Note on Legal Resources
Some of you may be familiar with Lexis.com and Westlaw. At Northeastern, those resources are reserved for the use of Law School affiliates. Snell Library currently provides access to Westlaw Campus Research which is part of the Westlaw family of resources.
The boxes below present resources for finding court cases and laws. For information on finding regulations, rules and ordinances, use the following link to regulation finding on the Strategizing Public Policy Guide.
Federal Cases
Many sites provide access to federal court cases. For alternatives to the recommendations below, check the Legal Research Guide.
Try Westlaw Campus Research for access to materials from a wide range of federal court jurisdictions: District Courts, Circuit Courts, the Supreme Court. See the TUTORIALS TAB for a video and PowerPoint slides on using Westlaw Campus Research.
For added value, consider SCOTUSblog, the official Supreme Court site and Oyez.
- SCOTUSblog includes detailed case analyses, petitions, and statistics in addition to podcasts and videos.
- The Supreme Court site provides audio recordings of oral arguments as well as access to case documents.
- Oyez offers clear descriptions and analyses of issues under consideration; recordings or oral arguments and opinion announcements are included (recordings aren't available immediately)
Massachusetts Courts and Cases
Westlaw Campus Research provides cases decided by the highest courts in each state; in Massachusetts, those courts are the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) and the Appeals Court.
- Massachusetts Supreme Judicial CourtSJC makes a variety of resources available to the public, including selected opinions, slip opinions, and advance opinions.
- Massachusetts Trial CourtsIncludes links to the Boston Municipal Court Department and the Housing, Juvenile, Land, District, Probate/Family, and Superior Court Departments.
Cases from Other States
Use the States and Territories link (Law Library of the Library of Congress). In addition to linking to state judicial sites, this resource provides access to administrative codes, state constitutions, and legislative materials.
Other options include:
- State Court Web Sites from the National Center for State Courts.
- State Legal Materials Collection from Cornell University Legal Information Institute (LII)
Federal Laws
- GovinfoSelect Statutes at Large for session laws and the U.S. Code for codified laws.
- Statutes at Large, 1951-2017Session laws for the U.S.
Massachusetts Laws
- Acts and Resolves of MassachusettsSession laws of the Commonwealth.
- Bills and Laws page - General Court of Massachusetts (legislature)Provides access to bills, session laws, and the codified General Laws.
Laws from Other States
Use the States and Territories link (Law Library of the Library of Congress). Links to state legislative sites provide access to bills, session laws, and codes of law. State pages also include links to legal guides, maps, and some primary sources.
Other options include:
- HeinOnline (Courtesy of Law Library)Select the State Collection near the top of the Welcome screen.Hein's State Collection includes session laws for the fifty states, the National Survey of State Laws, and Subject Compilations of State Laws.