Legal Research: General
Sections
See also
Home Pages
It is recommended that an attorney be
consulted when an interpretation of the law is needed.
Where to Start
Start with legal encyclopedias for explanations about
general principles of law and appropriate references to statutes and cases:
Am.Jur.2d - American Jurisprudence, Second Edition
C.J.S. - Corpus Juris Secundum
Reference KF 65 .L8
West's Encyclopedia of American Law
Wex (Cornell University Law School)
a collaboratively-created, public-access law dictionary and encyclopedia
provides research guidance for hundreds of legal topics.
For guides to legal research, take a look at
various books in the UCF Library's Reference Collection at REF KF240 and online.
Legal Research: How to Find & Understand the Law
Legal Information: How to Find It, How to Use It
West's Analysis of American Law
Reference KF 240 .W454
See also Annotations & Treatises
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Definitions
Black's Law Dictionary
Reference KF 156 .B53
Words & Phrases
Reference KF 156 .W6712
Collins Dictionary of Law
Dictionary of Law
Dictionary of Spanish Law (bilingual)
Elsevier's Legal Dictionary: in English, German, French, Dutch, & Spanish
Reference K 54 .E45 2001
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law
Wiley's English-Spanish, Spanish-English Legal Dictionary
Reference K 52 .S6 K63 1997
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Legal abbreviations
provides abbreviations of some commonly requested legal sources
Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations
Reference KF 246 .B46 2001
The Bluebook: a Uniform System of Citation
Ask at the Research Assistance Desk
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Current Laws and Regulations
Current Federal Laws Arranged by Subject
See also Statutes at Large
U.S.C.S. - United States Code Service
U.S.C.A. - United States Code Annotated
Reference KF 62 .U6
U.S.C. - United States Code
"the codification by subject matter of the general and
permanent laws of the United States. It is divided by broad subjects
into 50 titles."
"This version is generated from the most recent official version made
available by the US House of Representatives."
Shepard's Federal Statute Citations
Reference KF 78 .S56
provides a list of references to legal authorities for the U.S. Code,
U.S. Constitution, Statutes at Large, U.S. treaties, and other federal
documents
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State Laws
See also Florida Statutes
Martindale-Hubbell Law Digest
Reference KF 190 .M32
provides an overview of the laws of the states, Alabama-Wyoming
provides links to state legislative information, including state statutes
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International Laws
Martindale-Hubbell International Law Digest
Reference K 526 .M37
provides an overview of the laws of other countries
"gathers, country by country, continent by continent, the
Internet-accessible sources of the constitutions, statutes, judicial
opinions, and related legal material from around the globe"
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Federal Regulations Arranged by Subject
See also Federal Register
Code of Federal Regulations
Online version (1996+)
Online version (1980+)
Current edition in print - U.S. Documents Ready Reference shelves
Microfiche - U.S. Documents AE 2.106/3: (1938+)
"the codification of the general and permanent rules published in
the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of
the Federal Government. It is divided into 50 titles that represent
broad areas subject to Federal regulation."
See also:
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State Regulations
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Laws and Regulations by Year
Finding the citation for a popular act
State & Federal Acts
If you don't know whether a named law is state or federal, consult:
Shepard's Acts and Cases By Popular Names, Federal & State
Reference KF 80 .S5
"A compilation of popular names by which federal and state acts and
cases have been referred to or cited together with an identification
of each act in terms of its constitutional or statutory references"
Federal Acts
If you think the named law is federal, consult one of the following:
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Federal Laws by Year
See the UCF Library's online guide to
Legislative Histories for a more detailed list of resources,
including Congressional Record, hearings, etc.
Slip Laws
U.S. Documents AE 2.110: (current uncompiled laws)
- Public Laws are initially published chronologically in pamphlet form.
- Later compiled as United States Statutes at Large.
Stat. -
Statutes at Large and Public Laws (P.L.)
"Every public and private law passed by Congress is published
in the Statutes at Large in order of the date it was enacted
into law. The laws are arranged by Public Law number and are cited by
volume and page number."
U.S.C.C.A.N. - U.S. Code Congressional & Administrative News
Reference KF 62 .A2 W4 (1966+)
- The full text of each Public Law is provided, arranged
sequentially by number.
- UCF holdings begin with P.L. 89-350 (1966).
- The first volumes in each year contain the actual text of
the Public Laws. The subsequent volumes in each year often
contain the full text of one or two of the significant committee
reports about each Public Law and sometimes include the text of
the Signing Statement from the President.
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Federal Regulations: Chronological announcements of proposed &
adopted changes to rules & regulations
See also CFR: Code of Federal Regulations
Fed.Reg. -
Federal Register
RegInfo.gov - Where to Find Federal Regulatory Information
"a United States Government website produced by the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) and the General Services Administration (GSA)."
"is your source for all regulations (or rulemakings) issued by U.S.
government agencies. On this site, you can find:
- All Federal regulations that are open for public comment (i.e.,proposed
rules) and closed for comment (i.e., final rules) as published in
the Federal Register.
- Many Federal agency notices published in the Federal Register.
- Additional supporting materials, public comments, and Federal
agency guidance and adjudications."
