QUICK GUIDE: LEGAL RESEARCH ON THE WEB: RECOMMENDED SITES & SEARCH ENGINES
CASE LAW: FEDERAL
A. U.S. Supreme Court
1. Supreme Court of the United States
http://www.supremecourtus.gov
2. Cornell University Law School: Legal Information Institute (LII): Supreme Court Collection
http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/index.html
- Opinions: Full text from October 1990 term to date; 600 significant full-text decisions prior to October 1990 term
- Search by keywords in the syllabi or text, or by topic or party
- Text and PDF
3. FindLaw: Supreme Court Center
http://supreme.lp.findlaw.com/supreme_court/resources.html
- Opinions: Selected decisions 1893 (150 U.S. Reports) forward
- Browse by year and U.S. Reports volume number; Search by citation, case name and keyword (http://findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html)
- Briefs: October 1999 term to date; Includes petitioner, respondent, reply and amicus briefs.
- Text and PDF; text format includes U.S. Reports page breaks
4. Federal Judiciary web site: U.S. Courts: United States Supreme Court
http://www.uscourts.gov/supremecourt.html
- Opinions: Links to official court web site
- PDF
B. U.S. Courts of Appeal
1. FindLaw: Federal Courts of Appeal
http://www.findlaw.com/10fedgov/judicial/appeals_courts.html
- Opinions: From about 1995 to date; varies by jurisdiction
- Browse by year; search by docket number, case name and keyword
- Archive of opinion summaries from September 2000 to date
- Links to official and unofficial court web sites
- Text and PDF
2. Federal Judiciary web site: Court Links
http://www.uscourts.gov/allinks.html
- Opinions: Links to official court web sites
- Coverage from about 1995 to date; varies by jurisdiction
- Search by case name, date, keyword and docket number; varies by jurisdiction
- Text and PDF
3. Cornell University Law School: Legal Information Institute (LII): U.S. Court of Appeals
http://www.law.cornell.edu/federal/opinions.html#appeals
- Opinions: Links to official and unofficial court web sites
- Coverage from about 1992 to date; varies by jurisdiction
- Search decisions from one or all of the U.S. Courts of Appeals (selective) (http://www.law.cornell.edu/usca/search/)
- Text and PDF
4. Villanova University School of Law: Federal Court Locator http://www.law.vill.edu/library/researchandstudyguides/federalcourtlocator.asp
- Opinions: Links to official court web sites, some unofficial court sites included
- Coverage varies by jurisdiction
- Text and PDF
C. U.S. District Courts
1. FindLaw: District Courts
http://www.findlaw.com/10fedgov/judicial/district_courts.html
- Opinions: Links to official court web sites
- Coverage from last few years; varies by jurisdiction
- Search by case name, docket number, date and keyword; varies by jurisdiction
- Text and PDF
2. Federal Judiciary web site: Court Links
http://www.uscourts.gov/courtlinks/
- Opinions: Links to official court web sites
- Coverage from the last few years; varies by jurisdiction
- Search by case name, docket number, date and keyword; varies by jurisdiction
- Text and PDF
3. Cornell University Law School: Legal Information Institute (LII):
District & Bankruptcy Courts
http://www.law.cornell.edu/federal/districts.html#state
- Opinions: Links directly to the opinions section of courts' web sites
- Coverage, format and availability of a search engine for each site is noted
- Text and PDF
4. Villanova University School of Law: Federal Court Locator http://www.law.vill.edu/library/researchandstudyguides/federalcourtlocator.asp
- Opinions: Links to official court web sites, some unofficial court sites included
- Coverage varies by jurisdiction
- Text and PDF
D. Court Rules, Forms and Dockets
1. LLRX.com: Court Rules, Forms and Dockets
http://www.llrx.com/courtrules
- Links to official and unofficial sites for federal court rules, forms and dockets
- Search by keyword; browse by court, type of resource, jurisdiction or state
2. Federal Judiciary web site: U.S. Courts: Federal Rulemaking
http://www.uscourts.gov/rules/
- Federal rules of practice, procedure and evidence currently in effect
- Background information on the federal rules and rulemaking process
3. Federal Judiciary web site: U. S. Courts Library: Forms
http://www.uscourts.gov/forms/uscforms.cfm
- Selected federal court forms
- PDF
last updated: 8/07