Free Law Online / Internet Legal Resources

Updated Jan. 9, 2012.

NOTE: We are migrating the contents of this page to a new series of pages. Some of the content has moved while other content will be found on this page until the project is complete.

The following websites 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. This list does not include material that is available on LexisNexis and Westlaw.

For information on how to conduct various types of legal research, consult a reference librarian or read a legal research guide. You might also find it useful to read How to Research a Legal Problem: A Guide for Non-Lawyers.

Washington State Legal Resources	Best Sites
	Laws, Legislation & the Legislature [moved to new platform]
	Court Opinions, Court Rules, Other Judicial Material & the Courts
	Rules, Regulations, Administrative Decisions, the Governor & Agencies
	Municipal Codes, Ordinances & Administrative Decisions [moved to new platform]
	Legal Community (Organizations & Libraries)
	Public Record Databases
	Directories
United States Legal Resources	Best Sites
	Laws, Legislation & the Congress
	Court Opinions [moved to new platform]; Court Rules, Other Judicial Material & the Courts
	Rules & Regulations [moved to new platform]; Administrative Decisions, the President & Agencies
	Public Record Databases [moved to new platform]
	Directories
Legal Resources for Other Jurisdictions	U.S. States
	Foreign Countries & International Organizations
	Legal Indexes
	Directories
Internet Search Engines

---

 Washington State Legal Resources

Best Sites

• Washington Legislature's Advanced Search: bills, bill reports, ethics opinions, House and Senate journals, the Revised Code of Washington, the Washington Administrative Code, and the Washington State Register; searchable, coverage varies.
• LegalWA.org: Supreme Court and Court of Appeals opinions, the Revised Code of Washington, the Washington Administrative Code, and numerous Washington city and county codes and ordinances; sponsored by the Municipal Research & Services Center, the Washington State Bar Association, and the Washington State Office of the Code Reviser.
• LexisNexis Academic: constitution, laws, court opinions and orders, and attorney general opinions; searchable. UW Restricted
• Access Washington: Washington State government portal.

top

Washington Rules, Regulations, Administrative Decisions, the Governor & Agencies

Washington Administrative Code (WAC)

Rules and regulations in force arranged by subject.

• WAC on LegalWA: searchable, current
• WAC from the Legislature's Advanced Search > WAC: searchable, current
• WAC on the Legislature's page: arranged by title
• WAC Archive from the Office of the Code Reviser: selected years 2009, 2007, and 2005

See also the Gallagher guide on Washington Administrative Law Research.

Washington State Register (WSR)

Updates the Washington Administrative Code.

• WSR from the Legislature's Advanced Search > State Register: searchable, from 1997
• WSR from the Office of the Code Reviser: includes annual indexes (from 1997) and WAC-WSR tables (from 1997)

Attorney General Opinions

• opinions from the Attorney General's Office: from Oct. 1949: searchable and grouped by topic.
• LexisNexis Academic: Legal > Federal & State Codes > Attorney General Opinions, All States; searchable. UW Restricted

Governors' Executive Orders

• executive orders from the Office of the Governor: arranged by date, from 1913.
• executive orders, directives, and proclamations from Governor Christine Gregoire, from 2005.

Access Washington: Washington State's main homepage, with links to agencies, boards, commissions, and departments.

Find-It! Washington: a guide to Washington State Government information and publications.

Administrative Agency Decisions & Guidance Documents

Auditor's Whistleblower Investigation Reports: searchable, from Jan. 1997. (Tip: to obtain documents before 2008, deselect "Group reports by entity."

Banks Division of the Department of Financial Institutions

• Opinions (informal and nonbinding interpretive letters): arranged by date, from 1996.
• Administrative orders (enforcement actions): arranged by date, from March 2009.

Building Code Council interpretations: arranged by type of building code (barrier-free, building, energy, fire, mechanical, plumbing, residential, and ventilation and indoor air quality), dates of coverage vary.

