Meta-Index for U.S. Legal Research

[ Judicial Opinions | Legislation | Federal Regulation | Other Legal Sources | People in Law ]

This page illustrates the use of searchable legal indexes on the World Wide Web. Only specifically legal indexes in the U.S. are included. Please note that many of the search tools here have additional search options available and that to derive full benefit from them you should visit the original sites directly.
This page simply links to search tools at other sites. The search results returned from each site vary in quality depending on the search tool in use.
There are many generic search tools available, which you should also utilize.

Use of this index: Each search tool starts with a "default" entry as an example. If you want to see the kind of information returned by each tool, simply select the Search button. If you have a specific search in mind, enter it in the space provided, and then select the Search button. Selecting the Default button will return the search entry to its default. For more information about each search tool, select its link. All default searches were successfully completed on 01/30/97, unless otherwise noted.

Judicial Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court Opinions from FindLaw
FindLaw's searchable database of Supreme Court decisions since 1937 (U.S. Supreme Court Decisions: US Reports 300-, 1937-). Browsable by year and US Reports volume number and searchable by citation, case title and full text. [I don't usually comment on the resources here, but this one is wonderful!]
Browsing
- U.S. Supreme Court Decisions: by volume, by year
Citation Search
Title Search
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U.S. Supreme Court Syllabi from Cornell's Legal Information Institute, with links to full opinions.
You can search by keyword(s) and use Boolean connectors (and, or, not).
U.S. Supreme Court Opinions (1937 - 1975) from the FLITE database now at Fedworld.
Keyword searching is also available.
Search by case name:

v.
Federal Circuit Opinions, from Emory University School of Law.

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D.C. Circuit Opinions, from Georgetown Law Center.

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1st Circuit Opinions, from Emory University School of Law.

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2nd Circuit Opinions, from Touro Law Center.

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3rd Circuit Opinions, from Villanova Center for Information Law and Policy.
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4th Circuit Opinions, from Emory University School of Law.

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5th Circuit Opinions, from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
6th Circuit Opinions, from Emory University School of Law.

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7th Circuit Opinions, from Emory University School of Law.

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8th Circuit Opinions, from Washington University School of Law.
9th Circuit Opinions, from Villanova Center for Information Law and Policy.
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10th Circuit Opinions, from Emory University School of Law.

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11th Circuit Opinions, from Emory University School of Law.

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U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts from Craig and Macauley, P.C.
Searches the full text of all published decisions of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts from January 1, 1995 to the present.

Proximity Search Word Search

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Legislation

Search the U.S. Code at the U.S. House of Representatives Internet Law Library.
Other search options are available.
Search for bills and legislative history in the 105th Congress, from THOMAS: Legislative Information on the Internet
- Full text search of bills:
  - All Bills | Bills with floor action | Enrolled bills sent to the President
  - Both House and Senate Bills | House Bills only | Senate Bills only
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Full text search of the Congressional Record:

All sections Senate sectionHouse section Extensions of Remarks
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Search for bills and legislative history in the 104th Congress, from THOMAS: Legislative Information on the Internet.
- Full text search of bills:
  
  Other search options are available.
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Federal Regulation

The Code of Federal Regulations from the U.S. House of Representatives Internet Law Library.
Other search options are available.

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Other Legal Sources

The Legal Domain Network
The Legal Domain Network maintains archives of many law-related USENET newsgroups, to which anyone in the world can and does contribute. Several searches on 10/6/96 returned no results. And, on 01/30/97, it still appears to be broken.
LawCrawler Powered by AltaVista (tm). AltaVista Search used under license

Search with Boolean operators AND, OR or NEAR, and NOT:

Sites:

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Findlaw, an index to many legal sources.
This resource will find links to primary legal sources, government resources, World Wide Web sites, publications, law school course outlines, software, mailing lists, Usenet discussion groups, and related FindLaw pages.

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Law Reviews from FindLaw.
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The Seamless Website's searchable database of over 4000 files of legal information.

Enter words describing a concept or keywords you wish to find information about:

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People in Law

Directory of Legal Academia