The document provides an overview of free and low-cost alternatives to Lexis and Westlaw for legal research. It discusses databases like Loislaw, Versuslaw, Casemaker, and FastCase that provide case law and other primary legal sources at a lower cost than Lexis and Westlaw. It also outlines many free sources for cases, statutes, regulations, court documents, and other materials available on government and legal information websites. The document emphasizes evaluating sources for authority and currency when deciding between free and paid options for legal research needs.
1. The Unexploded Cow’s Guide to Legal Research (a.k.a. Free & Low-Cost Alternatives to Lexi$ and We$tlaw) Duke Law Library Workshop April 5, 2007 Jennifer L. Behrens
2.
3.
4.
5.
6. Case law includes opinions from all circuits and all 50 states . Some unpublished opinions are available. New cases are posted within 24-48 hours of publication.
7. In Loislaw, you may search across several different jurisdictions. Some other free & low-cost services do not allow a bridge between federal and state.
8.
9.
10. GlobalCite works similarly to Shepard’s and KeyCite, retrieving cases and secondary sources which cite the document in question.
11.
12. Within a single database, you can search across multiple jurisdictions by using the check boxes and clicking “Continue”. Folders indicate that you can browse as well as search. Loislaw includes “Acts” (session laws) as well as “Statutes” (codes).
13.
14. Secondary law includes many full-text subject treatises as well as CLE publications from selected states (including NY).
15. Publications include practice materials and subject treatises which are published by Aspen. Examples: New York Lawyers’ Formbook ; Tort Law Desk Reference: A Fifty-State Compendium ; Commercial Real Estate Transactions Handbook …
16. For search commands and other tips, view “Help & Support”, linked from the bottom of every page.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21. More search commands are available on the “Search tips” link. The commands are very similar on all of these services, but not quite the same– always check before you search!
22.
23. Premium subscribers have access to a citation service called V.Cite . Trial subscribers must check their citations with a full-text search across all Federal Circuits for the official U.S. Reports citation. Remember that District Courts are not included in that search. (Separate database.)
24.
25. Help page includes a short “Research Manual”, which outlines search tricks for the databases. Help page includes a “Research Manual”, with tips and tricks for database searching. The various commands for field searching are published here.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30. Other tutorials are available on Casemaker’s home page, as well as on the sites of other state bars in the Casemaker consortium.
31.
32.
33.
34. These non-case law resources link to publicly available web sites like government publishers and Findlaw.com. Newspaper search goes to a version of the Duke database “America’s Newspapers”.
35. Fastcase’s main advantages are natural language searching and Authority Check , which searches for cases that cite to your case (but is NOT intended as a full replacement for Shepard’s/KeyCite).
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41. Supreme Court actually includes bound U.S. Reports volumes in PDF (1991- ). Most courts only provide opinions in HTML or .txt.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46. After selecting “Briefs”, you will choose your term (1999- ) and view an alphabetical list of cases.
51. Laws are arranged chronologically (Pub. L. No.) and are available in .txt and PDF. Bound volumes of the compiled Statutes at Large are currently only available for the 108 th Congress through this site. Statutes at Large is available (1789-2004) in PDF through HeinOnline , a low-cost database.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69. Links lead to the full text of the bill(s), report(s), debate(s), etc., which are available via GPO Access .
70.
71.
72.
73.
74. You can search across multiple congresses, but it is much easier to retrieve documents by citation . Just enter the cite in quotes into the search box.
75.
76.
77.
78. GPO Access works best as a source for document retrieval – the search engine is not as powerful or sophisticated as other databases. For best results, know your citation and browse to it, rather than search.
87. Links to other free form resources are also available here. Remember to evaluate their authority before using…
88.
89. Pay forms are automated (can be filled in online); free forms must be downloaded and printed. Only selected forms are available on the free list.
90.
91.
92.
93.
94.
95. Although the site won’t link you directly into these “free” sites without a paid account, you now have enough information about the database (i.e., who maintains it ) to find it quickly through a Web search.
![“… The What Cow?!?” ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)