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State Regulations: Chronological announcements of proposed &
adopted changes to rules & regulations
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Cases: Reporters, Digests, and Citators
Reporters
provide the published text of the reported decisions
from specific courts.
Digests
are subject indexes with summaries of court cases. Explanations of
topics are not given, but references to reporters are provided.
Citators
identify subsequent references to previous court cases and are used to
help determine if a case's decision is still valid.
Famous Cases
Great American Trials
Reference KF 220 .G74 2003
from Salem Witchcraft to Rodney King
Great American Court Cases
- v.1, Individual Liberties
- v.2, Criminal Justice
- v.3, Equal Protection & Family Law
- v.4, Business & Government
Historic U.S. Court Cases
Reference KF 385 .A4 J64 2001
- pt.1, Crime & Criminal Law
- pt.2, Governmental Organization, Power, & Procedure
- pt.3, Economics & Economic Regulation
- pt.4, Race, Gender, Sexual Orientation, & Disability
- pt.5, Civil Liberties
Encyclopedia of the American Constitution
Reference KF 4548 .E53 2000
identifies major cases dealing with constitutional issues.
Landmark Decisions of the United States Supreme Court
Reference KF 4549 .F56 2003
- By Topic
- By Party Name
- By Opinion Author
"This site was developed to provide teachers with a full range of
resources and activities to support the teaching of landmark Supreme
Court cases, helping students explore the key issues of each case."
Famous Trials (Douglas O. Linder, Professor of Law, University of Missouri--Kansas City School of Law)
"collection of essays, images, maps, primary documents, links, and other
materials pertaining to fifty of the most famous trials of all time,
from Socrates to Simpson."
Other Resources about Famous Cases and Trials
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Finding a Case by Name, Citation, or Subject
Already have the citation for a case?
Need to find the citation for a popular case?
To distinguish a commonly cited popular case from other cases
with similar names, consult:
Shepard's Acts & Cases by Popular Names, Federal & State
Reference KF 80 .S5
"A compilation of popular names by which federal and
state acts and cases have been referred to or cited together with an
identification of... each case in terms of the volume and page reference where
the text of the decision may be found."
Searching by party names or keywords for a case?
Search using
Federal & State Cases in the LexisNexis
Academic database, or use the appropriate digest covering the court, as
identified in the sections below.
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United States Supreme Court
See also
Federal Judicial Branch - U.S. Supreme Court
Reporters - U.S. Supreme Court
L.Ed. and L.Ed.2d
Online version (Search by citation
L.Ed. or L.Ed.2d)
Online version (Search by keyword & date)
Reference KF .A2
- United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers' Edition (1790-1955)
- United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers' Edition, Second Series (1956+)
U.S.
United States Reports
U.S. Documents Ju 6.8: (1754+)
the official publication of Supreme Court decisions
or retrieve the version from L.Ed.2d online by Shepardizing the
U.S. citation.
S.Ct.
Supreme Court Reporter
is only available in the UCF Library via the Westlaw database; ask at the
Research Assistance Desk.
Need to cross-reference a citation from S.Ct. or U.S. to locate the case
in L. Ed. 2d?
Use the Parallel Reference Tables in volume 4 of
Shepard's United States Citations
Reference KF 101.2 .S54
or retrieve the version from L.Ed.2d online by Shepardizing the
S.Ct. citation.
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Digest - U.S. Supreme Court
Digest of United States Supreme Court Reports (Lawyers' Edition)
includes Table of Cases - "For cases which have been headnoted... the
principal entries are printed in boldface and include
topic abbreviations and section numbers indicating where headnotes for
the cases appear in Volumes 1-14 of this Digest."
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Citators - U.S. Supreme Court
Shepard's United States Citations: Cases
Reference KF 101.2 S54
KeyCites
online access
available via the Westlaw database; restricted access; ask at the Research Assistance Desk
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Briefs & Oral Arguments - U.S. Supreme Court
"Includes merit briefs for cases granted cert.,
amicus curiae briefs, joint appendices & special masters beginning
in January 1979, with selected coverage from 1936. All briefs for
cases granted cert. begins after 1993. Also includes all briefs for
cases petitioning for cert. after 2001."
"The Court's current Courtroom reporter, Alderson Reporting Company,
provides transcripts of oral arguments that are posted on this Web
site on the same day an argument is heard by the Court. Same-day
transcripts are considered official but subject to final review."
"a multimedia archive devoted to the Supreme Court of the United
States and its work. It aims to be a complete and authoritative
source for all audio recorded in the Court since the installation of
a recording system in October 1955."
- Briefs for a Price
- Briefs for Free:
- General Sites
- Court Sources
- Federal Entities
- Bar & Legal Associations
- Advocacy Groups
Government Briefs (Office of the Solicitor General, U.S. Department of Justice) (1982+)
"seeks to provide convenient access to all briefs (other than
responses in IFP cases) filed by the Solicitor General."
a useful guide, but it lists many resources unavailable at UCF
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Other Resources - U.S. Supreme Court
"Contains 7,407 Decisions from volumes 300 through 422 of U.S.