Consumer Services Division of the Department of Financial Institutions

• Administrative actions: arranged by date, from Aug. 1997.
• Check cashers/sellers/small loan interpretive letters and statements: arranged by date, from Sept. 1995.
• Consumer loan companies interpretive letters: summaries, arranged by date, from Feb. 1992.
• Escrow agent interpretive letters: arranged by date, from Dec. 1995.
• Mortgage broker interpretive letters and policy statements: arranged by date, from March 2007.

Credit Unions Division of the Department of Financial Institutions

• Interpretive letters (formerly called opinions): arranged by date, from 1995.
• Interpretive letters index: from 1995.
• Administrative actions: arranged by date, from May 2009.

Ecology Department enforcement actions

• Enforcement actions: arranged by date, from April 1999.
• Toxics cleanup program policies, procedures, and technical memoranda: advisory, nonbinding statements, arranged by number

Employment Security Department precedential decisions of the Commissioner: searchable, from April 1954

Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council certification documents

Environmental and Land Use Hearings Board decisions: searchable, 2005 only.

Environmental Hearings Office

• Decisions from the Environmental and Land Use Hearings Board, the Forest Practices Appeals Board, the Hydraulic Appeals Board, the Pollution Control Hearings Board, and the Shorelines Hearings Board: searchable, arranged by date then by board, from 1970
• Pending cases: searchable
• Summaries of Board decisions: arranged by date, from 2000
• Note: Effective July 1, 2011, the Environmental Hearings Office will merge a consolidated Growth Management Hearings Board to become the Environmental and Land Use Hearings Office (ELUHO).

Executive Ethics Board

• Advisory opinions: arranged by year, from 1996
• Advisory opinions subject index
• Advisory letters: arranged by date (currently only one document, from 2007).
• Agency policy reviews: arranged by agency, sortable by subject or date, from 1998.
• Results of enforcement (facts, conclusions, and orders in cases): arranged by date, from 1996.

Financial Institutions Department

• Interpretive letters and statements from various divisions (Banks, Consumer Services, Credit Unions, and Securities)
• See Banks Division, Consumer Services Division, Credit Unions Division, and Securities Division

Fish and Wildlife Department Priority Habitats and Species: current list.

Forest Practices Appeals Board, see Environmental Hearings Office decisions.
Note: After June 2010, appeals are filed with the Pollution Control Hearings Board.

Growth Management Hearings Boards
Note: In 2010, the three regional boards were consolidated into one.

• Cases and decisions: searchable
• Digest of decisions (consolidated boards): July-Sept. 2010
• Digests of decisions (regional boards)
  • Central Puget Sound: 10th ed., from 1992-2009.
  • Eastern Washington: final ed., through June 2010.
  • Western Washington: final ed., through June 2010.

Health Department summaries of disciplinary actions: arranged by date, from 2006. See News Releases.

Higher Education Personnel appeals case summaries from the Personnel Department: arranged by subject, from March 1993 to July 2000.

Hydraulic Appeals Board, see Environmental Hearings Office decisions.
Note: After June 2010, appeals are filed with the Pollution Control Hearings Board.

Industrial Insurance Appeals Boardsignificant decisions: searchable by name or keyword, with a subject index, from 1955

Insurance Commissioner

• administrative, disciplinary, enforcement, and general orders: from 2001.
• technical assistance advisories and bulletins were "retired" effective Feb. 6, 2008.

Labor and Industries Department, Industrial Safety & Health Act policies, regional directives, and operations and interpretive memoranda: arranged by name, number, and Washington Administrative Code citation..

Licensing Department, disciplinary actions: summaries of recent disciplinary actions against professionals and business, arranged by business or profession, current.

Marine Employees' Commission

• active cases: status, current.
• decisions: arranged by decision number, from 1983.
• decision digest and digest index: summaries of significant cases, arranged by topic, 1983-Jan. 2011.

Personnel Department, Director's review decisions: searchable.

Personnel Appeals Board decisions: arranged by date, 2000-06.

Personnel Resources Board, decisions: arranged by date, from 2006.

Pollution Control Board

• decisions: arranged by year and searchable, from 1970.
• pending cases: searchable, current.
• Digest of Water Resources Decisions, Pollution Control Hearings Board and Appellate Courts, through 2005.

