Leaders for the Global Common Good
We offer two ways of searching our catalog: a law library only catalog and OCLC WorldCat. Other catalogs are also available. More
Expand your legal research options with online sources provided by the Gallagher Law Library. More
How do I search for laws on a particular subject? How can I compile a legislative history for a Washington (or federal) law? How can I locate court opinions about a topic? To answer these and other frequently asked questions, the reference librarians have prepared a series of legal research guides. Use these guides to get started on your research project when a reference librarian is not available to assist you or as a reminder as you conduct your research. More
Here, you will find a list of websites that provide legal information and materials (including laws, bills, court opinions, and related documents) and/or links to legal material. Most of these sites are freely available to all users with Internet access. Some sites are UW Restricted, that is, available to University of Washington faculty, students, and staff and visitors to UW Libraries.More
Updated Feb. 10, 2012.
Prepared by Peggy Roebuck Jarrett for LIS 526: Government Publications.
Link to 2012 PowerPoint slideshow.
The judicial branch of the United States government is made of up the federal court system and several supporting agencies. The U.S. Supreme Court was established by the Constitution (U.S.Const. art. III, sec. 1). The lower federal courts were created by Congress.
Case law is primary law created by judges in the course of resolving disputes. It is the written resolution of the issues, written by a judge or a panel of judges. It is not a jury verdict. Juries decide facts; judges decide law. The word “case” is often used interchangeably with “opinion” or “decision.”
Not all opinions are published. Opinions with precedential value are published in sets of books called reporters. Unpublished opinions can sometimes be found online.
Precedents are the legal principles or rules created by court opinions. Lower courts must apply these precedents in cases with similar issues and facts. This system allows similarly situated people to be treated the same.
The United States Reports is the only major reporter distributed through the Federal Depository Library Program. Opinions of lower federal courts are commercially published, but they are still considered primary law. State appellate opinions are also commercially published, although some states have official reporters.
A generic court system consists of:
There are also specialized courts. On the state level, reported cases generally come from the appellate courts – not the trial courts. On the federal level, some trial court cases are reported. Remember that in a jury trial, there is nothing to “report” except a verdict.
Federal Court System. Other court directories and links include the Federal Court Locator and the U.S. Court Finder.
Start with Free Law Online.
For U.S. Supreme Court cases, use one or more of the following sources (coverage varies):
For U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals cases, try the following:
For U.S. District Court cases, free choices are limited. The best choice is Google Scholar.
For Washington State Supreme Court opinions from 1854 and Court of Appeals opinions from 1969, use LegalWA.org.
For other state cases
LexisNexis Academic (UW Restricted) is available to UW faculty, students, and staff and to other users visiting the Gallagher Law Library or one of the UW libraries. Complete coverage of federal and state case law. Includes recent opinions and U.S. District Court cases.
If you are researching a federal or state statute, there may be case law interpreting it. The Law Library has annotated statutes for all 50 states and the federal government. Annotations summarize and cite to case law.
The federal statutes are in two sets: United States Code Annotated (USCA) and United States Code Service (USCS). The Washington State statutes are in the Revised Code of Washington Annotated (RCWA) and the Annotated Revised Code of Washington (ARCW). All current statutes are located in the Reference Area. The ARCW and USCS are also available on LexisNexis Academic.
KeyCite and Shepard's are commercial web-based case law citation services. If you have a specific case citation, you can identify later court decisions that refer to or mention it. Both services can be used to determine if a specific case has been affirmed, overruled, or modified by a later court decision. The Law Library has a public subscription to KeyCite; users must visit the Law Library to gain access to this service. Shepard's is available on LexisNexis Academic.
Secondary sources give the framework of the law, introduce the topic, offer expert analysis, and provide references to primary authority (cases, statutes, regulations). Books, law review articles, legal encyclopedias, and attorney practice materials are examples of secondary sources.
Reporters & Digests identifies the major reporters held by the Gallagher Law Library.
Briefs are written arguments submitted by the parties to an appellate level court. Briefs are designed to be persuasive; they contain legal arguments, analysis, and reference to primary and secondary sources. See the Gallagher guide on Briefs & Oral Arguments for sources available in Law Library and on the Internet.
PACER is a fee-based electronic public access service for case and docket information from Federal appellate, district, and bankruptcy courts. For more information on content, cost, and registration procedures, go to the PACER Service Center. Note that for PACER usage of less than $10 in a quarterly billing cycle the fee is waived.
Administrative Office of the United States Courts
Handles nonjudicial administrative business. Maintains workload statistics.
Publications and workload statistics can be found under the Publications and Reports link.
Federal Judicial Center
Provides policy research and continuing education.
Judicial Conference of the United States Courts
Serves as the governing and policy-making body for the administration of the
federal judiciary.
United States Sentencing Commission
Develops guidelines and policies regarding sentencing in federal courts.
Most administrative agencies have a quasi-judicial function. They decide (adjudicate) individual cases arising from the application of their rules and regulations. Some agency decisions are distributed through the Federal Depository Library Program.
Federal
Administrative Decisions & Other Actions
Links to a wide variety of resources for agency decisions on the web.
Arranged by agency or subject.
HeinOnline > U.S. Federal Agency Documents, Decision, and Appeals (UW
Restricted)
LLMC Digital has a good collection of historical decisions. (UW Restricted)
Washington State Administrative Decisions and Guidance Documents
Listed on Gallagher's Free Law Online page.
The Gallagher Law Library's Free Law Online page lists sites that provide legal information and materials (including laws, bills, court opinions, and related documents) and/or links to legal material. Only the most important Washington State and U.S. sites have been selected. Includes links to legal meta-indexes and general search engines.
The Law Library is open to the public. See the Hours page for the schedule.
General information about services can be found on the Law Library’s homepage. The Law Library Reference Office phone number is (206) 543-6794. The Reference librarians accept questions sent via email from the Ask Us form.
The United States Government Publications page describes depository services and links to several legal research guides. A complete list of Gallagher's Legal Research Guides is available. Specific guides of interest include:
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