About This

Key to Images

  • Study Aid - This is a useful resource to introduce or brush up on a new subject specialty.
  • Preeminent Treatise - This is recognized by scholars and practitioners as one of the leading authorities on a specific subject.

Free & Low Cost Legal Research

Introduction

The major legal research databases can be prohibitively expensive for some researchers. There are, however, a number of online alternatives that are either free or less expensive than Lexis/Nexis and Westlaw.

The first part of this guide provides an overview and links to different types of free materials and the second part summarizes the features and costs of less expensive databases.

Free Sources of Legal Materials

There are several databases which provide access to primary source materials on their own sites, without any charge to the user. These sites vary in terms of the types of materials collected, the scope of their coverage, and their search options. We have created a table for each type of material which includes the major online sources and their coverage.

Because the availability of state legal materials varies so widely, we have only included descriptions of the federal materials available for free online. Please consult our state research guides for information about individual states.

Secondary Sources

While most of the free legal material available online is primary law, there are a few sources of secondary materials, and we have identified and described some of the best sites we have found. While these sources may not be authoritative, they can be useful in providing analysis, opinion, or explanation of the law, as well as covering recent legal developments.

  • ABA Journal
    The ABA has made this legal news magazine available for free online. Site contains the current issue and archived issues since 2004.

  • Google Scholar
    This search engine employs the Google algorithm to find relevant scholarly articles using keyword searches. Google Scholar searches both full text articles and abstracts that are available for free online, so users should be aware that not all results will lead to full articles.

  • Law.com Dictionary
    While neither as extensive nor authoritative as Black's Law Dictionary, this site does provide basic definitions to thousands of legal terms and concepts. Users can search for terms or browse alphabetically.

  • Legal Information Institute (Cornell University Law School)
    In addition to a wealth of primary sources, the Legal Information Institute (LII) also contains some useful secondary materials, especially the "Law About..." pages. These pages provide brief overviews of dozens of legal topics, arranged alphabetically. While not as extensive as a traditional legal encyclopedia, these pages do offer introductions to some of the most important concepts in these areas of law, along with citations to principal sources of primary law.

  • Oyez.org
    This site collects information related to the U.S. Supreme Court. While it includes some information about past and present justices and the Court's cases, its most notable content is a collection of audio recordings of oral arguments. All arguments from 1981 to the present are included, as well as those from selected earlier cases.

Case Law

There is an abundance of free case law available online. Unfortunately, many of the editorial enhancements and finding aids that legal researchers are accustomed to are not available through these free sources. For example, these sources do not provide digests or headnotes, which organize cases by points of law. Instead, these sources utilize browsing and keyword searching as the principal means of finding relevant cases. Researchers should be aware of these limitations and understand that keyword searching and browsing are not necessarily the best methods to find cases.

For guidance on the significance of case law and methods for finding relevant cases, please see our Case Law Research Guide.

U.S. Supreme Court Cases

Source Dates Notes
AltLaw

1803 - May 2005 (U.S. Reports volume 544) Incomplete coverage

Searchable by date, party name, and keyword.
FindLaw 1893 - present Browsable by year and U.S. Reports volume number, and searchable by citation, party name, and keyword.
Justia All Browsable by year and U.S. Reports volume number, and searchable by citation, party name, and keyword.
lexisONE * All Searchable by citation, keyword, party name, judge, and counsel.
PreCYdent All Searchable by citation, party name, and keyword. Can limit search by date, court, and authoring justice.
Public Library of Law All Searchable by citation and keyword. Search can be limited by jurisdiction and date.
U.S. Supreme Court 1991-present Browsable only. Scroll down and click on the "Bound Volumes" link to find cases from 1991-2005.

*This material is free on lexisONE but does require registration.

Federal Circuit Court Cases (Reported)

Source Dates Notes
AltLaw

1950-present
(Begins with F.2d volume 178)

 Searchable by date, party name, and keyword. Can limit search to particular circuits.
Circuit Courts Coverage varies by circuit Find individual circuits using this map.
FindLaw Coverage varies by circuit but is generally from the mid-90s forward. Browsable by year and reporter volume number, and searchable by citation, party name, and keyword.
Justia 1950-present Browsable by year and U.S. Reports volume number, and searchable by citation, party name, and keyword.
lexisONE * Last ten years. Searchable by citation, keyword, party name, judge, and counsel.
PreCYdent 1950 - present Searchable by citation, party name, and keyword. Can limit search by date, court, and authoring justice.
Public Library of Law 1950-present Searchable by citation and keyword. Search can be limited by jurisdiction and date.

