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Law subject guide: USA

Quicklinks: USA

Research Aids for US sources

Unites States of America

This page is for material from the United States of America, including legislation, case law, law commission material.

Legislation

LEXIS Thousands of fulltext files on national and international law.
US Code A free up-to-date version of the Federal Code (Cornell University). (The University of Otago Law Library has the annotated print version.)
US Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Fairly up-to-date free full text of secondary legislation. (Cornell University)
US Congress For current Bills, the Congressional Record and related information.
US Law by State Cornell University's full text access to the legislation of most American states.
Westlaw Thousands of fulltext files on national and international law.

 

Case law

Federal (incl CA) and State Court Decisions  A Cornell site linking to many sources of decisions. (University of Otago users will prefer the more comprehensive hard copy and electronic resources of the Law Library.)
Findlaw Supreme Court Center Free database of the full text of US Supreme Court decisions from 1893 to 2007, plus access to related material such as briefs.
LEXIS Thousands of fulltext files on national and international law.
SCOTUS Orders and Journal of the Supreme Court from 2003 to present
US Supreme Court Decisions Searchable 1990+ (plus 600 significant earlier decisions), from Cornell University's LII site.
Westlaw Thousands of fulltext files on national and international law.

 

Other Resources

Avalon Project The Yale Law School database of current and historical documents of American law, government and international relations, including treaties, legislation and books.
Legal Information Institute (LII) (Cornell) Includes full text sources in its American Legal Ethics Library (under 'LII Topical Libraries'). Provides commentary on decisions of the N.Y. Court of Appeals.
Washburn (US Law School) Site  A  site for general access to legal material (with a USA emphasis).