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Free Legal Research

Free Legal Rsearch

Free Legal Research

There are plenty of good research sites available and some of them are even free. We have listed the best of the free ones here.  These are not sites that just link to source material. We think the usefulness of those sites is limited and you conduct research this way at your own risk. The Alphalegal Directory used to catalog those links, as well, but with the sophistication and low cost (or no cost) of today’s dedicated legal research applications you are limiting your research effectiveness by using direct links to source materials, such as US Supreme Court published opinions, published state law codes, etc., instead of a dedicated application.

Casemaker is free for most attorneys through their bar association and so belongs on this list.  It is a legal research application that conducts searches in a way that anyone who has used legal research applications will recognize.  The others, except Google Scholar, are different, less comprehensive and more simplistic.  Google Scholar, not surprisingly, takes free legal research to another level. We have included Findlaw, but that is more out of sentimentality than utility as they are closer to a catalog of legal links than they are a research application.  We do not consider applications with free trial periods to be free legal research applications and don’t include those here.

If you know of something we have missed, please contact us!

 

Google Scholar
  • Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites. Google Scholar helps you find relevant work across the world of scholarly research. https://scholar.google.com/
Casemaker
  • Casemaker is the leading provider of low-cost legal research in the U.S. At Casemaker, our experienced legal editors are committed to providing you with the most up-to-date cases and statutes available anywhere. In fact, Casemaker is often more current than the leading high-cost research providers. Dozens of state and local bar associations have partnered with Casemaker to offer basic legal research to their membership. In other states, Casemaker offers the same high quality legal research at a fraction of the cost of other providers. Click here to learn more about Casemaker’s services in your state. http://www.casemaker.us/
Justia
  • Justia provides free case law, codes, regulations and legal information for lawyers, … Legal Research& Law Practice … Lawyers, Legal Aid & Pro Bono Services. https://www.justia.com/
Findlaw
  • FindLaw’s Cases and Codes section contains resources and links for both state and federal laws. This includes resources pertaining to constitutions, statutes, cases and more. Run a search for case summaries or select a jurisdiction to browse applicable laws. http://caselaw.findlaw.com/