Reports... available as ASCII text files that can be read on your
browser's screen or saved to your hard drive and accessed using most
word processor programs."
an open-access online database of U.S. Supreme Court cases, with fairly
complete coverage of all cases from 1990+ and the Historic Decisions
collection with "over 600 of the Court's most important
decisions from the founding of the court to the present."
Supreme Court of the United States, 1789-1980: An Index to Opinions
Arranged by Justice
Reference KF 101.6 .B57 1984
United States Supreme Court Decisions: An Index to Excerpts, Reprints,
and Discussions
Reference KF 101.6 .G83 1983
United States Law Week: Supreme Court
Reference KF 105 .U5 (v.65, 1996+)
summary & analysis of significant court opinions
"Decisions, Opinions, News, Docket, Certiorari Granted"
searchable database of the Supreme Court decisions since 1893
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Federal Circuit & District
Courts
See also
Federal Judicial Branch - Federal Courts
Florida Federal Courts
- 11th Circuit Court
of Appeals (Atlanta, GA)
- Florida District Courts
- Middle District
(Orlando, Ft. Myers, Jacksonville, Ocala, Tampa)
- Northern
District (Tallahassee, Gainesville, Panama City,
Pensacola)
- Southern
District (Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Pierce, Key West,
West Palm Beach)
Reporters - Federal Circuit & District
Courts
F.Cas. - Federal Cases
circuit
courts of appeals and district courts
F. - Federal Reporter
circuit
courts of appeals and district courts
F.2d - Federal Reporter, Second Series
1924-1993 circuit courts of appeals;
1924-1932 district courts (See F.Supp. for 1932+)
F.3d - Federal Reporter, Third Series
circuit courts of appeals
Fed.Appx. - Federal Appendix
circuit courts of appeals cases not selected for publication in F.3d
F.Supp. - Federal Supplement
district courts
F.Supp.2d - Federal Supplement, Second Series
district courts
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Digests - Federal Circuit & District
Courts
Modern Federal Practice Digest
Reference KF 127 .M6 (1939-1961)
West's Federal Practice Digest, 2d
Reference KF 127 .M62 (1962-1975)
West's Federal Practice Digest, 3d
Reference KF 127 .M63 (1975-1988)
West's Federal Practice Digest, 4th
Reference KF 127 .M64 (1989+)
Descriptive Word Index
"Generally, descriptive words will group themselves around the five
elements common to every case:
- The Parties involved;
- The Places where the facts arose, and the
Objects or Things
involved;
- The Acts or Omissions which form the
Basis of Action or
Issue;
- The Defense to the action or issue; and
- The Relief sought.
A search, in the DESCRIPTIVE-WORD INDEX, of words descriptive of
these elements will produce the decisions dealing with similar fact
situations and legal principles."
Table of Cases
"lists alphabetically the title of each case, by both Plaintiff's
and Defendant's names, the volume and page of the reports in which
each is published, the subsequent case history, and the digest Topic
and Key Number under which each point of law is digested."
Words & Phrases
"lists alphabetically words or phrases that have been judicially
defined in the cases indexed by the Digest, and sets out the
headnotes, titles and citations of the case in which definitions
appear."
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Citators - Federal Circuit & District
Courts
Shepard's Federal Citations
Reference KF 105.2 S42
includes sections for citations to:
- Federal Cases
- Federal Reporter (1st through 3rd Series)
- Federal Appendix
- Federal Supplement (1st & 2nd Series)
- Federal Rules Decisions
- Court of Claims Reports
- Claims Court Reports
- Federal Claims Reporter
KeyCites
online access
available via the Westlaw database; restricted access; ask at the Research Assistance Desk
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Briefs & Oral Arguments - Federal Circuit & District
Courts
- Briefs for a Price
- Briefs for Free:
- General Sites
- Court Sources
- Federal Entities
- Bar & Legal Associations
- Advocacy Groups
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Other Resources - Federal Circuit & District
Courts
United States Law Week: General Law
Reference KF 105 .U5 (v.65, 1996+)
summary & analysis of significant court opinions
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Other Federal Courts
See also
Federal Administrative Decisions
Bankruptcy - Other Federal Courts
Florida Bankruptcy Courts
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Claims - Other Federal Courts
U.S. Court of Federal Claims
- Fed.Cl. - U.S. Court of Federal Claims (1992+)
- Cl.Ct. - U.S. Claims Court (1982-1992)
- Ct.Cl. - U.S. Court of Claims (1856-1982)
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Commerce & Trade - Other Federal Courts
U.S. Court of International Trade
- U.S. Court of International Trade (1980+)
- U.S. Customs Court (1957-1980)
Court Decisions, Federal Trade Commission
U.S. Documents FT 1.13: (1966-1981)
decisions from federal district, circuit & supreme court
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Copyright - Other Federal Courts
Decisions of the U.S. Courts
Involving Copyright & Literary Property
General Collection KF 2994 .A1 C6 (1789-1980)
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Education - Other Federal Courts
See also
Education Laws & Cases
Yearbook of Education Law / Yearbook of School Law
Reference KF 4102.5 .Y4 (1972+)
federal and state cases
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Labor & Employment - Other Federal Courts
Labor Cases
Reference HD 7833 .C68 (1972+)
federal and state cases
Employment Practices Decisions
Reference HD 7833 .C683 (1937+)
federal and state cases
Court Decisions Relating to the National Labor Relations Act
U.S. Documents LR 1.14: (1965-1986)
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Media - Other Federal Courts
Media Law Reporter
Reference KF 2750 .A515 (1931+)
federal and state cases
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Military & Veterans - Other Federal Courts
"contains the full text of the 1969, 1984, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2005
and 2008 editions of the Manual for Courts-Martial, including the
Military Rules of Evidence"
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Securities - Other Federal Courts
Federal Securities Law Reporter
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Taxes - Other Federal Courts
Tax Court of the U.S.
