Internet and
Subscription-based Legal
Research
Margaret Clark, Reference Librarian
FSU College of Law Library
December 2005
Objectives
• Identify Web sources of value for
conducting legal research
• Identify subscription databases
other than L/W for conducting
legal research
Legal Research on the Web
GOOD FOR:
• Current and recent documents
• Significant or recent cases; SC
cases
• Federal & state codes, statutes and
regulations
• Government publications
• Foreign and international materials
Legal Research on the Web
NOT GOOD FOR:
• Older cases; historical materials
• Annotated codes
• Full-text journal articles
• Treatises
• Complete overview of the law
• In-depth, thorough legal research
Subscription-based databases
GREAT FOR:
• Locating full-text articles, law
reviews, some treatises
• Locating retrospective and current
articles and cases
• Florida case law not in W/L
Secondary Sources
• Treatises
• Law reviews and articles
• Encyclopedias and dictionaries
Locating treatises
• Aleph, online catalog
• NetLibrary
• WorldCat
• Index Master
All are subscription databases.
Locating law reviews
• LexisNexis Academic
• Index to Legal Periodicals (ILP),
• ILP Retrospective, -1980
• LegalTrac
• Hein Online
• JSTOR; Project Muse
• E-journals page
All of these are subscription databases
1980-
Locating law reviews
• Emory’s list of legal journals
• Findlaw’s list
• Google Scholar
• Law Library of Congress
• University Law Review Project
All of these are free Internet sites
Encyclopedias and
Dictionaries
• Pathfinders/Research Guides
– LLRX (Law Library Resource Exchange)
– LexNotes.com Pathfinders
• Online encyclopedias
– Zimmerman’s Online Encyclopedia
– Cornell LII’s Wex
• Online dictionaries
– Law.com dictionary
– ‘Lectric Law Lexicon
Case Law
• Court Web sites
– Florida Supreme Court
• Portal Web sites
– Florida State Courts
– Findlaw.com
– National Law Journal
• Subscription databases
– Lexis-Nexis Academic
– Hein Online
Case law – Portal sites
Text of Opinions
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Findlaw: Cases and Codes
LexisOne.com
Cornell LII
American Law Sources Online (ALSO)
National Law Journal
Federal Court Locator
Florida State Courts
Case law – US Supreme Court
Opinions
FREE
•Supreme Court 1991 to present
•Findlaw 1893 to present
•Lexisone.com 1790 to present
SUBSCRIPTION DATABASES
•Hein Online 1754 to present
•BNA U.S. Law Week, 1997 to present
•LexisNexis Academic
Case law – US Supreme Court
• Oral Arguments
– Supreme Court site (transcript)
– Oyez Project (audio)
• Records and Briefs
– Findlaw 1999 to present
Case law – Federal courts
• PACER (Public Access to Court
Electronic Records)
www.pacer.psc.uscourts.gov
• Electronic public access to service that
allows users to obtain:
– Case information
– Docket information
– Documents
• From Federal Courts
– Courts of Appeal
– District & Bankruptcy courts
Case law – Federal courts
• Searching PACER
– U.S. Party/Case Index
– PACER District Look-Up
• Subscription database:
– agencies or individuals must register
• Very inexpensive
– $.08/page (applies to number of
pages that results in any search), OR
– $.60/minute charge
– $2.40 maximum per document
Case law – Federal courts
• Other sites for federal cases:
– www.uscourts.gov free Internet
– LexisNexis Academic subscription
Case law – Florida
• Free, Internet
– Florida Law Online portal site
– ALSO: Florida (portal site)
– Florida Supreme Court 1999+
– Fla. SC Records and Briefs Apr 1998+
– FSU Briefs and opinions Nov 1989+
– WFSU Oral Arguments Online 1997+
– Opinions from other Florida courts
• Subscription
– Florida Law Weekly 1995+
– LexisNexis Academic – State search
Court Rules
• LLRX’s Court Rules
• U.S. Supreme Court, Cornell LII
• Federal Judiciary
Constitutions
• U.S. Constitution (GPO Access)
• U.S. Constitution (Library of Congress)
• Florida Constitution
Statutes - Federal
• Portal sites
– Law Library of Congress
• Federal
– GPOAccess, Cornell LII, US House of
Representatives site, Thomas
Statutes - States
• Florida
– Online Sunshine constitution, statutes
– Department of State public laws
– Digest of General Laws only electronic
– Law Library of Congress portal site
• Other States
– Findlaw, Cornell LII, Law Library of
Congress
• Municipal Codes -- municode.com
Legislative History
• Federal
– Thomas, GPO Access free
– LexisNexis Academic subscription
• Florida
– Online Sunshine
official online site
Administrative Law
• Federal
– Federal Register
• GPO Access, Regulations.gov (Internet)
• Hein Online (subscription)
– Code of Federal Regulations
• GPO Access (official text)
• E-CFR (most up-to-date)
• Cornell LII
• Florida
– FAC: http://fac.dos.state.fl.us
– FAW: http://faw.dos.state.fl.us
Administrative Decisions
• Federal
– Individual agency web sites (directory)
– List of federal agency decisions
• Florida
– Division of Administrative Hearings (free)
– Florida Administrative Law Reports (sub)
Current Awareness
• Cornell’s InSite
highlights selected law-
related Web sites
• LLRX Buzz
Web journal on Internet legal
research
• The Virtual Chase legal research articles
• Abstract Appeal weblog for Florida law
• Findlaw’s Breaking Legal
Documents email newsletter
Citation Guides
• Cornell’s Basic Legal Citation
– http://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/
The End