InfoGuides: Law: Law Research Guide

Law Research Guide

Law Library Selector

Kimberley Balcos

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Current Events and Announcements

June 2019

The North Carolina General assembly passed a statute preventing the free distribution of printed volumes of North Carolina Appellate Division Reports to the North Carolina Community College system.

Implications:

There will no longer be printed any reports or appeals volumes from the court system provided at no cost to North Carolina Community College Libraries.
The last print volumes in the collection at the Cato Law Library are volume 243 from the North Carolina Court of Appeals Reports and volume 369 of the North Carolina Supreme Court Reports.
Reports may still be accessed online: North Carolina Court of Appeals and Supreme Court Opinions

Finding Law Materials

Each branch, or level, of the legal system has its own specific materials. Remember, there are the 3 branches of government—Judicial, Legislative and Executive, and then there are different levels and types of law attached to each one:

The Federal Government

Judicial Branch	Legislative Branch	Executive Branch
Who: US Supreme Court Legal Product: Opinions/Decisions – Case Law¹	Who: Senate & House of Representatives Legal Product: United States Code United States Statutes	Who: President Legal Product: Code of Federal Regulations
Who: US Courts of Appeals Legal Product: Opinions/Decisions-Case Law
Who: US District Courts* Legal Product: Opinions/Decisions-Case Law *The 94 U. S. judicial districts are organized into 12 regional circuits, each of which has a U. S. court of appeals.

Remember, the whole configuration is repeated 50 more times at the state level; then you have municipal codes as well.

For example, Cato Law Library has the following reporters and digests for finding federal case law:

Supreme Court Reporter¹: contains the opinions/decisions of the U.S Supreme Court – Case Law¹
West’s Federal Practice Digest: Case law arranged alphabetically by topic for each volume in the set (for example, Double Jeopardy to Drugs & Narcotics), and provides case holdings and full case citations, so the researcher can find the case law in the Reporter¹.

These types of reporters and digests (case finders) are published for Federal, Regional, and State case law. Law students must always locate the actual written opinion—never rely on what is published in the digests (or indexes or citators) for the text of the cases.

The Cato Law Library also has legal encyclopedias, such as American Jurisprudence and Corpus Juris Secundum, and legal dictionaries. Those resources work just like any encyclopedia and/or dictionary.

Best Databases for Legal Research

Central Piedmont Library Research Databases
This is the link to CPCC's complete listing of research databases.

Bills from the NC General Assembly
Links for bill look-up and full text search of bills from 1997 to present; session law/chaptered bill search; tips for finding bills; simple bill inquiry; and much more legislation information
LegalTrac
LegalTrac provides indexing and selective full-text for all major law reviews, law journals, specialty law and bar association journals and legal newspapers. The database offers coverage of federal and state cases, laws and regulations, legal practice and taxation, as well as British Commonwealth, European Union, and international law.
WestlawNext
WestlawNext is the premier legal research database with access to thousands of statutes, case law materials, public records, and other resources.

Requires an additional password. If you do not have a password, ask a library staff member to log you in.

Websites

Justia
Justia provides free case law, codes, regulations and legal information for lawyers, business, students and consumers world wide.
Law and the Multiverse
Are mutants a protected class? Who foots the bill when a hero damages property while fighting a villain? What happens legally when a character comes back from the dead? You’ll find the answers to all of these questions and more right here! Law and the Multiverse is the analysis and study of law using the hypothetical legal ramifications of comic book tropes, characters, and powers.
Library of Congress
Includes Bills, Resolutions, Activity in Congress, Congressional Record, Schedules, Calendars, Committee Information, Presidential Nominations, Treaties, Government Resources.
North Carolina Court System-Mecklenburg County, District 26
The information contained in this page is designed to help provide information regarding the functions, services and programs of the Mecklenburg County court system.
North Carolina General Statutes
The North Carolina General Assembly offers access to the Statutes on the Internet as a service to the public.
NC Pattern Jury Instructions
North Carolina Pattern Jury Instructions are samples of instructions to be read by judges to juries, depending upon the relevant law and facts of a particular case at hand. Two subcommittees (civil and criminal) review instructions they think need to be updated because the law has changed, or decide that a new instruction should be drafted to cover a previously uncovered area of the law. When the Committee finishes a new instruction or revises an existing instruction, they set these instructions aside to be part of entire packages that are published and distributed as supplements in June of each year. The Committee may identify new or updated instructions that are too important North Carolina to wait until June to distribute as part of the annual, hard copy supplements. Interim Instructions will be posted on this School of Government website.
The Oyez Project
The Oyez Project at Chicago-Kent is 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. The Project also provides authoritative information on all justices and offers a virtual reality Tour of portions of the Supreme Court building, including the chambers of some of the justices.
United States Code
The United States Code is the codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States. It is divided by broad subjects into 50 titles (such as Business Credit and Assistance or Conservation of Power and Water Resources or Postal Service) and published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Magazines and Journals