- B.T.A. - U.S. Board of Tax Appeals (1924-1942)
- T.C. - U.S. Tax Court (1942+)
See also:
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State Courts (Alabama - Wyoming)
See also
Florida Legal Research
Reporters - Other States
provides access to:
- Aviation Law Reporter
- Blue Sky Reporter Decisions
- Computer & Internet Cases
- Copyright Law Reporter
- Insurance Law Reports
- Products Liability Reporter
- State Banking Law Reporter
- Trade Regulation Reporter
provides links to state information, including court cases.
Southern Reporter
Reference KFF 51 .A1 (1887-1941)
Supreme Courts & District Courts of Appeal in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi
American Decisions
Reference KF 133 .A66 (through 1869)
"cases of general value and authority decided in the courts of the
several states from the earliest issue of the state reports to the year
1869."
American Reports
Reference KF 133 .A66 (1868-1887)
"containing all decisions of general interest decided in the courts of
last resort of the several states."
American State Trials
General Collection KF 220 .L38 (through 1920)
"a collection of the important and interesting criminal trials which
have taken place in the United States, from the beginning of our
government to 1920."
Blue Sky Law Reporter
state securities decisions
Employment Practices Decisions
Reference HD 7833 .C683 (1937+)
federal and state cases
Labor Cases
Reference HD 7833 .C68 (1972+)
federal and state cases
Media Law Reporter
Reference KF 2750 .A515 (1931+)
federal and state cases
Yearbook of Education Law / Yearbook of School Law
Reference KF 4102.5 .Y4 (1972+)
federal and state cases
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Digests - Other States
Decennial Digests
briefly describe published decisions from all state and federal courts. The
UCF Library only has the volumes for 1966-1981.
- Eighth Decennial Digest (1966-1976)
Reference KF 141
1966
- Ninth Decennial Digest, Part 1 (1976-1981)
Reference
KF 141 1976 pt.1
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Citators - Other States
KeyCites
online access
available via the Westlaw database; restricted access; ask at the Research Assistance Desk
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Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and
Northern Mariana Islands
Decisions from the Supreme Court (1899+) and Court of Appeals (1996+) of Puerto
Rico.
Case law from the Federal District Court of Puerto Rico (1912+).
Virgin Islands case law from the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands
from 2007, and the Superior, Territorial or Municipal Courts of the
Virgin Islands from 1959.
The Federal case law includes the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, as well as the U.S. District Court
(1951+) and Bankruptcy Courts for Guam. The State case law includes the
Supreme Court decisions (1996+) from the Territory of Guam.
The Federal cases law includes the U.S. District Court for the Northern
Mariana Islands. The Commonwealth case law includes the Northern Mariana
Islands Commonwealth Supreme Court.
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Foreign and International Courts - Cases
See also
Foreign & International Legal Resources
General Resources - Foreign & International Courts
"a public database of official texts of laws, regulations, judicial
decisions, and other complementary legal sources contributed by
governmental agencies and international organizations. These GLIN
members contribute the full texts of their published documents to the
database in their original languages. Each document is accompanied by a
summary in English and, in many cases in additional languages, plus
subject terms selected from the multilingual index to GLIN."
"contains summaries and transcripts of decisions of the European
Court of Human Rights from 1960 and Butterworths Human Rights Cases
from 1996, covering landmark decisions from international, European
and English courts and tribunals."
"The decisions reported are from IP Australia and superior courts and
tribunals in Australia, the UK, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore,
Malaysia, the USA and Canada."
"provides the basic, primary documents necessary for research and
analysis of international law. Materials are selected by ASIL for
their usefulness to scholars, practitioners, business and government
officials, both in the United States and abroad. These materials
include the full texts of important treaties and agreements,
judicial and arbitral decisions, national legislation, international
organizations resolutions and other documents."
- Advisory Opinions (1948+)
- Filings (2004+, with limited coverage 1986-2003)
- Judgments (1948+)
"contains treaty-related court opinions."
See also
Tax Treaties.
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Africa - Cases
Some of the individual files available from the Sources tab in LexisNexis Academic include:
"provides selected decisions from the Supreme Court and new
Constitutional Court of South Africa pertaining to the interpretation of
the South African Bill of Rights and other general aspects of the new
Constitution. Also included are key constitutional law decisions from
neighboring countries such as Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana."
"a distinguished collection of cases comprising the only official
reports of decisions of the Special Court for Hearing Income Tax
Appeals, as well as reported tax cases in the Supreme Court of South
Africa, and the High and Supreme Courts of Zimbabwe. The collection
begins with volume 1."
