Primary authority
US House of Representatives
http://uscode.house.gov/
The official website for the United States Code - updated through Thomas.
Thomas
http://thomas.loc.gov/
Federal legislative tracking and history databases provided by the Library of Congress.
US Supreme Court
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/
Provides docket information, argument calendar, opinions, and court rules.
http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.htmlUS courts
http://www.uscourts.gov
Provides links to every federal district court, bankruptcy court, and court of appeals.Oyez
http://www.oyez.org
Current and historical information about the Supreme Court. Oral arguments of selected cases.US Supreme Court resources
http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/vlibrary/spct/index.html
Links to current opinions and ordersPublic Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER)
http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov
Centralized support center for electronic access to US court records.
USA.gov
http://www.usa.gov/
The official US gateway to all government information. Provides access to 47,000,000 pages of federal government documents and includes links to state and local government sites as well.Library of Congress
http://www.loc.gov/rr/news/fedgov.html
Examples –
- Securities and Exchange Commission
http://www.sec.gov/- International Trade Commission
http://www.usitc.gov/- US Patent and Trademark Office
http://www.uspto.gov/Code of Federal Regulations
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.htmlFederal Register
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.htmlRegulations.gov
http://www.regulations.gov/
Secondary authority
Law reviews online
http://www.loc.gov/law/guide/lawreviews.htmlLegal Scholarship Network
http://ssrn.com/lsn/index.htmlDuke University School of Law Journals
http://www.law.duke.edu/journalsAssociations
Examples -International Trademark Association
http://inta.org/Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA)
http://www.atla.org/American Bar Association
http://www.abanet.org/home.cfmNational School Boards Association
http://www.nsba.org
Fifty state information
Cornell
http://www.law.cornell.edu/states/index.htmlTarlton Law Library
http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/vlibrary/online/internet/index. html
Texas
Primary authority
- Legislative
Texas Legislature Online
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/
Electronic access to the Legislature. Provides bill status, actions, text, etc. Access to video and/or audio of hearings, etc. Invaluable for current awareness during session and legislative history research. Provides access to unannotated Texas statutes.Legislative Reference Library
http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/
Provides reference and research to the Legislature, its staff, and its committees. Has electronic access to Bill-Chapter/Chapter-Bill Cross Reference Tables and Index to Sections AffectedThe Guide to Texas Legislative Information
http://www.tlc.state.tx.us/pubslegref/gtli.pdf
Offers general information to help legislators, other state officials and employees, and interested citizens in researching the work of past legislatures and in tracking the progress of pending legislative measures during a session.
- Judicial
Texas Judiciary Online
http://www.courts.state.tx.us/
Hosts websites for Texas Supreme Court, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and Courts of Appeals. Provides links to trial courts around the state. Phone numbers for Texas state courts are available through the Texas Judicial System Directory feature of Texas Judiciary Online.Travis County District Courts
http://www.co.travis.tx.us/district_courts/default.asp
Provides standing orders, civil courts docket, local rules, contact information, etc.MyTexasBar.com
http://www.MyTexasBar.com
Free access to State Bar of Texas members to Texas case law (from 1929 forward) through casemaker.
- Administrative
Texas Secretary of State
http://www.sos.state.tx.us/index.html
Electronic access to Texas Administrative Code and Texas Register. Numerous corporate forms. Secretary of State OnLine Access (SOSDirect) includes records filed with the SOS relating to corporations, limited partnerships, etc.Attorney General of Texas
http://www.oag.state.tx.us/index.shtml
Includes Attorney General Opinions and Open Records Opinions. Information and forms for child support services.Texas Records and Information Locator (TRAIL) - List of State Agencies
http://www2.tsl.state.tx.us/trail/agencies.jsp
The list of state agencies includes a link to the TRAIL page that provides contact information, addresses, phone numbers and links to enabling legislation for that agency. We have also provided a link directly to the agency's Web site and a link that searches for the agency's online publications in the TRAIL databaseSecondary authority
Texas Fact Book
http://www.lbb.state.tx.us/Fact_Book/Texas_Fact_Book_2004_1103.pdf
Published every two years by the Legislative Budget Board. Includes contact information for all members of Legislature, maps of Legislative complex and statistics on population, state spending, exports, etc.Texas Ethics Reporter
http://www.law.uh.edu/libraries/ethics/
Provides current and previous versions of the rules along with ethics opinions and disciplinary actions.Texas Law Help
http://www.texaslawhelp.org/TX/index.cfm
Site catering to commonly asked legal questions. Provides Protective Order Kit, and searchable database of organizations providing legal assistance. Sponsored by Texas Access to Justice Commission, Texas Equal Access to Justice Foundation, Legal Services Corporation and Texas Legal Services Center.
Cornell Legal Information Institute
http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/
A comprehensive source of both primary and secondary legal materials. Provides access to US Code, CFR, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure.Library of Congress Guide to Law Online
http://www.loc.gov/law/guide/
Annotated guide to government and legal information resources.Tarlton Law Library - Virtual library
http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/vlibrary/online/internet/index.htmlLexisOne
http://www.lexisone.com
Lexis also offers a free service that makes available certain (usually otherwise publicly available) primary sources. Users can, however, scan the Lexis databases and choose to obtain other materials on a pay-as-you-go basis.Findlaw
http://www.findlaw.com
Findlaw, owned by Westlaw, provides links to primary and secondary authorities and to other law-related websites. Likewise, Findlaw provides links to USC, CFR, Federal Register, Supreme COurt decisions, and numerous state materials including city codes for Texas.
LoisLaw
http://www.loislaw.com
LoisLaw provides access to case law, statutory law, constitutions, administrative law, court rules, and other authority for all 50 states and D.C. 18 topical "law libraries" include the Aspen/CCH Bankruptcy Law Library, CCH State-Specific Employment Law Library, and the Internet and E-Commerce Law Library. Special features allow user to search across jurisdictions, and cite-check case law and statutes. Generally, an annual flat fee.Versuslaw
http://www.versuslaw.com
Limited databases; extremely affordable monthly subscriptions starting at $11.95/mo.; basic plan does not allow citation searches and results are from courts rather than official reporters.
Municode
http://www.municode.com
AmLegal
http://www.amlegal.com/
Publishers of municipal codes. Both provide free access to online library of many Texas municipal codes. Austin municipal code - http://www.amlegal.com/austin_tx/Texas County Data
http://www.txcountydata.com/
Provides access to and links appraisal districts through the state. Travis County data available at http://www.traviscad.org/Tarlton Law Library - Government documents page
http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/collections/govdocs/index.html
Provides access to government statistics, reports, legislative histories, and other historical and current materials.US Department of State
http://www.state.gov/
Includes list of treatises in force to which US is a party, treaty actions, and multilateral treaties for which US is a depository.WordLII (World Legal Information Institute)
http://www.worldlii.org
A comprehensive portal to primary legal authority from around the world.Hieros Gamos: The Comprehensive Law and Government Portal
http://www.hg.org
This legal portal includes a special section on Education Law that is fairly comprehensive and even includes links to education law in some foreign countries. Categories of materials linked include: case law, regulations, agencies and programs, state education law (alphabetical by state), a number of discussion groups, and more than 20 links to associations involved with education law.
Prepared by Jane O'Connell and Jeanne Price