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Sources of Free Legal Research: Legal Research Portals & Legal Dictionaries

Free Legal Research Portals & Legal Dictionaries

GovInfo 

This link opens in a new windowFederal government resource providing free online access to official publications from all three branches of the federal government.

Legal Information Institute (LII)

Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute (LII) provides free access to a wealth of primary law, including: the U.S. Constitution, and federal case law, statutes, and regulations.  LII also provides case law, statutes, and regulations from all 50 states.  In addition to primary law, LII also provides Wex,a legal encyclopedia.  Researchers can either search Lex using key word searches or they can browse Lex entries for topics of interest. 

Fastcase

As a benefit of membership, New York State Bar Association members have free access to Fastcase.  Bar members can access federal and New York State primary law resources such as: Supreme Court cases, Second Circuit cases, federal statutes, New York court cases, and New York statutes.  Fastcase also provides its citation analysis tool, Authority Check, for free to bar members (limited to the case law provided under your Bar membership plan).  For more information on Fastcase resources that are available for free through your New York State Bar Association membership, visit here.

Justia

Justia is an online legal resource portal that provides free access to an annotated copy of the U.S. Constitution, and federal case law, statutes, and regulations.  Justia also provides state constitutions, case law, statutes, and regulations from all fifty states.

Findlaw for Legal Professionals

Findlaw for Legal Professionals provides free access to federal case law, statutes, and regulations.  Findlaw also provides state law resources including case law and statutes from all fifty states.

The Law Engine

 

Free Legal Dictionaries

U.S. Court's Glossary of Legal Terms

A browsable glossary of legal terms

Legal Information Institute's Wex

A free legal dictionary and encyclopedia.  Browse or search for your topic of interest.  Wex entries are collaboratively created and edited by legal experts.

FindLaw's Legal Dictionary

Provides free access to definitions to over 8,260 legal terms.  Browse alphabetically.

Law.com's Legal Dictionary

A free legal dictionary provided by ALM, a legal information publisher.  Browse or keyword search.

Nolo's Free Law Terms and Legal Definitions

A plain English law dictionary provided by NOLO, a legal publisher.  Browse by topic.