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Asia - Cases
Some of the individual files available from the Sources tab in LexisNexis Academic include:
"Hong Kong Cases from 1947; Hong Kong Unreported Judgments from 1986;
Hong Kong Public Law Reports from April, 1994 through October, 1997."
"Hong Kong Cases from 1947; Hong Kong Unreported Judgments from 1986;
Hong Kong Public Law Reports from April, 1994 through October, 1997."
"contains reported and unreported Supreme Court of India decisions from
January 1999."
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Australia and New Zealand - Cases
Some of the individual files available from the Sources tab in LexisNexis Academic include:
Australia
"The Commonwealth or federal courts include: High Court of
Australia; Federal Court of Australia; Family Court of Australia; the
new Industrial Relations Court; Administrative Appeals Tribunal;
Immigration Review Tribunal; and the Refugee Tribunal. The state and
territory courts include the Supreme Courts of Tasmania, South
Australia, the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), and the Northern
Territory."
"The authorised reports of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal -
including: * Compensation * Customs * Deportation and Immigration *
Export Market Development Grants * Natural Resources/Fisheries and
Primary Industries * Freedom of Information * Austudy and Student
Assistance * Superannuation and Tax appeals * Judicial Review * Natural
Justice * Anti-Discrimination * Social Security * Veterans' Affairs"
"the full text of all judgments received from the Australian Capital
Territory Supreme Court."
"consists of decisions of the High Court, and significant decisions
of the Federal and Supreme Courts. It also incorporates the Northern
Territory Reports and the authorised Australian Capital Territory
Reports."
"the full text of all judgments received from the Northern
Territory Supreme Court."
New Zealand
NZLR -
"the official report series of New Zealand. It includes decisions of
the Supreme Court of New Zealand, Court of Appeal and High Court."
"contains the following sources: New Zealand Administrative
Reports, District Court Reports (NZ), New Zealand Family Law Reports,
New Zealand Law Reports and New Zealand Resource Management Appeals."
"provide a large selection of important cases, civil and criminal, from
throughout New Zealand. Also included in the Reports are selected High
Court decisions that are not reported in NZLR."
"principally reports selected decisions of New Zealand Courts,
Tribunals, and Authorities on significant issues of administration and
public law....includes decisions of, and appeals from, various
Tribunals, Commissions, and Authorities: Accident Compensation Appeal
Authority, Broadcasting Standards Authority, Complaints Review Tribunal,
Deportation Review Tribunal, Legal Aid Review Authority, Liquor
Licensing Authority, Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal, Refugee Status
Appeal Authority, Social Security Appeal Authority"
"comprises the latest important decisions from the Family Court,
High Court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court."
"comprises selected decisions of the Environment Court (formerly the
Planning Tribunal), High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court."
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Canada - Cases
Over 300 files are available from the Sources tab in LexisNexis Academic, including:
"a group source containing all available reported and unreported full
text judgments from Canadian courts and tribunals as well as all
LexisNexis case law summaries."
"a group source containing all available digests of Canadian court and
tribunal decisions."
"a group source containing all Canada Digest sources" including:
"the full text of judicial decisions rendered by the Federal Court of
Canada (1971 to present) and the predecessor Exchequer Court of Canada
(from 1877-1971)."
"contains selected full text court decisions of the Judicial Committee
of the Privy Council in the United Kingdom, from 1873 to 1959. These
decisions all relate to Canada and include 176 cases compiled by R.A.
Olmsted in 1954 relating to the British North American Act and having
precedential value with respect to Canadian constitutional law."
"contains the following information about a case: parallel
citations, case history, lists of subsequent citing cases and the
judicial treatments in those citing cases."
"the full text of all judicial decisions rendered by the Supreme Court
of Canada."
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Europe - Cases
Some of the individual files available from the Sources tab in LexisNexis Academic include:
"contains fulltext, English language decisions from the Court of
Justice of the European Communities and the Court of First Instance
as contained in the EUR-Lex database, the comprehensive and
authoritative database of European Union law. References to
decisions in other languages are also included."
"contains all decisions made since 1972 by the European Commission in
applying the fair competition rules under Articles 85 and 86 of the EEC
Treaty and the corresponding provisions of the other treaties."
"contains caselaw from the Court of Justice of the European Communities
(1954+) and the Court of First Instance (1989+) as reported in the All
England Law Reports (EC) and selected by Butterworths."
"Irish Reports from 1950; Judgments of the Court of Criminal Appeal (Frewen)
from 1950-83; Unreported from July 1985; Supreme Court Digests and
Approved judgments from 2004; Selected High Court Digests and Approved
judgments from 2005; All available approved judgments from 2004."
"UNREPORTED CASES: Selected Employment Appeal Tribunal Cases (Scotland)
from January 1992.
REPORTED CASES: Session Cases from 1919. Scottish Criminal Case Reports
(SCCR) from January 1981; Scottish Civil Law Reports (SCLR) from
February 1986."
"Reported cases from 1558; Tax cases from 1875; Unreported cases from
1980."
