Research Guides: Legal Research Guide: Websites

Recommended Websites

Cornell Legal Information Institute
Cornell University Law School provides free access to an extensive collection of legal material, including unofficial full-text copies of Supreme Court opinions, the U.S. Code, and the Code of Federal Regulations. The Legal Encyclopedia also known as Wex, is a great starting point for researching legal topics.
EveryCRSReport.com
The Congressional Research Service is Congress's think tank, researching and compiling nonpartisan reports on a governmental issues.
FindLaw: U.S. Supreme Court Cases
FindLaw provides a free searchable database of U.S. Supreme Court decisions since 1760. Supreme Court opinions are browsable by year and U.S. Reports volume number, and are searchable by party name, case title, citation, full text and docket number.
GovTrack
allows users to search for and track legislation debated in the U.S. Congress.
Justia
This website provides free access to a variety of legal information, including topic overviews, federal and state laws, court cases, and more. A good starting point for researching a particular issue.
Wex
Wex is a free legal dictionary and encyclopedia sponsored and hosted by the Legal Information Institute at the Cornell Law School. Wex entries are collaboratively created and edited by legal experts.

Antitrust: An Overview
A summary of federal antitrust laws with links to relevant statutes, cases, and more.
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A free resource provided by the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School.
Contracts: An Overview
An overview of contract law, as well as links to related topics, statutes, court cases, and more.
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A free resource provided by the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School.
Corporations: An Overview
This page provides an overview of corporate law, as well as related statutes, regulations, and court decisions.
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A free resource provided by the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School.
Employment Law: An Overview
A brief overview of employment law, with links to summaries of various sub-topics as well as related statutes and court decisions.
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A free resource provided by the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School.
International Economic Law: An Overview
A brief summary of international economic law, with links to related sub-topics and resources.
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A free resource of the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School.
Labor Law: An Overview
A summary of labor law, which deals with the relationship between employers and unions. Also includes links to relevant statutes, regulations, cases, and more.
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A free resource of the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School.
Sports Law: An Overview
A brief summary of sports law, as well as links to relevant statutes, regulations, and court decisions.
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A free resource provided by the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School.

Criminal Law: An Overview
A summary of criminal law, with links to relevant sections of the U.S. Constitution, federal and state codes, and court cases.
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A free resource of the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School.
International Criminal Law: An Overview
A brief summary of international criminal law, with links to pages about international crimes.
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A free resource provided by the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School.
Sentencing: An Overview
A brief summary of federal sentencing guidelines, with links to relevant laws and court cases.
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A free resource provided by the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School.
White Collar Crime: An Overview
A brief summary of white-collar criminal offenses, with links to related federal statutes, court decisions, and other references.
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A free resource provided by the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School.

Education Law: An Overview
This page provides a summary of education law in the United States, as well as links to relevant U.S. statutes, federal regulations, court decisions, state statutes, and other key resources.
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Free resource from the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School.

Health Law: An Overview
A brief overview of health law and key issues, including links to relevant federal and state statutes, regulations, and court decisions.
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A free resource of the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School.
Mental Health Law: An Overview
A summary of mental health law with definitions of key terms, as well as links to relevant statues, court decisions, and more.
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A free resource of the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School.
Medicaid Law: An Overview
An overview of Medicaid law, with links to federal statutes and regulations as well as federal and state court decisions.
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Free resource from the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School.
Medicare Law: An Overview
An overview of Medicare law, with links to federal statutes and regulations as well as federal and state court decisions.
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Free resource from the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School.

Conducting Legal Research

Thorough legal research on a topic involves studying federal and state laws (statutes/statutory law), regulations (administrative law), and court decisions (case law). The recommended websites below provide access to topic overviews, which summarize the laws related to various topics and include links to primary sources -- related statutes, regulations, and court decisions. These overviews are a great starting point for your research.

LexisNexis provides access to the text of federal and state statutes and court decisions, as well as reference materials like legal encyclopedias.

For a more thorough explanation of how to conduct legal research, check out this great guide from the Georgia State University Law Library:

Georgia State University: Introduction to Legal Research