Introduction to Legal
Research Resources
SIEBL
July 22, 2009
Ann Hemmens
http://lib.law.washington.edu/ref/siebl2009.html
University of Washington Gallagher Law Library
U.S. Legal System
• Federalism
– two levels of government (federal and state)
• Separation of powers
– ensure that none of 3 branches of government
usurps powers of other branches
Branches of Government
Constitution
Legislative
Judicial
Executive
Statutes
Cases
Regulations
Administrative
Decisions
Stat. & USC
RCW
US & Fed 3d
P3d & Wash.
CFR & FR
WAC & WSR
Primary & Secondary Authority
• Secondary
• Primary
– Statement of "the law"
(e.g., statutes, cases,
regulations) from
bodies with lawmaking authority (e.g.,
legislative, judicial and
executive)
– Explain, interpret, and
help you locate the
primary law
– Includes: Treatises,
Hornbooks, law review
articles, legal
encyclopedias,
Restatements,
Nutshells etc.
U.S Legal Citation Format:
The Bluebook
• The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation
(KF245 .U5 2005 18th ed. in Reference Area)
• Bluebook 101
(http://lib.law.washington.edu/ref/bluebook101.
html)
• Introduction to Basic Legal Citation (LII 2006 ed.),
by Peter W. Martin
(http://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/)
Legal Research:
Secondary Sources/Authority
• Law Review Articles
(http://www.lib.washington.edu/subject/Law/)
– Fulltext articles: LexisNexis Academic
– Fulltext articles: HeinOnline
– Index for finding law review articles: LegalTrac
• Legal News articles (http://www.lib.washington.edu/subject/Law/)
– Full-Text on LexisNexis Academic
• Newsletters and more from BNA
(http://lib.law.washington.edu/bna/)
– (corporate law, intellectual property, trade and commerce)
More Business and Law Resources
• UW Libraries Business databases,
http://www.lib.washington.edu/subject/Business/
– Academic Search Complete
– EBSCO Business Source Complete
• Books
– UWLaw Library Catalog (http://lib.law.washington.edu/)
– UW Libraries Catalog
Free Internet Sources
• Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com/)
– Search scholarly literature from MANY disciplines and sources:
peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles,
from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint
repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations.
• Internet Legal Resources
(http://lib.law.washington.edu/research/research.html)
– Free websites and UW Restricted databases containing US and
Washington state legal materials (court opinions,
laws/statutes/codes, regulations).
Remember:
Your Starting Points for Legal Research
• UW Libraries Law subject page,
http://www.lib.washington.edu/subject/Law/
• UW Gallagher Law Library,
http://lib.law.washington.edu/
University of Washington Gallagher Law Library