"Admiralty & Ecclesiastical 1865-1875; Appeal Cases 1875-current (App
Cas 1875-1890; Appeal Cases 1890-current); Chancery Appeal 1865-1875;
Chancery Division 1875-current; Common Pleas 1865-1875; Common Pleas
Division 1875-1880; Crown Cases Reserved 1865-1875; Equity Cases
1865-1875; Exchequer 1865-1875; Exchequer Division 1875-1880; House of
Lords 1866-1875; Privy Council 1865-1875; Probate & Divorce 1865-1875;
Probate Division 1876-1890; Probate 1891-1971; Family Division
1972-current; Queen's/King's Bench Division 1865-current (LR QB
1865-1875, QBD 1875-1890, QB/KB 1891-current); Scotch & Divorce Appeals
1866-1875"
"Reported cases: From March 1944; unreported cases: from March 1984."
Notable British Trials
General Collection KD...
a series of bound volumes for individual
historical trials can be located using the
UCF library catalog.
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Annotations and Treatises
Annotations of Cases
American Decisions
Reference KF 133 .A66 (through 1869)
"cases of general value and authority decided in the courts of the
several states from the earliest issue of the state reports to the year
1869."
American Reports
Reference KF 133 .A66 (1868-1887)
"containing all decisions of general interest decided in the courts of
last resort of the several states."
American Law Reports
provide detailed discussions concerning legal issues with extensive
summaries of relevant court cases.
Indexes:
ALR Permanent Digest of American Law Reports Annotated
Reference KF 132 .A518 (1919-1948)
for ALR
ALR Index
Reference KF 132 .A58 (1948+)
for ALR 2nd, ALR 3rd, ALR 4th, ALR 5th, ALR 6th, and ALR Fed
Reports:
ALR - American Law Reports Annotated
Reference KF 132 .A5216 (1919-1948)
ALR2d - American Law Reports Annotated, Second Series
Reference KF 132 .A52166 (1948-1965)
ALR3d - American Law Reports, ALR3d, Cases and Annotations
Reference KF 132 .A53 (1965-1980)
ALR4th - American Law Reports, ALR4th, Cases and Annotations
Reference KF 132 .A54 (1980-1992)
ALR5th - American Law Reports, ALR5th, Annotations and Cases
Reference KF 132 .A55 (1992-2005)
ALR6th - American Law Reports, ALR6th, Annotations and Cases
Reference KF 132 .A56 (2005+)
ALR Fed - American Law Reports, Federal
online access available via the Westlaw database; restricted access; ask at the Research Assistance Desk
American International Law Cases
Reference JX 238 .A2 D4 (1783+)
discusses published federal and state decisions involving questions of
public international law from 1783 forward.
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Treatises, Hornbooks, Casebooks, In a Nutshell, etc.
See also Florida legal texts.
Various published series exist providing single-volume overviews of
specific areas of the law. Although the UCF Library does not have a
comprehensive collection of these texts, some of them can be located
through the
UCF library catalog
by searching for the legal topic by keyword, e.g. "torts" and the
keyword "series", then Browse Results by Call Number:
Library of Congress "K". Some of the legal topic series
include:
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Rules of Court
See also Florida Rules of Court
Moore's Federal Rules Pamphlet
Reference KF 8816 .A198
Reference KF 62 1972 .L38
- Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure
- Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure & Official Bankruptcy
Forms
- Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
- Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
- Federal Rules of Evidence
- Rules of the Supreme Court of the U.S.
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the ___ Circuit
- Alien Terrorist Removal Court of the U.S.
- Courts of Criminal Appeals
- Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
- Rules for Judicial Conduct & Judicial Disability Proceedings
- Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases
- Rules Governing Section 2255 Proceedings
- Rules of Practice & Procedure of the U.S. Tax Court
- Rules of Procedure for the Trial of Misdemeanors before U.S.
Magistrates
- Rules of Procedure of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict
Litigation
- Rules of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims
- Rules of the U.S. Court of International Trade
- Special Court, Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973
- Supplemental Rules for Admiralty or Maritime Claims & Asset
Forfeiture Actions
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
- U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
including:
- Rules of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of
Florida
- Rules of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of
Florida
- Rules of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of
Florida
- Rules of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of
Florida
- Rules of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of
Florida
- Rules of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of
Florida
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Citators - Federal Rules
Shepard's Federal Rules Citations
Reference KF 8816 .A23 S54
KeyCites
online access
available via the Westlaw database; restricted access; ask at the Research Assistance Desk
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Legal Forms & How-To Guides
See also Florida Legal Forms
American Jurisprudence Pleading & Practice Forms Annotated
Reference KF 8836 .A45
Business & Legal Forms for Fine Artists
Reference KF 390 .A7 C68 1999
Complete Book of Equipment Leasing Agreements, Forms, Worksheets &
Checklists
Reference KF 946 .A65 C66 1997
Warren's Forms of Agreement: Business Forms
Reference KF 886 .W36
- Business & General - "dealing with subjects like Real Estate,
Corporations, Employment, Contracts, Trusts and Wills."
- Legal Practice - "focusing on Law Practice Management,
Litigation and related matters."