Practice of Law Board, Washington State Bar Association

• advisory opinions: arranged by number, from 2003.
• unauthorized practice of law findings: arranged by last name, from 2005.

Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors Board of Registration

• disciplinary actions: current
• disciplinary actions: searchable
• summaries of investigations and formal and informal disciplinary actions in the Board's journal: arranged by date, from 2007.

Public Disclosure Commission

• declaratory orders: arranged by number, 1977-2010.
• enforcement hearings, investigations, administrative charges, and stipulations: arranged by date, from 2000.
• interpretations: arranged by date, from April 1991.
• policy statements: arranged by number, from 1994.

Public Employment Relations Commission

• recent decisions: summaries, arranged by name.
• published decisions: arranged by category (certification, interest arbitration, representation and unit clarification, and unfair labor practices) and then number.
• interest arbitration awards: arranged by arbitrator.
• pending Commission cases: current.
• pending representation cases: current
• database of decisions: searchable.

Revenue Department

• Taxpedia: a searchable database of laws, regulations, excise tax advisories, property tax bulletins, audit guidelines, selected Board of Tax Appeals decisions, and excise tax decisions.
• tax decisions from Washington Tax Decisions: complete volumes, in zipped files for downloading.
• excise tax advisories, replaced excise tax bulletins effective July 1998, recent.
• excise tax advisories: archive, arranged by number.
• interim audit guidelines: arranged by number.
• special notices: arranged by subject, from July 1988.
• property tax advisories: arranged by number, from 2000.

Securities Division of the Department of Financial Institutions

• administrative action/orders database: searchable, from 1999.
• administrative orders: arranged by year, from 1998.
• interpretive letters, opinions, and policy statements: by type and then by year.
• Franchise Act interpretive and policy statements: arranged by date, from 1991.
• Securities Act interpretive statements: arranged by date with a subject index, from 1991.
• Securities Act policy statements: arranged by date with a subject index, from 1991.

Shorelines Hearings Board

• decisions: searchable.
• summaries of decisions: arranged by date, 2000-09

Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI)

• notice of disciplinary actions: arranged by name, from 2000.
• special education citizen complaint decisions (SECC): arranged by subject and decision number, from 2003.
• special education due process hearings: arranged by subject, from 2000.
• special education due process decisions: arranged by date, from 1999.

Tax Appeals Board decisions: searchable, from 1986.

Utilities and Transportation Commission dockets, orders, and filings database.

top

Washington Legal Community (Organizations & Libraries)

Legal Services & Bar Associations

• Washington LawHelp: a service sponsored by Columbia Legal Services, the Legal Services Corporation, Northwest Justice Project, the Washington Access to Justice Network, and the Washington courts.
• Washington State Bar Association (WSBA): services for lawyers and the public, licensing and admissions, continuing legal education, ethics opinions, etc.
• WSBA Guide to Law-Related Association, Service, Organizations & Programs. 
• King County Bar Association (KCBA): serving the public and serving lawyers, continuing legal education, young lawyers, foundation, etc.
• Northwest Justice Project: a clearinghouse for legal self-help materials and legal assistance for low-income persons.
• Northwest Women's Law Center: issues, services, advocacy, and guides on children and youth, civil rights, discrimination, economic justice, family law, health care, lesbian and gay rights, public benefits, reproductive freedom, and violence against women.
• Municipal Research & Services Center: a nonprofit organization providing services and information to Washington city and county governments and officials.
• Washington State Trial Lawyers Association, an organization of more than 3500 attorneys and legal professions.

Law Schools, Law Libraries & Archives

• University of Washington School of Law, its Gallagher Law Library, and the Law Library catalog.
• Gonzaga University School of Law, its Law Library, and the Law Library catalog.
• Seattle University School of Law, its Law Library, and the Law Library catalog.
• Summit, a combined catalog of more than 30 college and university libraries in Washington and Oregon, including four law libraries
  • the J.W. Long Law Library at Willamette University
  • the Marian Gould Gallagher Law Library at the University of Washington
  • the Paul L. Boley Law Library at Lewis & Clark Law School
  • the Seattle University Law Library
• King County Law Library and its library catalog; open to the public. KCLL offers reference service by email and a real-time online chat service.
• Washington State Law Library: legal research guides and an email-based reference service.
• County law libraries directory from the Washington Association of County Law Libraries: arranged by county.
• Law Libraries in Washington State and the U.S.
• Law Librarians of Puget Sound (LLOPS): a chapter of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL).
• Washington State Archives
• Washington State Library
  • Documents in the News, links to recent Washington State news stories and the supporting or cited documents, including government reports, legislation, court decisions, regulations, and statistics.
• U.S. National Archives & Records Administration, Pacific Alaska Region.