*This material is free on lexisONE but does require registration.

Federal District Court Cases

Source Dates Notes
Justia 2004-present Searchable by citation, party name, and keyword. Can limit search by date, court, and lawsuit type.
PreCYdent * 2004-present Searchable by citation, party name, and keyword. Can limit search by date, court, and authoring justice.

* Contains cases from most, but not all district courts.

State Court Cases

Online access to state materials varies widely. Please consult our state research guides for information about individual jurisdictions.

Constitutions

U.S. Constitution

For information about constitutional law research generally, please see our Constitutional Law Research Guide.

Source Dates Notes
Founder's Constitution N/A A collection containing the Constitution and related original-source documents.
GPO Access Annotations updated through 2008. Annotated version (2002) of the Constitution prepared by the Congressional Research Service.
Legal Information Institute Annotations updated through 2000. Annotated version (1992) of the Constitution prepared by the Congressional Research Service.

State Constitutions

Online access to state constitutions varies widely. Please consult our state research guides for information about individual jurisdictions.

Statutes & Codes

The United States Code and most state codes are available for free online. These sources usually only provide the text of the statutes, however, and do not include annotations or case references. The online versions of codes also may not be current, which means they may not reflect the changes made by more recent legislation. Researchers therefore need to be careful to update these code sections with relevant case law and session laws.

For information about finding relevant statutes and statutory law generally, please see our Statutes Research Guide.

United States Code

These sources contain the most recent official version of the U.S. Code, which is published every six years. As a result, some individual code sections will be out-of-date and these sources need to be updated with session laws. As noted in the table below, the version provided by Cornell's Legal Information Institute provides links to recent legislation so researchers can easily determine how a particular code section has changed since the last official publication.

Source Dates Notes
GPO Access Most recent official version. Browsable and searchable by citation and keyword.
Legal Information Institute Most recent official version. Browsable and searchable by citation and keyword. Each code section and title has a "How Current is This" link which provides a list of recent modifications.
U.S. House of Representatives Most recent official version. Searchable by citation and keyword.

U.S. Session Laws

Source Dates Notes
U.S. House of Representatives As indicated. The Office of the Law Revision Counsel provides classification tables which indicate the updates made to each section of the Code since the last official publication.

State Codes & Session Laws

Online access to state materials varies widely. Please consult our state research guides for information about individual jurisdictions.

Legislative History

Several types of legislative history documents are available for free online, although mostly only for recent Congresses. Like other free online legal materials, legislative history documents are not usually annotated or linked to cases or enacted statutes. Researchers typically have to rely on document numbers or keyword searching to find relevant documents. Please also note that many of these sources only provide selected documents, meaning they do not contain all documents for a particular time period.

For information about the significance of legislative history and the different types of documents involved, please see our Legislative History Research Guide.

Congressional Bills

Source Dates Notes
American Memory (Library of Congress)

House bills from 1799 through 1873 (6th to 42nd Congresses), with the exception of the 12th Congress.

Senate Bills from 1819 through 1873 (16th to 42nd Congresses).

 Browsable by Congressional session and type of legislation. Searchable by keyword (full text).
GPO Access From 103rd Congress (1993) to present. Browsable by Congressional session and type of legislation. Searchable by bill number or keyword (full text).
Thomas (Library of Congress) Bills From 101st Congress (1989) to present. Searchable by bill number or keyword (full text).


Congressional Hearings

Source Dates Notes
GPO Access Selected hearings from 104th Congress (1995) to present. Browsable by Congressional session and searchable by keyword (full text).
Rutgers School of Law Selected hearings from 1970's to 1998 (approx. 5800 hearings available). Searchable by keyword (full text).

The University of Michigan Library and the Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C. both provide lists of links to the hearings pages of Congressional committees, which contain transcripts of selected hearings.

Congressional Committee Reports

Source Date Notes
American Memory Selected reports from 23d to 64th Congresses (1833-1917). Browsable by Congressional session and searchable by keyword (full text).
GPO Access From 104th Congress (1995) to present. Searchable by report number and keyword (full text). 110th and 111th Congresses are browsable.
Thomas From 104th Congress (1995) to present. Browsable and searchable by report number and keyword (full text).

Congressional Debates (Congressional Record)

Source Date Notes
American Memory

Annals of Congress (1789-1824, 1st-18th Congresses). Bound Edition.