- 101 Law Forms for Personal Use
- How to File Your Own Divorce with Forms
- How to Form a Nonprofit Corporation
- Legal Forms for Starting & Running a Small Business
- Nolo's Simple Will Book
- Power of Attorney Handbook
- U.S. Immigration Made Easy
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Articles: Journals and Law Reviews
See also Florida Legal Journals and Law Reviews.
Indexes and Online Databases
See also Legal Studies & Law
databases.
provides full text access to approximately 800 law reviews & law
journals from the United States. Most publications are from 1982
forward, but content from a few titles goes back as early as 1970.
Index to Legal Periodicals & Books
contains citations from legal journals, yearbooks, institutes,
bar association organs, law reviews, and government publications
originating in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland,
Australia and New Zealand.
Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (1985+)
Subscription cancelled due to budget cuts.
contains citations from legal journals and other publications covering
international law other than the United States, British Isles and
British Commonwealth
provides articles from major law reviews,
law journals, specialty law and bar association journals, and legal
newspapers on Federal and State Cases, Laws and Government Regulations,
Legal Practice, and legal subjects such as Taxation and International
Law. British Commonwealth and European Union cases and law are also
included.
provides full text searching of some law journals.
Westlaw
Restricted access; ask at the Research Assistance Desk.
provides full text of legal sources integrated with legal research tools.
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Earlier Issues of Journals and Law Reviews
(pre-1970)
provides online access to the full text of some titles as early as 1852.
Other resources
In addition to JSTOR and the online access available through LexisNexis
Academic to articles published after 1970, the UCF Library has earlier volumes
for some legal periodicals, with print and microfilm holdings identified
through the
UCF Library Catalog.
The dates listed for the sample titles below include previous versions
of the titles.
|
Administrative Law Review
General Collection K 1 .D55 (1949+)
American Bar Association Journal
General Collection K 1 .M47 (1915+)
General Collection JX 1 .A7 (1907+)
Business Lawyer
General Collection K 2 .U87 (1946+)
Cambridge Law Journal
General Collection K 3 .A63 (1921+)
General Collection K 3 .O486 (1901+)
General Collection K 4 .U34 (1951+)
Florida Law Review
General Collection K 25 .F666 (1948+)
General Collection K 8 .A783 (1887+)
|
General Collection K 9 .C7875 (1896+)
JAG Journal & Naval Law Review
General Collection K 9 .A69 (1947-2001)
General Collection K 10 .O853 (1910+)
Journal of Legal Education
General Collection K 10 .L43 (1948+)
General Collection K 12 .C58 (1933+)
General Collection K 13 .I244 (1902+)
Online only (1937+)
North Carolina Law Review
General Collection K 14 .O77 (1922+)
|
General Collection K 23 .T3546 (1948+)
General Collection K 25 .C443 (1933+)
University of Detroit Law Review
General Collection K 10 .O89 (1931+)
University of Illinois Law Review
General Collection K 25 .N4 (1949+)
Online only (1852+)
Online only (1935+)
General Collection K 26 .I73 (1895+)
General Collection K 29 .A7 (1890+)
|
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Guides, Tips, and Frequently Asked Questions
See also questions about Florida legal research.
How do I translate the numbers and letters to find a case?
The first number is the volume and the last number is the beginning page of
the case in that volume. The
abbreviation in the middle identifies the
name of the publication. Examples:
- 347 U.S. 483; 74 S. Ct. 686; 98 L. Ed. 873
- All three citations refer to the same case, Brown v. Board
of Education, decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1954. The case
begins on page 483 in volume 347 of United States Supreme Court
Reports
and is also available beginning on page 686 of volume 74 of Supreme
Court Reporter
and on page 873 in volume 98 of United States Supreme Court Reports,
Lawyers' Edition. NOTE: The UCF Library does not have
the print version of Supreme
Court Reporter.
- 773 So. 2d 524
- The report of Gore v. Harris, decided by the Florida
Supreme Court in 2000, begins on page 524 in volume 773 of the
Southern Reporter, Second Series.
What's the difference between the circuit and district courts?
In
Florida, the circuit courts are the trial courts at the local level,
and the district courts (e.g., 5th District Court of Appeal in Daytona
Beach) are the appellate courts between the circuit courts and the
Florida Supreme Court. In the
federal court system, the names are reversed; the district courts
are the trial courts within each state (e.g., U.S. District Court,
Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division) and the circuit courts
(e.g., U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit in Atlanta) are the appellate
courts between the district courts and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Where else in Orlando can I find legal materials?
Be sure to ask at the UCF Library's Research Assistance Desk, just
in case the title you're seeking is available in the UCF Library as part
of some other material, but is not listed individually in the catalog.
Two local law schools have some materials not found at UCF:
-
Barry Law Library (6441 East Colonial Drive; 321-206-5600) is
located on the north side of Highway 50/Colonial Drive between Forsyth
Road and Highway 436/Semoran Boulevard.
-
Florida A&M University College of Law Library (201 Beggs Avenue;
407-254-3289) in downtown Orlando is just off Interstate 4 near the
corner of Robinson Street and Hughey Avenue.
Why can't I find the U.S. Reporter?
The official version of published U.S. Supreme Court cases is
United
States Reports (not Reporter), but it usually takes 2-3 years for
the official version to be published. The UCF Library does have the
official U.S. Reports in the U.S. Documents Collection [JU 6.8:], but we
also have the complete run of Supreme Court cases available in a
commercial format.
