi-State, Multi-Source Sites

• State and Local Government on the Net from Piper Resources: arranged by state, includes links to state homepages, directories, and websites of elected officials, the legislature, the judiciary, executive branch agencies, boards and commissions, regional organizations, and municipalities.
• State Legal Sources on the Web, from the University of Michigan Documents Center. Links to and describes years of coverage for bills, session laws, codes and constitutions, regulations, executive orders, attorney general opinions, courts, newspapers, and state law libraries.
• State Resource Center from lexisONE: arranged by state.
• LexisNexis free Legal Research center and attorney directory by Lawyers.com. Links to state statutes and selected state agencies. Also includes articles and links by area of law.
• State Resources from Findlaw: arranged by state, includes links to constitutions, legislation, laws, administrative codes and registers, attorney general opinions, and other legal materials.
• GovEngine: a portal to federal and state government agencies and courts.
• Zimmerman's Research Guide, an online encyclopedia for legal researchers.
• Full-text state statutes and legislation on the Internet

Constitutions

• Constitutions, Statutes, and Codes from Cornell University's Legal Information Institute: arranged by state.
• State Constitutions from Findlaw: arranged by state.
• State Constitutions from Yahoo: arranged by state.

Legislative Branch

• State Legislatures Internet Links from the National Conference of State Legislatures: arranged by state.
• State Legislatures, State Laws and State Regulations from the Law Librarians' Society of Washington, DC: arranged by state, links to websites and provides phone numbers.

Judicial Branch

lexisONE, free state appellate cases, last five years only (registration required)

PreCYdent: appellate cases, coverage varies by state.

Public Library of Law: appellate cases, 1997-date, searchable.

Court Web Sites from the National Center for State Courts: arranged by state.

Court Rules, Forms, and Dockets from LLRX: searchable by jurisdiction and type of resource.

Executive Branch

Administrative codes and registers

• Internet Access to Rules from the National Association of Secretaries of State: arranged by state, includes links to state homepages, administrative codes and registers, and state manuals
• State Legislatures, State Laws and State Regulations from the Law Librarians' Society of Washington, DC: arranged by state, links to websites and provides phone numbers.

State Agency Databases, a wiki list by state, from the American Library Association's Government Documents Round Table.

Cities & Counties

• Cities online from the United States Conference of Mayors.
• City and county codes from Municipal Code Corporation.
• City and county codes from Seattle Public Library.