top

Washington Public Record Databases

Washington Directories

• Access Washington: Washington State's homepage, with links to agencies, boards, commissions, and departments.
• Washington State is a searchable, annotated directory from the Librarians' Internet Index.
• Access Washington Online Telephone Directory: searchable, telephone and fax numbers for state employees.
• Washington Court Directory includes state courts at all levels, tribal courts, and administrative offices.
• Washington House of Representatives member directory.
• Washington Senate roster of members.
• Who Represents You in the Washington Legislature?: searchable by Zip+4 and address.
• City and County Officials Directories on the Web from the Municipal Research & Services Center: arranged by city and county.
• Free or Low-Cost Advocacy, Information, and Referral for King County Residents: a directory of service providers.
• People-Finding: a guide to print and online directories.

top

---

United States Legal Resources

Best Sites

• FDsys, a service of the Government Printing Office (formerly GPO Access). A collection of major sources, full text, including the budget; Code of Federal Regulations and Federal Register; Commerce Business Daily; congressional bills, calendars, directories, hearings, prints, reports, the Congressional Record, and other materials; Economic Indicators and President's Economic Report; General Accounting Office reports; selected administrative agency decisions; Supreme Court opinions; and U.S. Code and session laws.
• Thomas, from the Library of Congress. A collection of legislative resources, including bills, bill status, committee reports and websites, the Congressional Record, Presidential nominations, treaties, and other material.
• Federal Law, from Cornell University's Legal Information Institute. Contains the U.S. Code, the Code of Federal Regulations, and decisions from the Supreme Court and Courts of Appeals.
• USA.gov, the federal government's portal to information and services. Also includes state, local, and tribal governments.
• lexisONE, free federal and state caselaw, last 5 years (registration required)
• LexisNexis Academic and ProQuest Congressional: commercial services with federal and state cases and laws, Congressional materials, and selected secondary sources. UW Restricted
• Federal Government Resources on the Web from University of Michigan Documents Center.

top

U.S. Laws, Legislation & the Congress

U.S. Constitution

• Constitution from Cornell's Legal Information Institute.
• LexisNexis Academic: searchable, annotated. UW Restricted
• U.S. Constitution: Analysis and Interpretation by the Congressional Research Service on FDsys: searchable, includes discussion and references to significant cases. Cornell's Legal Information Institute offers an easier-to-use hyperlinked version.
• The Founders' Constitution from the University of Chicago Press: a collection of full-text documents compiled by constitutional scholars Philip B. Kurland & Ralph Lerner, searchable.
• Farrand's Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, from the Library of Congress.
• Elliot's Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, from the Library of Congress.
• The Federalist Papers, from Yale Law School's Avalon Project: searchable.
• The Federalist Papers, from Thomas: arranged by number.

Bills & Resolutions: Legislation being considered by Congress

• bills and bill status from Thomas: searchable, from 1993.
• bills from FDsys: searchable, from 103d Congress, 1993.
• bills and bill status from ProQuest Congressional: searchable, from 1989. UW Restricted

Public Laws: Laws passed by Congress & signed by the President, in date order

Slip laws

• Thomas: arranged by Congress then public law number, from 1973 (93d Congress).
• Authenticated public and private laws from FDsys: searchable, from 104th Congress, 1995. (Digitally signed and certified)
• classification tables from the Office of the Law Revision Counsel: provides U.S. Code citations for public laws and U.S. Code sections affected by recently enacted laws.

