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
Posted Nov. 2, 2011.
Prepared by Trinie Thai-Parker.
Once you have settled on a note topic, you need to conduct a preemption check to make sure that the topic and your treatment of it has not already been published by someone else. This means that you will need to identify, locate and scrutinize any articles that deal with your note topic.
If you do find articles on your topic written by others, you can still go ahead and write your note so long as you can distinguish your treatment from theirs. It is very important to be aware of what already has been written in your area of interest and to engage with this literature if it’s relevant.
The best way to conduct a thorough literature review is to search law review and journal articles as well as works in progress published as working papers.
While it is possible to conduct searches in full-text law review databases, such as HeinOnline or in Westlaw and LexisNexis, it is important to also consult a legal index, such as Legaltrac (LRI in Westlaw or LexisNexis).
If you are writing on a foreign or international law topic, you might also want to consult the Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals.
Legal Newsletters in Print, annual. KF8.E57, current edition at Reference Office
Legal Looseleafs in Print, annual. KF1.L44, current edition at Reference Office
Use the index to identify relevant publications then look up these titles in the Library catalog to find out if the Library owns them. If not, consult a reference librarian for guidance on how to obtain them through interlibrary loan.
American Law Reports (ALR)
American Law Reports is a series of reporters that examine significant developments in U.S. case law. It also includes annotations, or summaries of the development of specific legal concepts in a concise and precise fashion. You will find relevant citations to cases from both federal and state courts and secondary sources, such as law review articles. There are six series of ALR, 2 series of ALR Federal, and one series of the ALR International, but they can be searched using a single index known as the ALR Digest.
Series |
Dates | Call Number | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| ALR 6th | 2005-date | KF132.A56 | Reference Area |
| ALR 5th | 1992-2005 | KF132.A55 | Reference Area |
| ALR 4th | 1980-91 | KF132.A54 | Reference Area |
| ALR 3d | 1965-80 | KF132.A53 | Reference Area |
| ALR 2d | 1948-64 | KF132.A52 | Compact Stacks |
| ALR | 1919-48 | KF132.A52 | Compact Stacks |
| ALR Fed 2d | 2005-date | KF105.A542 | Reference Area |
| ALR Fed | 1968-2005 | KF105.A54 | Reference Area |
| ALR International | 2010-date | KF132.A58 | Reference Area |
ALR is also on LexisNexis (Secondary Legal > Jurisprudences, ALR & Encyclopedias) and Westlaw (ALR)
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