North Carolina Law Review
A University of North Carolina School of Law student-operated journal serving judges, attorneys, scholars, and students by publishing outstanding legal scholarship. The Review provides timely and thought-provoking commentary. Located at Cato Law Library.
The North Carolina State Bar Journal
A highly respected quarterly magazine which contains a wide range of articles covering everything from law office technology to professionalism and pro bono work. In addition, the Journal contains timely information of interest to North Carolina lawyers such as State Bar Ethics opinions, disciplinary actions, rule amendments, and State Bar Committee actions. Located at Cato Law Library.
North Carolina Lawyers Weekly
Legal news, daily court opinions, and hard-to-find resources from Lawyers Weekly. Located at Cato Law Library.

Books & More From Our Collection

Browse Our Shelves!
Call Number	Subject Area
K	General Law
KB	Religious Law
KD-KDK	Law in UK & Ireland
KDZ	Law in North America
KE	Law in Canada
KF	Law in the United States
KFN	Law in North Carolina
KH	Law in South America
KJ-KKZ	Law in Europe
KL-KWX	Law in Asia, Eurasia, Africa, Pacific Area, & Antarctica
KZ	Law of Nations

Having Trouble Searching the Catalog? Try out a few of our favorite search terms:

Law Reports
US Constitution
US Supreme Court or District Courts
North Carolina Statutes
Federal Law
Specific Categories of Legal Practice:
- Trial/Litigation
- Real Estate
- Family Law
Specific Laws:
- Capital Punishment
- Firearms Laws
- Intellectual Property
- Controlled Substances
- Civil Liberties
- Children's Rights
Legal Forms
Jurisprudence
Municipal Code

North Carolina reports; cases argued and determined in the Supreme Court of North Carolina
Court reports include the published decisions of appellate courts on specific issues raised in disputes (cases). Located at Cato Law Library.
West's Supreme Court Reporter
Contains the opinions/decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. Located at the Cato Law Library.
West's Federal Practice Digest
Case law arranged alphabetically by topic for each volume in the set (for example, Double Jeopardy to Drugs & Narcotics). Also provides case holdings and full case citations, so the researcher can find the case law in the Reporter. Located at Cato Law Library.
West's North Carolina digest 2d. : covering cases from state and federal courts
This Key Number Digest contains all headnotes, classified according to West's Key Number System, for North Carolina state and federal court decisions from 1778 to date. Located at Cato Law Library.

Law

Law Library Selector

Legal Apps for mobile devices

Current Events and Announcements

June 2019

The North Carolina General assembly passed a statute preventing the free distribution of printed volumes of North Carolina Appellate Division Reports to the North Carolina Community College system.

Implications:

There will no longer be printed any reports or appeals volumes from the court system provided at no cost to North Carolina Community College Libraries.

The last print volumes in the collection at the Cato Law Library are volume 243 from the North Carolina Court of Appeals Reports and volume 369 of the North Carolina Supreme Court Reports.

Reports may still be accessed online: North Carolina Court of Appeals and Supreme Court Opinions

Finding Law Materials

Best Databases for Legal Research

Websites

Magazines and Journals

Books & More From Our Collection

Call Number

Subject Area

K

General Law

KB

Religious Law

KD-KDK

Law in UK & Ireland

KDZ

Law in North America

KE

Law in Canada

KF

Law in the United States

KFN

Law in North Carolina

KH

Law in South America

KJ-KKZ

Law in Europe

KL-KWX

Law in Asia, Eurasia, Africa, Pacific Area, & Antarctica

KZ

Law of Nations

Having Trouble Searching the Catalog? Try out a few of our favorite search terms:

Law Reports

US Constitution

US Supreme Court or District Courts

North Carolina Statutes

Federal Law

Specific Categories of Legal Practice:

Trial/Litigation

Real Estate

Family Law

Specific Laws:

Capital Punishment

Firearms Laws

Intellectual Property

Controlled Substances

Civil Liberties

Children's Rights

Legal Forms

Jurisprudence

Municipal Code