U.S. Statutes at Large: slip laws organized by Congress and session

• FDsys: searchable, from 108th Congress, 2003, vol. 117.
• HeinOnline: searchable, with lists by popular name, Indian treaties, and other treaties, from 1789. UW Restricted
• Library of Congress: 1789-1875 (vols. 1-18, 1st-43d Congresses).

U.S. Code: Laws in force arranged by subject

• FDsys: searchable, current ed. with supplements.
• US House of Representatives: current edition, with supplements, in PDF; arranged by title number. Caution: many of these files are extremely large.
• Cornell's Legal Information Institute: searchable, current edition.
• Findlaw; searchable, current edition.
• Office of Law Revision Counsel: searchable, current edition, with a Popular Name tool and classification tables for converting Statutes at Large citations to current U.S. Code titles and sections.
• U.S. Code Service from LexisNexis Academic and ProQuest Congressional: searchable, annotated. UW Restricted

See also the Gallagher guide on Federal Legislative History.

Congressional Record: Transcript of proceedings in the U.S. Congress

• GPO/FDsys: daily editions, searchable, from 1994, vol. 140.
• GPO/FDsys: bound vols, searchable, from Dec. 1998.
• GPO/FDsys: index, searchable, from 1983.
• CR from Thomas: searchable, from 1990 (101st Congress).
• HeinOnline: bound vols, searchable, from 43 Congress, 1873, vol. 1.
• HeinOnline: daily editions, searchable, from 1994, vol. 140.
• CR from ProQuest Congressional: searchable, from 1985. UW Restricted
• Annals of Congress, 1st Congress through 18th Congress, 1st session, from the Library of Congress: covers 1789-1824.
• Register of Debates, 18th Congress, 2d session through 25th Congress, 1st session, from the Library of Congress: covers 1824-37.
• Congressional Globe, 23d-42d Congresses, from the Library of Congress: covers 1833-73.

Committee Reports

House, Senate & Executive reports (collectively known as the Serial Set)

• reports from GPO Access: searchable, from 1995 (104th Congress).
• reports from Thomas: searchable, from 1995 (104th Congress).
• reports from ProQuest Congressional: searchable, from 1990. UW Restricted
• Readex U.S. Congressional Serial Set: searchable, 15th-96th Congresses, 1817-1980, Vols. 1-9912.  UW Restricted
• historical Serial Set volumes, from the Library of Congress: selected volumes from the 23d Congress, 1833-35; 56th Congress, 1899-1901; and the 58th Congress, 1903-05 (Journals of the Confederate Congress).

Committee Documents

House, Senate & Treaty documents

• documents from GPO Access: searchable, from 1985 (99th Congress).
• documents from ProQuest Congressional: searchable, from 1995 (104th Congress). UW Restricted
• Readex U.S. Congressional Serial Set: searchable, 15th-74th Congresses, 1817-1935, Vols. 1-13384.  UW Restricted

Committee Hearings & Testimony

• hearings from GPO Access: searchable, from 1985 (99th Congress).
• selected witness statements from House and Senate committees: select committee by pull-down menu.
• testimony from ProQuest Congressional: searchable, from 1988. UW Restricted

Other Historical Congressional Material

• Journal of the House of Representatives:
  • Library of Congress: 1789-1873.
  • FDsys: 1992-1999
• Journal of the Senate: 1789-1873.
• Journals of the Continental Congress: 1774-89.
• American State Papers: searchable, 1st-25th Congresses, 1789-1838. UW Restricted

top

U.S. Court Opinions, Court Rules, Other Judicial Material & the Courts

See also Briefs and Oral Arguments.

