Bookmarks for Law on the ‘Net
April 2004
California Courts
Self-Help Center
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp
Provided
by the CA Judicial Council, this web site is designed to help people learn
about California law, represent themselves in legal matters, and find legal
assistance. A reliable source of California legal information in Spanish,
Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese.
Nolo Plain English Law
Center
http://www.nolo.com/lawcenter/index.cfm
Plain
English Legal Center offers Nolo's legal encyclopedia and legal dictionary.
Provides links to legal resources on the Internet and help on conducting legal
research.
Cornell Legal Information
Institute Law About Series
http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/index.html
Cornell's
Legal Information Institute has an extensive list of topics. Each gives an
overview of the area of law and links to important primary sources in that
field.
Librarian’s Index to the
Internet
http://lii.org/search/file/law
Loads
of links to resources (many organizational sites) relevant to a variety of law
topics. No direct links to primary
legal resources.
Legislative Counsel’s
Official Legislative Information
Access
to the California Constitution, California bills (including legislative history
materials), statutes and the current California Code.
Los Angeles County Law
Library, California Ballot Propositions
http://lalaw.lib.ca.us/ballot.html
Lists
all California propositions from 1884 to the present including a summary and
whether the proposition passed or failed. Indicates where passed propositions
have been codified
Hastings College of the
Law California Ballot Initiatives
The
California Ballot Propositions Database is a comprehensive, searchable source
of information on California ballot propositions from 1911 to the present. The
database contains the full text of the propositions, accompanying material
contained in the voters' pamphlets, related legal and legislative history, and
digital images of the voters' pamphlets.
California Secretary of
State Elections Division
http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/elections_j.htm
Information
on currently circulating initiatives as well as the ballot pamphlets from 1996
forward.
California Judicial
Council Opinions
Links
to all California courts. Offers a searchable database of court opinions from
1850 to the present
Findlaw California > Case
Law
http://www.findlaw.com/cacases/index.html
Provides
access to California Supreme Court and Courts of Appeals cases from 1934 to the
present. Must register to view the cases!
CourtTV Online
Provides
information on current newsworthy cases and controversies. Also includes a
Crime Library of famous cases.
California Code of
Regulations
Provides
access to current regulations of California agencies. Searchable by agency or
key word.
California State Web Page
Agency List
http://www.ca.gov/state/portal/myca_homepage.jsp
Official
California State web page includes a list of all California agencies with
contact information.
California Department of
Consumer Affairs
Various
consumer guides including fact sheets on landlord/tenant issues and identity
theft.
City and County Lists on
the California State Web Page http://www.ca.gov/state/portal/myca_homepage.jsp
The
California State web page has links to all city and county web sites, many of
which include their own municipal codes. A great first place to look.
U.C. Berkeley Institute
of Governmental Studies Library
http://www.igs.berkeley.edu/library/calcodes.html
The
IGS Library maintains a large collection of California municipal ordinances and
charters. Their web site provides links to those available on the Internet.
Seattle Public Library
Municipal Codes Online
http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=collection_municodes
Extensive
collection of municipal codes available via the Internet. Provides links to the
major municipal code publishers.
U.S. Constitution
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.overview.html
Full
text of U.S. Constitution and Amendments as well as a list of the signers.
THOMAS – U.S. Congress on
the Internet
http://thomas.loc.gov
Provides
access to federal legislative information including the text and status of
bills, some hearings and reports, and the Congressional Record.
GPO Access: Official
Federal Government Information
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/index.html
Provides
access to federal government information including the U.S. Code and the Code
of Federal Regulations.
United States Code
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/
United
States Code as provided by the U.S. House of Representatives. Includes a list
of code sections by their popular titles (Americans with Disabilities Act, Fair
Housing Act, etc.). Be sure to check the currency of your code section - might
be out-of-date!
Supreme Court of the
United States
Official
U.S. Supreme Court site. Provides docket information on the current term and
the full-text of Supreme Court decisions.
Cornell Legal Information
Institute
Provided
by Cornell Law School, LII offers links to the U.S. Constitution, U.S. Code,
Supreme Court opinions and information by legal topic. Of particular note is
its listing of Supreme Court cases from 1990 to the present by issue.
Federal Judiciary
Homepage: News and information about the Federal Courts
Provides
links to all federal courts and information on the federal judiciary.
Ninth Circuit Homepage
Official
home page for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Includes a handbook for pro se litigants.
Provides access to 9th Circuit opinions.
Access GPO
Includes
the Code of Federal Regulations from 1997 to the present.
Code of Federal
Regulations
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/cfr/
Current
CFR searchable by citation, by keyword or by using the detailed table of
contents.
FirstGov Federal Agencies
List
http://www.firstgov.gov/Agencies/Federal/All_Agencies/index.shtml
First
Gov offers contact and other information for federal agencies.
State Bar of California
The
State Bar's Attorney Search database provides information on all attorneys
licensed to practice in California including disciplinary information. The site
also provides links to legal resources on the Internet and some helpful
consumer guides.
Martindale-Hubbell®
Lawyer Locator
http://www.martindale.com/locator/home.html
Martindale-Hubbell
provides national and international listings of attorneys. Can be searched by
name, jurisdiction, and/or specialty.
California Legal
Specialists
http://www.californiaspecialist.org
Search
for legal specialists certified by the California State Bar and by other accrediting
institutions.
California Judicial
Council Court Forms
Forms
filed in California Courts. Some are mandatory; some suggested. Interactive or
printable versions.
California Secretary of
State Business Portal
http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/business.htm
Provides
information for and about California businesses including starting a business
and registering trademarks. Includes many business forms.
U.S. Court Forms
Provides
huge selection of both business and legal forms. Many are free, but some
require payment.
Legal Docs
Includes
many legal forms, including many at no cost, for contracts, leases, will,
estate planning, corporations, living wills, trusts, and living trusts.
FedForms
Forms
for hundreds of Federal agencies including the EPA, the Dept. of Justice, and
the Treasury Department.
Findlaw Forms
As a last resort.
LexisOne Forms
http://www.lexisone.com/store/catalog?action=rootFreeCategory
Some free forms; lots of fee-based forms.
The National Law Journal
A
weekly national legal news publication. Current issue is free.
LLRX.com
Provides
articles on new legal developments on the Internet. Of special interest to
librarians as it publishes articles evaluating new resources and offering
internet legal research tips.
Good Starting Places
California Courts
Self-Help Center
http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/
The place to start folks who are trying to handle their
own legal problems.
24/7 Reference Project
http://www.247ref.org/portal/access_law3.cfm
Part
of the 24/7 Virtual Reference project, your users can conduct a chat session or
email law librarians legal questions.
Locating the Law, 4th
ed.
http://www.aallnet.org/chapter/scall
The
Southern California Association of Law Libraries (SCALL) handbook designed for
non-law librarians. Offers hyperlinks to legal materials on the Internet as
well as print sources of legal information.
Council of California
County Law Librarian
List
of County Law Libraries (which are open to the public) along with links to
their web pages which are great sources of legal info.
Findlaw
Probably
the best know law site but not necessarily the best in quality. Does provide
one-stop shopping for all 50 states and federal law.
Hieros Gamos
Megasite
which provides links to federal and state legal information and a wide range of
foreign countries. Most recommended by law schools and attorneys.
Internet Legal Resource
Guide
An
index to thousands of legal sites on the Internet. Includes a forms archive.
Lexis®
One
of the two online legal giants, offers its resources by credit card to
non-subscribers.
Westlaw®
One
of the two giants of online legal research. Most resources are available only
to subscribers but non-subscribers can access particular documents and pay via
credit card.