- United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers'
Edition [Reference KF.A2] provides all of the U.S. Supreme Court
cases (plus some earlier decisions) from 1754 forward, including
preliminary publication of very recent cases 2-3 years before the
official version comes out.
- The UCF Library does not have the other
commercial format, Supreme Court Reporter, so if you only have
that citation (e.g., 93 S. Ct. 705), you'll need to identify the
citation for the version we have (e.g., 35 L. Ed. 2d 147) using the
Parallel Reference Tables in volume 4 of Shepard's United States
Citations [Reference KF101.2.S54].
- Most cases are also available
electronically through the UCF Library's subscription to
LexisNexis Academic.
Can you fax me a copy of Title 7 of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964?
Yes and no. The original text of Title VII-Equal Employment Opportunity appears on pages 253-266
in volume 78 of
United States Statutes at Large [U.S. Documents
GS4.111:]. But you're probably looking for the law as it exists
today after decades of modifications and spread out through various
sections of the
U.S. Code.
You'll need to conduct your own research to locate all the sections of
interest to you.
Are living wills legal in Massachusetts?
First, we recommend that you consult an attorney when an interpretation
of the law is needed. If you'd like to look at an overview
of the laws of various states, try the
Martindale-Hubbell Law Digest
[Reference KF 190 .M32 for the 2006 print edition - ask at the Research Assistance
Desk for access to the subsequent editions on CD-ROM]. The topical index in the front of each volume
indicates that "living wills" are included under the category "Estates
and Trusts"- topic "Wills". The General Laws of Massachusetts are
summarized in approximately 70 pages. Since the summaries also
identify the specific statutes by number, you have a starting point if
you decide to look at the full text of the statutes, either through
LexisNexis Academic or through the StateLaw link listed on our
Government Resources for Other States
webpage. NOTE: There are a few states that don't have
specific legislative provisions for living wills, and others don't use
the phrase "living will", so you could search a long time unsuccessfully
in their statutes. The summaries in
Martindale-Hubbell Law
Digest can save you time because entries are included for each
subject, even if the only information is "No legislation." Of
course, if it's a brand new law, then it won't appear in
Martindale-Hubbell Law Digest until next year's edition.
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Other Research Guides
Online Guides to Legal Resources on the Web
Other UCF Research Guides
See also
Congress/Legislative Branch in the GODORT Handout Exchange for
guides to conducting research about laws and legislation/legislative
histories.
provide guidance for searching specific topics in the LexisNexis databases
regarding:
- Administrative Law
- Affirmative Action
- Congressional Downloads (subject guides for LexisNexis
Congressional)
- Consumer Law
- Education Law
- Entertainment Law
- Human Resources Law
- Immigration
- Intellectual Property Law
- Landmark Supreme Court Cases
- Law Enforcement
- Legal Research
- Legislative History
- Personal Injury Law
- Real Estate Law
provides an organizational framework for understanding legal materials
published by the three branches of government (Legislative, Executive,
Judicial) and arranged either chronologically or by subject.
- Federal Research Guides
- Florida Research Guides
- General Help Guides
- Specialized Research Guides
- International Law Guides
Congressional Quarterly's Desk Reference on...
The series
provides answers to thousands of frequently asked questions:
- American Courts
- Reference KF 8720 .B37 2000
- American Criminal Justice
- Reference HV 9950 .B364 2001
- American Government
- Reference JK 274 .W449 2000
- the Economy
- Reference HC 106.82 .C37 2000
- the Federal Budget
- Reference HJ 2051 .W43 1998
- the Presidency
- Reference JK 516 .W44 2000
- the States
- Reference JK 2048 .W48 1999
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Directories
Lawyers - Directories
See also Florida directories.
Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory
Martindale-Hubbell International Law Directory
provides:
- demographics on the diversity of the lawyer population in each
firm based on standard EEOC classifications
- primary practice areas
- hiring experience & expected hires
- hours worked & billable hours
- pro bono information
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Law Schools - Directories
See also Florida directories.
Complete Book of Law Schools
Reference KF 266 .O93 2004
Martindale-Hubbell Law School Directory
- composition of enrollment
- admissions profile (GPA/LSAT)
- clinical courses/programs offered
- journals
- student organizations
- grading system
- academic awards & honors
- areas of practice
- on-campus employer interviews
Official American Bar Association Guide to Approved Law Schools
Reference KF 266 .O39 2001
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Law School Admission Test (LSAT)
The official site provides information regarding when and where to take
the test and how to prepare for it.
- Online LSAT Practice Test
- Online books
- LSAT Success
- Countdown to the LSAT
- McGraw-Hill's LSAT
- McGraw-Hill's Conquering LSAT Logic Games
- Nova's Master the LSAT
- Essays That Will Get You Into Law School
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Looking for something else? Ask for assistance at the
UCF Libraries' Research Assistance Desk or contact
Ask A Librarian.
Prepared by:
Rich Gause, Government Documents Librarian
URL of this page: http://library.ucf.edu/govdocs/legal/legal.asp
Last update:06/03/09 02:57:34 PM