U.S. Supreme Court

Source	Dates	Access & Restrictions	Format	Notes
Hein Online	1754-date	UW Restricted	PDF images of official U.S. Reports & slip opinions
Google Scholar	1791-date	free	html
lexisONE	1781-date	free	text	provides parallel citations
Justia	1759-last year	free	text	search by U.S. reports citation, party name, or keyword
Public Library of Law	1759-date	free, by registration is required	text	search by keyword
OpenJurist	1790-date	free	text	search by keyword
Findlaw	1893-date	free	text	search by U.S. Reports citation, party name, or keyword
LexisNexis Academic	1790-date	UW Restricted	text	search by citation, party name, or keyword
Legal Information Institute (Cornell)	1803-1991 (selected)	free	text	more than 600 historically significant cases; search by topic, party, or author of the opinion
FedWorld	1937-75	free	text	Federal Legal Information Through Electronics (FLITE) database from the Air Force
Supreme Court	1991-date	free	text & PDF (bound volumes)	useful for recent slip opinions &r bound volumes (vol. 502-date)
Legal Information Institute (Cornell)	1990-date	free	HTML & PDF	include links to cited sources (U.S. Code, CFR, other cases) that are also available at LII

• Willamette Law Online: "same-day summaries of certiorari granted, oral arguments, and decisions;" arranged by date, from 2002.
• docket from the Supreme Court: searchable.
• docket and news in On the Docket, from Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism.
• Dates of Supreme Court Decisions and Arguments, United States Reports Volumes 2-107 (1791-1882) from the Supreme Court. A useful list for citation purposes because the early reporters did not include the year of decisions.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Decisions

Source	Dates	Access & Restrictions	Format	Notes
LexisNexis Academic	1855-date	UW Restricted	text	searchable
Google Scholar	1923-date	free	html	searchable
Justia	1950-date	free	text	searchable
OpenJurist	1880-date	free	text	searchable
9th Cir. Court of Appeals	1995-date	free	text	searchable; arranged by date or docket no.
Findlaw	1996-date	free	text	searchable
lexisONE	last five years	free, but registration is required
Willamette Law Online	2004-date	free	summaries	email subscription available

Other Federal Courts

• LexisNexis Academic: all dates, searchable. UW Restricted
• Google Scholar: appellate, bankruptcy, district, and tax courts, 1923-date, searchable.
• Justia, US Court of Appeals Cases & Opinions: 1950-date, searchable.
• OpenJurist: all dates, free, searchable.
• Public Library of Law: appellate cases, 1950-date, searchable
• lexisONE: searchable, last five years, registration required.
• Cornell Legal Information Institute: searchable, coverage varies.
• Findlaw: searchable, coverage varies.
• See also U.S. Directories--Courts, below.

Court Rules
 

Cornell LII

Federal Rules of . . .

GPO Access

U.S. House Judiciary Comm.

Cornell Legal Info Institute

Other Appellate Procedure Title 28 appendix FRAP Ninth Circuit Ct. of Appeals Civil Procedure Title 28 appendix FRCP FRCP Amendments to the FRCP, Nov. 2007 Criminal Procedure Title 18 appendix FRCrmP FRCrmP Evidence Title 28 appendix FRE Supreme Court Rules Title 28 appendix RSC Supreme Court Ninth Circuit Ct. of Appeals Ninth Circuit Ct. of Appeals

Proposed and Recent Changes to federal court rules.

Other Court Information & Material

• Court rules, forms, and dockets from LLRX: includes links to federal and state courts.
• Court forms from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Supreme Court briefs and oral arguments.
• LLRX, Web Guide to U.S. Supreme Court Research.
• U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington: forms, rules, jury information, and other documents; no opinions.
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Washington: docket information, filing and termination reports, statistics, judicial calendars, and creditor meetings.
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Western District of Washington: judicial and motion calendars, local rules, forms, and fee schedules.
• Code of Conduct for United States Judges.
• Judicial Conference of the United States
  • Committee on Codes of Conduct, formal advisory opinions: from 1998.
  • Proceedings of meetings: from March 1997.

top

U.S. Administrative Decisions, the President & Agencies

Presidential Executive Orders, Proclamations & Other Documents

• Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents from GPO Access: searchable, from 2009.
• Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents from GPO Access: searchable, 1993-Jan. 29, 2009.
• Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents from Hein Online: searchable, from 1965. UW Restricted
• Public Papers of the President from the National Archives and Records Administration via GPO Access: searchable, from 1992.
• Codification of Presidential Proclamations and Executive Orders from the National Archives and Records Administration: searchable, with an index and disposition tables, from 1945 to 1989.
• Executive orders disposition tables, from the National Archives and Records Administration: arranged by president then year, from 1937-date.
• Presidential Documents Guide from the National Archives and Records Administration.

