Home Free Legal Research Resources United States Research Guides

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Dec 28, 2025, 5:04 PM

home free legal research resources united states research guides

This guide contains selected, free, online United States federal and state legal research materials. Many lawyers have access to paid databases. Yet, combining paid and free resources, can help them to avoid potentially expensive searches. According to a 2020 Legal Technology Survey Report, nearly 60% of lawyers “say they regularly use free online resources to conduct legal research.” For researchers without access to paid databases, the following resources may be essential. Legal research is often more effective when using a local law library.

To learn more about law libraries throughout the United States, visit: Statutes and legislative materials are becoming available freely online, with increasing frequency. Free resources can be a great starting place for statutory research. However, always make sure you confirm your findings in an authoritative version of the law. Federal case law and court documents are often available freely online, particularly recently decided cases. Check the website of the deciding court for digital copies of their cases.

In addition, the following resources provide free case law. Have a question? Need assistance? Use our online form to ask a librarian for help. Read more about the Law Library's global collections by subscribing to our RSS feeds and email alerts, following our blog In Custodia Legis, and finding our Facebook External and Twitter External page. The following resources include primary and secondary legal reference materials, as well as government and non-government websites, that provide access to free online legal information about the United States of America.

Official publications are primary sources of law published by the United States government to disseminate new legislation, regulations, and decisions of governmental bodies. The United States Government Publishing Office (GPO) is the official publisher of United States government materials. Recent, and some historical, publications are available free online through GPO's govinfo website. Historical collections of legal materials may be available through libraries participating in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), which distributes federal government publications to participating libraries. An online directory of libraries participating in the FDLP allows researchers to locate a nearby library offering access to these collections. The Catalog of U.S.

Government Publications is an online finding aid for locating publications of the administrative, judicial, and legislative branches of the U.S. government that have been printed since July 1976. To search for federal government publications published before 1976, use the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications. The Monthly Catalog is available from libraries External, free online sources such as Hathitrust.org External, and subscription databases. For additional guidance, see the Library of Congress Finding Government Documents research guide. The law librarians and library staff at Robert Crown Law Library are here to help you!

You can find the latest information about our hours and services on the library homepage. There are several ways to contact us: Zoom: Drop in to our virtual reference room during our Reference Desk hours to ask any questions. Make an appointment: Online and in-person appointments with the reference staff can be made from the library homepage. This guide provides links and suggestions for searching in resources that are freely available (or available for a low cost) when conducting legal research. It is organized into secondary sources and primary sources.

Secondary Sources will cover general research platforms with significant legal materials as well as selected research guides. Primary Sources will specifically address low cost legal research options, as well as free legal research options across all government branches. Sources include: For foreign and international resources consider: myAU | AU Library | myWCL | Library Home | myLEAGLE Library Account Library Home | Research Guides | LEAGLE Catalog | E-Journals & Articles | Library Databases | Frequently Used Resources | Ask a Librarian

Welcome to the research guide for free and low-cost legal research. Our goal is to help you find accurate and useful legal information when you don't have access to the expensive "big three" legal databases: Westlaw, Lexis, or Bloomberg Law. We've divided the guide by type of legal document (legislative, judicial, administrative) with additional sections on secondary sources and materials for our local jurisdictions (the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia). This guide was last updated 28 January 2025. This guide discusses both free and low-cost options for legal research. The free resources are listed first, with the low-cost resources following.

If a resource charges a fee, it will be noted in the description. These low-cost options are usually available through a subscription and are not pay-as-you-go or pay-per-use. Here are the major free resources we cover in this guide: If you are having trouble using this guide or would like legal research tips, chat with us or contact your local law library. Remember to verify that the case you are using is still good law, meaning the case has not been reversed or overruled. Similarly, if you are using a statute, remember to verify that you are using the current version.

Citators, like Shepard's on Lexis or KeyCite on Westlaw, highlight cases and statutes that are no longer good law. LawCite provides a free citator for some cases; however, to verify that a statute is up to date, you must check the official print version. United States District Court, Northern District of Ohio The official website for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio includes court info, FAQs, and electronic filing. We have created legal research guides on a number of common topics, such as researching case law, statutes, and secondary sources. Research guides are lists of librarian-recommended resources on your specific topic, and are an excellent starting point for any legal research project.

See our research guides here. There are many resources available for legal research. Consider starting your search with secondary sources: materials that explain and discuss primary law like cases, statutes, and regulations.The library's guide to Secondary Sources can give you more information on finding and using these... A legal dictionary can help you interpret and understand legal terms. See the library's guide to Dictionaries. General sources for legal research include:

There are many good sources for case law online. Some options include: Seattle University Law Library 901 12th Avenue | Seattle, WA 98122 | 206-398-4220 Law Library | Research Guides | About Us These sources limit Web-searching to law-specific resources. Please also consult the library’s Virginia Legal Materials Research Guide for information about free Virginia resources. There are numerous topical online legal research guides, many written by librarians at university and public law libraries.

In addition to George Mason Law Library Research Guides, other recommended sources for research guides include: The services listed below offer a variety of plans that provide enhanced searching for primary legal materials, although fewer search features than premium legal databases. In addition, while these products offer citators, however the updating features are not equivalent to Shepards, Keycite, or BCite.

Home Free Legal Research Resources United States Research Guides

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