Introduction to Legal Research
- Introduction to Legal ResearchThis guide from UCLA provides tools on finding primary and secondary resources in legal databases, navigating the research process, and general search techniques.
Legal Citation Sites
- Basic Legal CitationExcellent introductory page explaining legal citation put together by the Cornell University Virtual Law Reference Desk.
- Bluebook GuideExcellent introductory guide on using the Bluebook from the Georgetown University Law School.
- Georgetown Law Bluebook GuideIncludes examples and basic principles of Bluebook citation for new law students
- Official Bluebook SiteHas helpful FAQs, but requires registeration for most of the information.
Getting Started
Legal research is different than research in other fields. It often begins with secondary sources and ends with primary sources.
Secondary legal sources include:
- Law journals
- Legal encyclopedias
- American Law Reports (ALR)
- Treatises
These resources can be helpful in getting an overview of a new topic or identifying key cases in a particular area. Read the footnotes and annotations that reference case law to discover additional resources.
Secondary sources will lead into finding primary legal sources which include:
- Case law (state and federal courts)
- Legislation
- Regulations
- Constitutions
- Treaties
Primary sources establish the law and are what is cited in legal arguments. Secondary sources are helpful discovery tools to help locate primary sources on a legal topic.
Visit this guide to learn more about using secondary and primary resources in legal research.
Federal Courts
Links to individual United States Federal courts