Administrative Agency Decisions

• Administrative Decisions & Other Actions from the University of Virginia Library: links to web-accessible administrative decisions and opinions, arranged by agency and by subject.
• Government Information Locator Service (GILS): searchable, identifies and describes publicly available information resources held or collected by federal agencies.
• See also LLMC Digital. UW Restricted

top

U.S. Directories

See also the People-Finding guide.

Congress

• Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress: searchable, 1774 to present.
• Congressional Directory from GPO Access: searchable, from 1996 (104th Congress).
• Congressional Pictorial Directory from GPO Access: searchable, from 1997 (105th Congress).
• House members and committees from the Office of the Clerk: current.
• Senators from the Senate: current.
• biographical, campaign finance, committee information, and voting records from LexisNexis Congressional: searchable, from 1997 (105th Congress).
UW Restricted

Courts

• Federal Court Locator from Villanova University: links to sites that contain recent opinions from the federal courts.
• Contact the Federal Judiciary from the U.S. Courts: select court type then geographic region.
• U.S. Courts from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts: a directory of federal courts and pretrial services and probation offices.

Executive Branch & General U.S. Government

• Federal Agencies Directory from Louisiana State University librarians.
• Federal Government Agencies Database and government agency Acronyms Index from Duke University librarians.
• U.S. Government Manual from GPO Access: searchable, from 1995.

top

---

Legal Resources for Other Jurisdictions

U.S. States

Multi-State, Multi-Source Sites

• LexisNexis Academic: constitutions, court opinions and rules, laws, and attorney general opinions. UW Restricted
• State and Local Government on the Net from Piper Resources: arranged by state, includes links to state homepages, directories, and websites of elected officials, the legislature, the judiciary, executive branch agencies, boards and commissions, regional organizations, and municipalities.
• State Legal Sources on the Web, from the University of Michigan Documents Center. Links to and describes years of coverage for bills, session laws, codes and constitutions, regulations, executive orders, attorney general opinions, courts, newspapers, state law libraries, and election data.
• State Resource Center from lexisONE: arranged by state.
• LexisNexis free Legal Research center and attorney directory by Lawyers.com. Links to state statutes and selected state agencies. Also includes articles and links by area of law.
• State Resources from Findlaw: arranged by state, includes links to constitutions, legislation, laws, administrative codes and registers, attorney general opinions, and other legal materials.
• GovEngine: a portal to federal and state government agencies and courts.
• Zimmerman's Research Guide, an online encyclopedia for legal researchers.

Constitutions

LexisNexis Academic: Legal > Federal & State Codes > State Codes, Constitutions . . . . UW Restricted

Constitutions, Statutes, and Codes from Cornell University's Legal Information Institute: arranged by state.

State Constitutions from Findlaw: arranged by state.

State Constitutions from Yahoo: arranged by state.

Legislative Branch

LexisNexis Academic: Legal > Federal & State Codes > State Codes, Constitutions . . . . UW Restricted

State Legislatures Internet Links from the National Conference of State Legislatures: arranged by state.

State Legislatures, State Laws and State Regulations from the Law Librarians' Society of Washington, DC: arranged by state, links to websites and provides phone numbers.

State Legislature Websites from Thomas: arranged by state.

Judicial Branch

LexisNexis Academic: Legal > Federal & State Cases. UW Restricted

lexisONE, free state appellate cases, last ten years only

Public Library of Law: appellate cases, 1997-date, searchable.

Court Web Sites from the National Center for State Courts: arranged by state.

Court Rules, Forms, and Dockets from LLRX: searchable by jurisdiction and type of resource.

Executive Branch

Administrative codes and registers

• Internet Access to Administrative Rules from the National Association of Secretaries of State: arranged by state, includes links to state homepages, administrative codes and registers, and state manuals
• State Legislatures, State Laws and State Regulations from the Law Librarians' Society of Washington, DC: arranged by state, links to websites and provides phone numbers.

State Agency Databases, a wiki list by state, from the American Library Association's Government Documents Round Table.