Register of Debates (1824-1837, 18th-25th Congresses). Bound Edition.

The Congressional Globe (1833-1873, 23rd-42d Congresses). Bound Edition.

Browsable by Congressional session and searchable by keyword (full text).
GPO Access From 1994 to present. (updated by 11 am daily). Searchable by keyword (full text), date, and section. Browsable by Congressional session.
Thomas From 101st Congress (1989) to present. Daily Edition. Browsable and searchable by keyword, date, and member of Congress.


State Legislative History

Online access to state materials varies widely. Please consult our state research guides for information about individual jurisdictions.

Administrative Regulations

Regulations are also available on the web, although typically only current and recent versions. Regulations are also not directly linked to relevant statutory authority, although some sources allow searching by code section. See help pages on individual sites for search techniques. For information about finding relevant regulations and administrative law generally, please see our Administrative Law Research Guide.

Code of Federal Regulations

Source Dates Notes
E-CFR Updated daily (updates the current CFR with newly issued regulations). Browsable and searchable by keyword as well as CFR citation and relevant U.S.C. section.
GPO Access From 1996 - present Browsable and searchable by keyword and CFR citation.
Legal Information Institute From 1996 - present Browsable and searchable by citation.

Federal Register

Source Dates Notes
GPO Access From 1994 - present Searchable by keyword, citation, date, and section. Most recent issue is browsable by table of contents. Also includes the List of Sections Affected for updating.
Regulations.gov Current proposed regulations open for comment. Includes a form for submitting comments.

State Administrative Regulations

Online access to state materials varies widely. Please consult our state research guides for information about individual jurisdictions.

Low-Cost Legal Databases

The free sources we have listed contain a great deal of primary source legal material. They are, however, much more limited in terms of search options and finding aids than fee and subscription based sources. In particular, free sources rely almost exclusively on keyword searching and browsing to find cases, rather than headnotes and digesting, which are used in Lexis and Westlaw. For this reason, the free sources may ultimately be inadequate.

There are also several relatively inexpensive online legal research databases. While none of these contains all of the material on Lexis or Westlaw, many lawyers will find that they provide most or all of the sources they will need in their practice. The databases use a variety of search methods and finding aids, and we have tried to provide that information about each source along with an overview of its content and pricing.

Virtually all of these databases provide a "citator" service. It is important to note, however, that these citators typically only provide a list of cases in which the citation appears. They do not include qualitative information, such as an indication that a particular case has received negative treatment. Westlaw and Lexis both provide this information through their Shepard's and Keycite services, and those services are available through the lower cost lexisONE and Westlaw by Credit Card listed below.

Caselex (http://www.caselex.com)

Caselex provides selected coverage of case law from the European Union and individual European countries. Only cases with EU relevance from individual countries are included. Caselex limits their coverage to cases involving one or more of the ten areas of law listed below. National cases are provided from 2000 forward, and all dates are provided for EU cases. There are several licensing options and a 14-day free trial is offered.

Jurisdictions covered:
• Cases from the European Court of Justice and EFTA Court
• Cases from 29 European jurisdictions

 

Areas of law covered:
• Company Law
• Competition Law
• Consumer Protection Law
• Employment Law
• Environmental Law
• Freedom of Movement Law
• ICT and Media Law
• Intellectual Property Law
• Public Procurement Law
• Social Security Law

Other features:
• Provides digests for each case, with a summary and headnotes
• Searchable by keyword, country, and EU law subject

 

Casemaker (http://www.casemaker.us/)

Casemaker provides unlimited access to the members of bar associations that join the Casemaker Consortium. A license fee is paid by each bar association and there are no additional fees to use the service. Currently, 30 state bar associations are members. Consult this list to find out if your bar association is a member. Individual subscriptions are currently unavailable.

  • Federal materials
    • U.S. Supreme Court (1935 to current; selected cases from 1790-1935),
    • Courts of Appeals (from 1995, except 1st Cir. from fall 1992 and 2nd Cir. from 1989),
    • US Code, and
    • CFR.
    • Court Rules
    • Court Forms
  • State materials
    Consortium member libraries generally include:
    • Case Law - historic to current (average starting point 1924)
    • Statutes
    • Codes
    • Court Rules
    • State Constitutions
    • Attorney General Opinions
    • Jury Instructions
    • Ethics Opinions
    Other features:
    • Casemaker citator service provides text of all citing cases
    • Searchable and browsable

 

Fastcase (http://www.fastcase.com)

Fastcase offers two subscription plans: a premium subscription ($95/month or $995/year) and an appellate subscription ($65/month and $695/year). Both plans offer access to the Fastcase appellate case law library, as well as state and federal codes and regulations. The premium plan also includes trial level opinions, while the appellate plan does not. Fastcase also offers a free 24-hour trial and 30-day money-back guarantee. Subscriptions are also covered through some state bar associations.

