The following are good starting points for most legal questions. It will be beneficial to you to analyze whether your question involves a need for specific information (for example, the text of a certain law or how to write a contract) or for general information (for example, the topic of freedom of the press). Most of the websites listed under "General Law" are a mix of those two types of information. The American Association of Law Libraries has a guide to legal research for non-lawyers if you need help with getting started.
General Law |
State and Local Law, Especially Texas and Austin |
International Law |
Legal Assistantship
|
- FindLaw
- An extensive listing of links to law web sites. Easy-to-use arrangement by general and specific topics or there is a connection to LawCrawler, a search engine of law web sites. FindLaw LegalNews is a daily updated source of legal news. Links to online legal forms are also included.
- Public Library of the Law
- Provides access to full-text federal and state case law, statutes, regulations, court rules, and forms. Free registration may be required.
- AllLaw
- Links to law sites and resources for both professionals and laypeople. Legal forms, periodicals, information of law schools are included. A section on state law includes resources on Texas.
- U.S. Courts: The Federal Judiciary
- A guide to the various levels of federal courts. A useful section is a glossary of legal terms.
- Guide to the U. S. Federal Legal System Web-based Public Accessible Sources
- A very thorough explanation of the legal structure of the U.S., with links to online resources. Use the table of contents to locate the portion relevant to your needs. From New York University Law School.
- Internet Legal Resource Guide
- Both a collection of links web sites and a provider of information, such as legal forms, information on law schools, etc.
- Law Library of Congress: Guide to Online Law
- Divided into international, U.S., and state law. Good collection of quality sources.
- FreeAdvice
- A huge variety of basic legal questions are answered, mainly aimed at consumers and small business. Legal forms are also provided.
- Yahoo's list of law web sites
- Yahoo is both a web search engine and a directory of web topics. This is their list of law topics. You can select from the list or use the search engine for your specific topic.
- Hieros Gamos: Law and Legal Research Center
- A little bit of everything: U.S. and international law, information on law schools, consumer law and advice, legal news, etc.
- GigaLaw
- Lists general and specific legal topics and connects to short pieces written by a variety of authors with experience in the areas. Good place for information for "average" person. Covers both social legal issues, such as free speech, and more technical ones, such as contracts.
- LexisONE
- Requires free registration. Access to case law for all states and federal cases for past 5 years and U.S. Supreme Court back to 1790. Also has thousands of legal forms to download and directories of lawyers. Look for the section marked "Free Resources from LexisONE.
- Oyez - U.S. Supreme Court Multimedia
- Information on current, recent, and upcoming Supreme Court cases, emphasizing audio and visual sources. Biographies of the current justices.
- Famous Trials
- Over 30 of the most famous trials in history--from Socrates to O.J. Simpson--are covered. There are links to additional information on trials and trial lawyers. From a law professor at the University of Missouri.
- Business.gov
- From the federal Small Business Administration. Wide-ranging topics relating to legal aspects of running a small business, including links to relevant forms.
- Paper Chase
- Up-to-the-minute reports on significant current legal stories. Latest two days appear on this site, with the earlier days available in the Archives area. Also includes links to other law-related web information. From the University of Pittsburgh Law School.
- American Bar Association
- The largest lawyer organization's web site. Although largely information about the profession, there are useful links to other legal web sites, continuing education, discussion groups, and an online edition of the ABA Journal.
- Encyclopedia of Everyday Law
- From NetLibrary (Online book available only to ACC students and staff.) Go to http://library.austincc.edu/eresources/AtoZ.htm to access NetLibrary.
- Dumb Laws
- A collection of supposedly real stupid laws from the world, the U.S., and individual states.
- FindLaw Links for Texas
- Links to many Texas law resources, including Texas statutes, codes, and court cases (go to the "Primary Materials" section). Also has legal forms, information on law schools, and more.
- Texas Legislative Research Library
- This site has much information on Texas state legislation, including the latest laws passed. The "Reference Desk" section has a list of web links for legal questions.
- Law Library of Congress: Texas
- Easy to use collection of links to legal and governmental sources.
- Texas Law Help
- Aimed at low-income Texans, this site offers legal advice on a wide variety of topics. The contents are also available in Spanish and Vietnamese.
- Texas Law Librarians
- Web links selected by a law librarian. Divided into 7 categories.
- Texas Lawyer
- An online magazine. Aimed at practicing attorneys and their staffs, with an emphasis on current cases and issues.
- Austin City Code of Ordinances
- The city ordinances concerning the city council, elections, finances, etc. There are also links to the city charter and information about the development process.
- State and Local Government on the Net
- Links to web sites for all 50 states. The list for Texas is quite extensive.
- Foreign and International Law Resources on the Internet: Annotated
- Very well done gateway to web resources on international law. Divided into several categories to aid in locating specific topics. From Cornell University School of Law.
- Foreign and International Law
- Provides links to primary foreign and international legal resources and research aids. From the Washburn School of Law Library.
- Nations of the World
- Excellent source of information on the governmental and legal structures of almost every country in the world. For each, the constitution is given, along with a description of the judicial, legislative, and executive systems. From the Library of Congress.
- ALSO - American Law Sources Online
- Compiles links to sources to laws of the U.S. but also Mexico and Canada.
- Paralegal Division--State Bar of Texas
- A subdivision of the state's lawyer organization.
- National Association of Legal Assistants
- The website of the professional organization includes standards, certification information, calendar of events, and links to other related web sites.
- National Federation of Paralegal Associations
- A wide variety of useful information is linked to, including career guidance, job listings, education advice, and other relevant Internet sites.
- Legal Assistant Today
- The professional magazine Legal Assistant Today, regularly lists useful web sites. It is available in the Rio Grande Campus Library.
- Legal Citation
- Basic legal citation assistance - hosted by Cornell.
- Duhaime's Law Dictionary
- A law dictionary from a Canadian lawyer, so expect some "foreign" terminology.
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Comments or questions about this webpage -- e-mail Leigh Kilman (lkilman@austincc.edu).
Last updated March 25, 2008