Cities & Counties

Cities online from the United States Conference of Mayors.

City and county codes from Municipal Code Corporation.

City and county codes from Seattle Public Library.

top

Foreign Countries & International Organizations

Use these websites for comparative, foreign, and international law research.

• Cornell's Foreign & International Law: constitutions, countries, International Court of Justice, trade, treaties, and UN.
• Harvard's Foreign & International Law Resources: An Annotated Guide to Web Sites Around the World.
• Findlaw's Foreign & International Law Sources: constitutions, countries, legal news, trade, and U.S. embassies.
• Foreign Governments from Northwestern University and the International Documents Task Force of the American Library Association's Government Documents Roundtable.
• Foreign Primary Law on the Web from Timothy Mulligan and Chenglin Liu, University of Houston Law Library.
• Government Gazettes Online from the University of Michigan School of Information.
• Guide to Law Online from the Library of Congress: nations of the world, multinational and international legal sources. 
• International Governmental Organizations from the Northwestern University Library.
• LexisNexis Academic: Canadian and provincial court opinions, laws, and regulations; cases from courts in Australia, the European Union, Hong Kong, Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. UW Restricted
• WashLaw's Foreign and International Law Web: countries, organizations, and subjects.
• World Law from Jurist: countries of the world.
• World Legal Information Institute: full-text cases, laws, and treaties and links to related legal resources.
• WTO/GATT Research from LLRX.
• Yale's Country-by-Country Guide to Foreign Law Research links to online legal research guides, LexisNexis and Westlaw databases, and other sources.

top

Legal Indexes

Use these websites to search for other legal materials, including government publications, legal organizations, trade and industry groups, attorneys, law schools, law libraries, library catalogs, legal publishers, foreign and international material, and other sources related to the study and practice of law.

• Academic Info, Law & Legal Research Gateway from Academic Info.
• American Law Sources On-Line from Law Source, Inc.
• CataLaw: a meta-index of legal information on the web.
• FindLaw: an index to legal material on the Internet; features the LawCrawler search engine.
• Hieros Gamos from Lex Mundi: a legal portal.
• Internet Law Library formerly from the U.S. House of Representatives, now hosted by the 'Lectric Law Library.
• Internet Legal Resource Guide: features the LawRunner search engine.
• Law and Politics: Internet Guide.
• Law.com: a legal portal with news.
• LawIDEA.com: a legal portal.
• LawLink from the American Bar Association.
• LegalEngine.com: an index to legal material on the Internet.
• Legal Information Institute from Cornell Law School.
• LegalTrek: a legal portal with news. 
• Legal Web Site Directory from lexisONE.
• LexNotes Research Sources from T.R. Halvorson.
• LLRX: a legal portal with legal research guides.
• MegaLaw: a legal portal.
• Meta-Index for U.S. Legal Research from Georgia State University College of Law: permits searches of selected sites from a single page.
• WashLaw Web from Washburn University Law School.
• World Wide Web Virtual Library: Law from Indiana University School of Law Library.

top

Directories

• U.S. law schools that are members of the Association of American Law Schools.
• U.S. law schools from Jurist: links to homepages and pages for admissions, curriculum, faculty, libraries, news and events, and publications.
• Martindale-Hubbell Lawyer Locator: a nationwide directory of lawyers and law firms, searchable.
• West's Legal Directory: a nationwide directory of lawyers and law firms, searchable.
• World Directory of Law Schools (excluding the United States), from the Association of American Law Schools.
• See also Washington Directories, U.S. Directories

---

Internet Search Engines

The following site links to the best general search engines, subject directories, and meta search engines.

• Internet Guides & Search Tools from the Librarians' Internet Index, also covers evaluation of resources and metadata.
• AllSearchEngines.com: links to major search engines, topical search engines, meta search engines, and search engine comparisons.
• NoodleQuest, Search Engine Wizard: Directs users to the most appropriate search engine to meet their needs.
• Profusion: a directory of databases and meta-search engine.
• Cornell Law Library, Legal Research Search Engine: searches for legal research guides, pathfinders, and tutorials on selected law library websites (including the Gallagher Law Library).

top