LibGuides: Law/Legal Information: Home

Gov Info Coordinator/Kelley Center

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713.348.6212

Volunteer Legal Services and Opportunities

The State Bar of Texas has partnered with Paladin, a justice tech company, to create a statewide online portal designed to help lawyers find volunteer opportunities and assist Texans with their legal needs. Through the free statewide portal at State Bar of Texas Pro Bono Portal powered by Paladin (joinpaladin.com), volunteer lawyers and law students have a centralized location to search and sign up for pro bono opportunities across the state.

Legal Databases

WestlawNext Campus Research This link opens in a new window
Westlaw includes U.S. and state case law (1944-). The system also includes access to: United States Code Annotated, Code of Federal Regulations, Federal Register (fulltext 1980+), state administrative codes and statutes.
Please remember to link to Westlaw Campus from the Rice website (after configuring for proxy) - Westlaw's security uses a combination of IP/computer address and a customer-specific URL. Using another library link just won't do!
HeinOnline This link opens in a new window
HeinOnline is the world’s largest fully searchable, image-based government document and legal research database. Fondren Library has access to: 1) HeinOnline Academic; 2) U.S. State Full Package; and 3) Fastcase Premium.
Access to HeinOnline Academic includes the following:
1. Law Journal Library,
2. American Enterprise Institute,
3. Brennan Center for Justice Publications,
4. CaseLaw Powered by FastCase (basic),
5. Civil Rights and Social Justice,
6. Code of Federal Regulations,
7. Federal Register Library,
8. COVID-19: Pandemics Past and Present,
9. Criminal Justice & Criminology,
10. Executive Privilege,
11. Foreign Relations of the United States,
12. GAO Reports and Comptroller General Decisions,
13. Gun Regulation and Legislation in America,
14. History of International Law,
15. History of Supreme Court Nominations,
16. John F. Kennedy Assassination Collection,
17. Legal Classics,
18. Military and Government,
19. NOMOS: American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy,
20. Pentagon Papers,
21. Religion and the Law,
22. Reports of U.S. Presidential Commissions and Other Advisory Bodies: A Bibliographic Listing,
23. Slavery in America and the World,
24. U.S. Code,
25. U.S. Congressional Documents,
26. U.S. Congressional Serial Set,
27. U.S. Federal Agency Documents, Decisions, and Appeals,
28. U.S. Federal Legislative History,
29. U.S. Presidential Impeachment Library,
30. U.S. Presidential Library,
31. U.S. Statutes at Large,
32. U.S. Supreme Court Library,
33. U.S. Treaties and Agreements Library,
34. Women and the Law, and
35. World Constitutions Illustrated.

The U.S. State Full Package includes:
1. State Constitutions Illustrated,
2. Session Laws Library,
3. State Statutes: A Historical Archive,
4. Bar Journals Library,
5. State Attorney General Reports & Opinions,
6. State Reports: A Historical Archive, and
7. Prestatehood Legal Materials.
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Nexis Uni™ features more than 15,000 news, business and legal sources from LexisNexis®—including U.S. Supreme Court decisions dating back to 1790— and is a good source for foreign newspapers.
*Previously called Lexis Nexis Academic.
Nexis Uni offers an intuitive interface that offers quick discovery across all content types, personalization features such as Alerts and saved searches and a collaborative workspace with shared folders and annotated documents.

Congress.gov
Congress.gov is the official website for U.S. federal legislative information. The site provides access to accurate, timely, and complete legislative information for Members of Congress, legislative agencies, and the public. It is presented by the Library of Congress (LOC) using data from the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Office of the Secretary of the Senate, the Government Publishing Office, Congressional Budget Office, and the LOC’s Congressional Research Service.

Congress.gov is usually updated the morning after a session adjourns. Consult Coverage Dates for Congress.gov Collections for the specific update schedules and start date for each collection.
GovTrack.us
GovTrack.us tracks the United States Congress and helps Americans participate in their national legislature.

They publish the status of federal legislation, information about your representative and senators in Congress including voting records, and original research on legislation. They’re one of the oldest government transparency websites in the world.
Google Scholar @ Rice University
Google Scholar provides a multidisciplinary citation platform with links to free full texts. With this localized implementation, additional full texts are available for resources licensed by Rice University, and no manual setting of Rice preferences is required when accessing Scholar off-campus. Note the case law button to locate court opinions from federal and state courts and the ability to include patents in searches for articles.

Legal Forms

Nolo Self-Help Law Center
Find legal information by category.

Local Law Libraries

Online Law Library of Congress
Provides access to legal blogs, non-commercial databases, U.S. and international legislative resources, digitized collections, and global law resources.
Harris County Law Library
Official page of the Harris County (Texas) Law Library.
O'Quinn Law Library (University of Houston)
Official page of the O'Quinn Law Library (University of Houston).
The Fred Parks Law Library (South Texas College of Law)
Official homepage of The Fred Parks Law Library (South Texas College of Law).
Thurgood Marshall School of Law Library (Texas Southern University)
Official home page of Thurgood Marshall School of Law Library (Texas Southern University).
Baylor Law School Library

General Information

What do Lawyers do? (TYLA)
An introductory guide to the legal profession prepared by the Texas Young Lawyers Association.

Legal Information Reference Center This link opens in a new window
Legal Information Reference Center offers everyday users the necessary tools and detailed how-to instructions covering a wide-range of legal issues. A majority of the full-text legal reference books are provided through Nolo, the nation’s oldest and most respected provider of legal information for consumers and small businesses. With the Legal Forms by U.S. State feature, users can search state-specific legal forms by top subject areas including adoption, bankruptcy, name changes and more.

Guide to Law Online
Law Library of Congress and Global Legal Information Network's compilation of free online legal resources by country. Also include resources for U.S. states and territories.
Internet and Online Sources of U.S. Legislative and Regulatory Information
Briefly describes and then provides a comparison table containing more than 60 online free and subscription-based sources for U.S. federal and state legislative and regulatory information. Provided by the Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C.

Legal Skills

Summer Associates Identify Writing and Legal Research Skills Required on the Job
Lexis-Nexis paper stressing that law school students need to develop strong research and writing skills to success in practice.

Legal Research

Texas Legal Research
LibGuide prepared by Oklahoma City University School of Law.
Duke Law - Research Guide
Legal Information Institute
Free online resources by Cornell University Law School to help people find and understand the law. Includes world, federal, and state legal resources and federal rules and regulations.
LLSDC's Legislative Source Book
Comprehensive website from the Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C. that provides help for for finding and using a wide variety of legislative and regulatory information. Includes research and practical guides.