Federal materials:
• U.S. Supreme Court (from inception)
• U.S. Courts of Appeals (from 1924)
• U.S. District Courts (from 1912)
• Tax Court (from 1924)
• Bankruptcy Courts (from 1979)
• US Code
• CFR

State materials:
• Appellate court decisions (from 1950)
• Constitutions
• Statutory codes
• Administrative codes
• Court rules
• Cases are added within 24-48 hrs. of decisions

Other features:
• Supports Boolean and natural language searching
• Search by multiple citation formats
• Can sort results by relevance or most citations
• Multiple search fields including date and jurisdiction
• Cases are added within 24-48 hours of decisions
• "Authority Check" citator provides a list of all citing cases

 

lexisONE (http://www.lexisone.com)

lexisOne is a low-cost database that has recently added free access to some case law (all U.S. Supreme Court cases and the last ten years of other state and federal courts).. Reduced prices are available for members of bar associations who have partnered with lexisONE. Consult this list to see if your bar association is a partner.

lexisONE has a full collection of primary law for all U.S. states and federal sources. Several subscription packages are available at different prices. Users can purchase materials for individual states, federal law only, or comprehensive national coverage. Packages can be purchased on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. A basic package consisting of one state's primary law materials is between $222-$264/month. A subscription to the Shepard's citator service is $120/month. Consult this page for a list of legal packages and their prices. Users are required to register when purchasing a subscription and can pay by credit card.

Other features:
• Searchable by citation, keyword, party name, judge, and counsel
• Shepard's citator service
• Lexis Web search engine which searches an index of legal information Web sites
• Also includes legal forms (some are free)

 

Loislaw (http://www.loislaw.com)

Loislaw offers extensive coverage of all types of primary legal materials from all 50 states and federal jurisdictions (see subscription options for coverage of specific sources). Loislaw also provides access to treatises organized by subject or jurisdiction. Several different subscription plans are offered, with prices ranging from $40 to $250.

Federal materials:
• U.S. Supreme Court Reports
• Federal Circuit Courts
• U.S. District Courts
• U.S. Tax Court
• U.S. Constitution
• U.S. Code
• Public Laws of the United States
• Code of Federal Regulations
• Federal Register

State materials:
• Cases
• Statutes
• Administrative rules and regulations
• Court rules

 

    Other features:
    •     GlobalCite (lists all citing documents that are carried by Loislaw)
    • Cases, statutes updated daily
    • Can search by keyword, case name, or citation
    • 24 hour technical support

 

VersusLaw (http://www.versuslaw.com)

VersusLaw offers three pricing plans - standard, premium, and professional - which range in price from $13.95 to $39.95 per month. Coverage materials varies by jurisdiction. Please see library directory for coverage.

Federal materials:
U.S. Supreme Court Cases
Federal Circuit Court Cases
Federal District Court Cases
Specialized Federal Courts
U.S. Code
Code of Federal Regulations

 

State materials:
State Appellate Courts
Selected Statutes and Regulations

 

Other features:
• AdvanceLinks current awareness service
• V.Cite citation tool provides a list of citing cases within the database

 

Westlaw by Credit Card (http://creditcard.westlaw.com/welcome/frameless/default.wl)

Westlaw by credit card is a document retrieval service provided by West Group that lets you easily retrieve legal documents on Westlaw and check citations using KeyCite. You can use this service with a credit card or with your Westlaw subscription, if you have one. Prices vary but users are asked to confirm transactions before their credit card is charged. New users need to register in order to pay by credit card.

Federal materials:
• Case law
• United States Code Annotated
• Session laws
• Code of Federal Regulations
• Federal Register
• Pending bills
• Slip opinions and unreported decisions
• Administrative decisions
• Practice materials
• Law reviews and bar journals
• Treatises
• International materials
• Appellate briefs

State content:
• Case law
• State statutes
• State regulations
• Session laws

Other features:
• KeyCite citation service
• No extra charge to print documents
• Find documents through citation, title, or docket number

Created by Todd Venie
Updated 2/19/09 (TV)

Page last saved 21-Oct-2009