Legal Information: A Research Guide

Whether researching a legal topic for a paper or in need of legal assistance, the resources below will assist all researchers with finding basic legal sources of information. From finding forms to Supreme Court rulings, the listings below will prove useful for locating information about the legal systems of the Federal government, legal education, the legal profession, and procedural and contact information.

Black's Law Dictionary, 7th ed. edited by Bryan A. Garner. St. Paul: West Group, 1999. ISBN: 0314241302.
Comprehensive legal dictionary.

Encyclopedia of the U.S. Supreme Court edited by Thomas T. Lewis and Richard L. Wilson. 3 vols. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, 2001. ISBN: 0893560979.
Essays on Supreme Court decisions; historical overviews of how the Court has treated important issues; specific historical events and eras; court administration and structure; legal terms; judicial interpretation of state and federal laws; and biographies of Supreme Court justices.

Fundamentals of Legal Research, 8th ed. by Roy M. Mersky and Donald J. Dunn. New York: Foundation Press, 2002. ISBN: 158778064X.
Discussion of legal research materials and research strategy and process.

Martindale-Hubbell Law Digest (current title: Martindale-Hubbell International Law Digest ). Summit, NJ: Martindale-Hubbell, 1991– . Annual. ISSN: 10889779
Provides a quick and concise summary of the law on various legal topics for each of the 50 states, DC, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Includes citations to statutes and other legal authority. Also includes English-language summaries of the laws of 80 countries, including new sections on Vietnam, the Slovak Republic, the Republic of Latvia, and the Island of Guernsey.

National Survey of State Laws, 4th ed. Detroit: Gale Research, 2003. ISBN: 0787656941.
Compares state laws in 46 subject areas such as business and consumer laws, prayer in public schools, marital property, and homestead.

Thomas: Legislative Information on the Internet
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas2.html
Contains the full-text of U.S. public laws, bill texts, committee reports, and other legislative information maintained by the Library of Congress.

West's Encyclopedia of American Law. 12 vols. St. Paul: West., 1998. ISBN: 031405538X.
Coverage of 5,000 legal topics and biographies of people who have played a part in American law. Also includes definitions of legal terms.

BNA's Directory of State and Federal Courts, Judges and Clerks edited by Kamla J. King and Judith A. Miller. Washington, DC: Bureau of National Affairs, 1992– . Biennial. ISSN: 10785582.
State-by-state and federal listings.

Law and Legal Information Directory edited by Paul Wasserman and Marek Kaszubski. Detroit: Gale Research, 1980– . Annual. ISSN: 0740090X.
Describes a wide range of national and international organizations, services and programs related to law and the legal professional.

Legal Researcher's Desk Reference. Teaneck, NJ: Infosources, 1990– . Biennial. ISSN: 10503056.
Directory and quick reference source that includes Web and e-mail addresses.

Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory. New York: Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, 1931– . Annual. ISSN: 01910221. Available at www.martindale.com.
Directory of law firms and attorneys with brief biographical information on practicing lawyers.

National Center for State Courts—Court Web Sites
www.ncsconline.org/D_KIS/info_court_web_sites.html
A directory of links to state, federal, and international court Web sites.

Official Guide to ABA Approved Law Schools (merger of Official Guide to U.S. Law Schools and Official American Bar Association Guide to Approved Law Schools ). Newtown, PA: ABA-LSAC, 2002– . Annual. ISSN: 15343502. Available at http://officialguide.lsac.org/docs/cgi-bin/home.asp
Includes statistics such as enrollment, tuition and expenses, faculty, curriculum and bar passages rates. Law school Web addresses are also provided.

Want's Federal-State Court Directory. Washington, DC: WANT, 1984– . Annual. ISSN: 07421095.
A directory including information on the organization, structure, and jurisdiction of Federal, State, and U.S. territory courts.

West Legal Directory
http://lawyers.findlaw.com
The West Legal Directory on FindLaw's “Find a Lawyer” page allows users to search for attorneys and law firms in the United States and abroad, by name, geographic location and area/type of practice.

Court Rules, Forms, and Dockets
www.llrx.com/courtrules/
Over 1,400 sources for state and federal court rules, forms, and dockets. You can browse to find the resource that you need or search by keyword.

Findlaw Court Forms
http://forms.lp.findlaw.com
Includes court forms for federal appellate, district, and bankruptcy courts. The state forms collection contains court forms for state courts.

FindLaw
www.findlaw.com
Indexes of Internet legal resources.

Legal Information Institute
www.law.cornell.edu
Developed by Cornell Law School, this Web site includes links to resources in the field of law.