The Reference Office, located on floor L1 of
William H. Gates Hall, is staffed by a team of professional librarians and student reference
librarians. Our job is to help you use the Law Library. We are available many, but not
all, hours the Law Library is open. Our phone number is
(206) 543-6794.
How Can We Help You?
- We can tell you where things are in the Law Library.
- We can show you how to use library databases such as the library catalog and periodical indexes.
- We can help you figure out legal citations. (See also the Acronyms and Abbreviations list.)
- We can show you how to use sources in the Law Library.
- We can suggest sources for you to use.
- We can refer you to other libraries or institutions when our Library does not have what you need.
Telephone Reference
We provide several services by phone. We can:
- search our catalog to see whether the Law
Library has particular books or journals you want
- locate phone numbers, addresses,
and other directory information for bar associations, federal and state government
agencies, courts, publishers, and other law-related organizations
- take your order
for photocopies of specific legal documents for delivery through the Law Library's
Copy & Send service.
- suggest books, databases, website, and other resources appropriate for
your research topic.
What we will do for you over the phone is limited by our policy on legal research and legal advice and by staff availability.
For many research projects, you will need to come in to the Law Library and conduct your
own research. For ethical and practical reasons:
- We cannot do legal research for you.
- We cannot interpret the law for you or give you legal advice.
- We cannot read statutes, cases, court rules, or definitions over the phone.
- If the Library owns something, we can tell you whether it is checked out, but we do not have the staff to go to the shelf to confirm that it is
available.
- We are not able to return long distance telephone calls. Please call during the hours the Reference
Office is open. We will return local phone calls and use email to
reply whenever possible.
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Email Reference
The Law Library Reference Office accepts reference questions by email. We will suggest research strategies and approaches and describe material in the Law Library that you may find useful. We cannot conduct research for you, however, or provide legal advice.
Other law libraries that accept reference questions by email include the King County Law Library and the Washington State Law Library.
Websites that self-help legal information include WashingtonLawHelp and
LawforWA.
The Law Library provides an extensive list of legal research guides on a wide variety of topics, including several
intended specifically for members of the public.
Our Policy on Legal Research and Legal Advice
While we can help you use the Law Library, we cannot do legal research for you.
If you
need to find out what the law is, we encourage you to come into the Law Library and look
it up. When you come in, we will help you locate relevant material and show you how to use
appropriate resources,
but you are responsible for your own research.
If you find a law or case that is not clear
to you, we cannot will not interpret it for you. Instead, we will suggest law dictionaries or
other sources that might help you interpret it.
Why do we have this policy? There are
several good reasons.
First, advising people what the law is and how it applies to
their situation may be practicing law--it is what lawyers do. We are librarians. Our job
is to help people use the Library, not to conduct research and interpret the law.
Second, legal research is often complicated, even for what seems like a
simple question. For example, you might ask, "What is the statute of limitations for
a car accident in State X?" Depending on the state, it might make a difference
whether the accident resulted in an injury or a fatality. It might also make a difference
if the person who wants to sue was a minor at the time of the accident or was unable to
start a lawsuit right away. And there might be other factors to consider. It makes sense
for you to do your own research and see what factors might apply to your situation. You
can then choose which cross-references to follow.
Third, doing legal research for all callers would soon
overwhelm our staff. It is fair to everyone to say: "Please come into the Law
Library, we are open to the public. When you come in, we will help you find and use the sources you need to do your
own research."
If you need someone who will research and interpret the law
for you, you should consider talking to an attorney. For information on identifying and
locating attorneys, see our Guide to Using the
Gallagher Law Library for Members of the Public. The WashingtonLawHelp website includes a directory of legal aid and other legal service providers for low-income people.
For similar reasons, it is our policy not to read legal
materials over the telephone. If you cannot come to the Law Library, you might want to use
our fee-based Copy & Send Service. Many federal and Washington State laws, cases, and regulations are available at free Internet websites; see our Internet Legal Resources page for links to relevant websites.
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Assistance with Homework
Students who need legal materials for their homework are welcome to use the Law Library.
Please feel free to ask reference staff for help locating and using library sources. Of
course, the reference staff cannot do your homework for you. If an assignment is unclear
to you, please contact your instructor to find out more about what is
expected.
Learning How to Do Legal Research
Legal research is a complex skill. Law students, lawyers, librarians, and paralegals work
hard to develop expertise. If you are just starting out, it might all seem very confusing.
Please ask for assistance in the Reference Office or consult one of the online legal research guides prepared by
the reference librarians.
If you want to learn more about legal research, we can suggest
books and videos that explain various tools and how to use them. If you have access to the
Internet, you might want to start with the American Association of Law Libraries' How to Research a Legal Problem: A
Guide for Non-Lawyers.
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