Free Legal Resources

 

Tom Hemstock, Electronic Services Librarian
Created June 2010
Contents
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In addition to subscription databases there are also many quality free resources available online. Free resources can be an excellent source but free sites often have limitations. For example, a statute on Westlaw or LexisNexis will contain links to cases, regulations and secondary sources. The same statute on a free site will not have links to additional material. Also remember that time is money. Finding a statute in 3 minutes on Westlaw/LexisNexis will likely be cheaper than taking 30 minutes to find the same statute in a free resource due to the value of your time.
Cornell’s website offers an extensive library of state and federal material. Be sure to check the date of material. For example the Code of Federal Regulations is available free but it may be updated by the Federal Register.  
Free resources include:
            Code of Federal Regulations
Federal Statutes – unannotated United States Code. Great for finding a citation but does not contain links to cases, regulations or other resources.
            State Statutes (organized by topic)
            Topical Guides – large library with short guides on many common legal issues
            Uniform Commercial Code (without comments)
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            Many free sources are archived in Google Scholar and Google Books. Additionally many books will have limited free previews – not enough to read a chapter but perhaps enough to confirm a citation or start a search. Additionally, Google Scholar will recognize your IP address when on campus and provide access to (some of) our subscription databases such as JSTOR. As with all Google search products be sure to check out the Advanced Search options to limit your search by author, title, year and more.
            Google Scholar
            Google Books
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GPOAccess(Migrating to FDsys)
Many electronic documents are available on GPOAccess. In particular the eCFR is an excellent resource that is competitive with commercial publications.
            eCFR
            The eCFR combines the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) with the latest updates from the Federal Register. The eCFR is generally more up to date than either the CFR on Westlaw or LexisNexis. However, it does not have links to other sources like Westlaw/LexisNexis.
            Traditional CFR and FR
            GPOAccess also contains the traditional CFR and FR in PDF format.
            United States Code
Searching is possible but often clumsy. The USC on GPOAccess works best when you can browse or input a specific citation.
            Other Information
There is a surprisingly large amount of information on GPOAccess and FDsys. For example the 2010-11 federal budget is available.
            UNH Law
Librarians are available to help throughout the semester. Stop by an office, use the Meebo chat widget on our website, or send an email.
            Law Library of Congress
Email and phone reference is also available here. Remember that librarians answering this service will not be familiar with specific resources available at UNH Law.
            Government Information Online (GIO)
Email and online chat reference regarding government documents is available here. “Government information librarians with a specialized knowledge of agency information dissemination practices -- as well as expertise in how to use government information products, resources and or publications -- answer all the questions submitted to GIO.”
            Thomas.loc.gov is the best free resource for finding federal bills and recent legislative history material. Before you dive into the many 
             resources available on THOMAS it probably is helpful to get a quick refresher on the legislative process using this page.
            THOMAS contains:
            Bills
            Full text from 1989 – Present
            Summaries from 1973 – Present
            And many other resources such as links to House and Senate Reports.
Detailed information on how to conduct federal legislative history research is available here.
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